NCAA Notables - 3/8

The Big East tournament featured four thrillers, bubble teams tried to avoid bad losses, and Texas was the day's big winner.

KUDOS

Texas
No one did more to boost their tournament chances on Thursday than Texas. The Longhorns, in desperate need of a big win, got their second victory over Iowa State, this one in comeback fashion 71-65. Texas used a 22-4 second-half run and J'Covan Brown (23 points) converted the go-ahead three-point play in the final minute. Even if Texas loses to Missouri on Friday, Rick Barnes' team has to feel much better about its tourney chances now.

#3 Kansas and #5 Missouri
The border rivals moved closer to one final rematch in the Big 12 finals by dismantling the competition in the quarterfinals. For the Jayhawks, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor combined for 35 points, but Elijah Johnson was the star in the 17-point win over Texas A&M--he had 26 points and five three-pointers. And in Missouri's victory over Oklahoma State, Kim English scored 27 points and Marcus Denmon had 24.

#2 Syracuse
James Southerland scored all of this 10 points in the final 8 minutes to fuel Syracuse's rally over UConn in the Big East quarterfinals, 58-55. The Huskies' offense was shut down by the Orange defense over the final few minutes. Next up for Syracuse is Cincinnati in the semifinals.

Louisville
The seventh-seeded Cardinals ambushed #9 Marquette in the Big East quarterfinals, winning 84-71. The swarming Louisville defense forced 26 turnovers and exposed the Golden Eagles' lack of size by grabbing 23 offensive rebounds to offset their sub-40% shooting. Peyton Siva (18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals) is capable of leading this team to a few more postseason wins.

Cincinnati
The Bearcats justified their 4-seed by outlasting #14 Georgetown in two overtimes, 72-70. Yancy Gates led an 11-point comeback in regulation capped off by Otto Porter's game-tying jumper with seconds left. Cincy won despite missing 19 of 21 three-pointers and will try to knock off Syracuse next.

#23 Notre Dame
No one saw it coming at the start of conference play, but the last team in the Big East's Final Four is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish won a defensive slugfest in overtime against South Florida, 57-53, and will play Louisville on Friday. South Florida, meanwhile, has looked like an NCAA tournament team over the past few weeks. At this point, if a Big East bubble team misses the tourney, it'll be Seton Hall.

#11 Baylor
Perry Jones III was a men among boys for Baylor, scoring 31 points and hauling in 11 rebounds in the Bear's 82-74 victory over Kansas State. Baylor faces Kansas in the Big 12 semifinals and can pull off the win if Jones shows up like this again.

#21 San Diego State
The Aztecs surrendered their double-digit lead over the last few minutes, but it didn't matter at the buzzer. Jamal Franklin sank a contested, off-balance three with no time remaining to lift San Diego State past Boise State 65-62.

N.C. State and Miami
Neither team suffered a bubble-bursting loss in the first round of the ACC tournament--the Wolfpack blew out Boston College and Miami smothered Georgia Tech. But N.C. State will have to beat Virginia and Miami will have to beat Florida State if they want an at-large bid.

Arizona
The Wildcats bounced back from a loss to Arizona State by getting past UCLA in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament, 66-58, thanks to a 31-for-35 performance at the line. A defeat could've ended their at-large hopes. Instead, Arizona can now reach the Pac-12 finals by beating Oregon State.

Colorado State
Another bubble team refrained from shooting itself in the foot. Colorado State beat TCU in the first round of the Mountain West tournament, and the Rams continue to improve their at-large chances. Beating San Diego State in the semifinals would seal the deal for CSU.

Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles can exhale after surviving a serious scare against ECU in the Conference USA quarterfinals. Southern Miss won in overtime 81-78. An embarrassingly early exit from the tournament could have been devastating for this team's tournament chances, which aren't exactly rock-solid.

HEAD-SCRATCHERS

Northwestern
The Wildcats really had to beat Minnesota in the first round of the Big 10 tournament to stay in the running for an at-large bid. It would be much easier to ignore Northwestern's 8-10 conference record and 1-10 record against the RPI top-50 had they done so. Instead, the Wildcats lost in overtime 75-68, and now it's difficult to see them make their first-ever appearance in the tournament.

Washington
The Huskies were shocked in the Pac-12 quarterfinals by Jared Cunningham and Oregon State, 86-84. Tony Wroten failed to hit key free throws late and the conference's top seed is gone. It would be stunning to see the Pac-12's first-place team miss the NCAA tournament, but Washington's seeding is sure to take a hit.

Oregon
Another Pac-12 team was upset in the first round, and this 63-62 loss to Colorado will certainly cost Oregon a spot in the NCAA tournament.

"REALLY?"

Mississippi State
Somehow, the Bulldogs are making a first-round exit in the SEC tournament after a 71-61 loss to Georgia. There's no reason Mississippi State, with the talent it has, should drop six of its last eight games or find itself squarely on the tournament bubble. With average computer numbers and a handful of miserable losses, especially down the stretch, it wouldn't be shocking to see this team miss the tournament. They certainly won't win another game in March if they don't get their act together.

Illinois
The Illini's season mercifully came to an end against Iowa in their 54-51 loss in the first round of the Big 10 tourney. No team in the country collapsed as spectacularly as Illinois did; they lost 12 of their final 14 games and coach Bruce Weber's future was openly questioned to the point that seeing him return next year would be surprising.