NCAA Notables - 3/9

Two potential #1 seeds lost, Xavier and N.C. State were the bubble winners, and the pairings for the Big East and Pac-12 championship games end up being more unexpected than anyone could have predicted.

KUDOS

#11 Baylor
No one had a more season-defining win on Friday than the Baylor Bears, who knocked off #3 Kansas in the Big 12 semifinals 81-72. Six Bears scored in double figures, led by Perry Jones' 18. Baylor has always had Final Four-caliber talent, but hadn't yet knocked off an elite opponent. That all changes now. Improbably, Baylor can win the Big 12 tournament by beating Missouri on Saturday.

Cincinnati
The Bearcats don't have Baylor's ceiling, but they beat an even better team on Friday night. Cincy never trailed in handing #2 Syracuse only its second loss of the season, 71-68. Yancy Gates had 18 points; Sean Kilpatrick matched him with 6-of-9 shooting from long range a day after Cincy missed 19 three-pointers. The Bearcats, after being a bubble squad merely two weeks ago, are in the Big East finals.

Louisville
The Cardinals are the other team in the Big East championship game after cruising past #23 Notre Dame 64-50 in the semis. Peyton Siva had another excellent game, scoring 13 with 9 assists and 8 rebounds. Gorgui Dieng didn't miss a shot in scoring 16 points and Louisville's defense held the Irish to 36% shooting. Rick Pitino's squad will face off against Cincinnati in the Big East final that no one saw coming.

#12 Wisconsin
The Badgers beat #15 Indiana at its own game, knocking down 13 three-pointers to top the Hoosiers 79-71 in the Big 10 quarterfinals. Rob Wilson had 7 of those threes, en route to 30 points, despite averaging only 11 minutes a game entering Friday's contest. Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan each won too, setting up some excellent matchups for Saturday's semifinals.

N.C. State
The Wolfpack had one of the best bubble wins of the day by beating Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals, 67-64. C.J. Leslie had 19 points and 14 rebounds. And with Miami's loss to Florida State, things couldn't have worked out better for the Wolfpack on Friday. N.C. State in the tournament is no sure thing, but their chances look a whole lot better now. The Tar Heels await in the semifinals.

Arizona and Colorado
Without the body of work to justify at-large bids, Arizona and Colorado are taking matters into their own hands. The Wildcats' 72-61 win over Oregon State, keyed by Kyle Fogg's 22 points, send them into the Pac-12 championship game. They'll meet Colorado there, as the Buffaloes downed California 70-59. Likely neither team will get an at-large bid, so the final will be win-and-you're-in, lose-and-you're-history for both. To the dismay of other bubble teams, the Pac-12 may officially be a stolen bid league now.

#21 San Diego State and New Mexico
The Aztecs beat bubble hopeful Colorado State 79-69 behind Chase Tapley's 17 points to advance to the Mountain West championship game. And New Mexico did the same by beating #20 UNLV behind their leader Drew Gordon's 19 points and 13 boards. Colorado State, meanwhile, needs to await the decision of the Selection Committee on Sunday; the Rams look pretty good, but anything can happen.

Xavier
On a day when Temple and Saint Joseph's stumbled in the Atlantic 10 tournament, Xavier may have finally clinched its at-large bid. Tu Holloway's 21 points and Mark Lyons' game-winning layup with 17 seconds remaining sunk Dayton's slim tournament hopes in the 70-69 quarterfinal result. The Musketeers advance to the semifinals to play Saint Louis.

Marshall
As Saint Joseph's, Northwestern, Tennessee, and other bubble teams fall out of consideration, others take their place--Marshall is one of those teams. The Thundering Herd advanced to the Conference USA championship game by beating Southern Miss 73-62 behind Damier Pitts. Marshall getting an at-large bid is highly unlikely. But hey, if they beat Memphis in the C-USA finals, their mediocre profile won't matter.

HEAD-SCRATCHERS

Miami
With their season on the line, the Hurricanes failed to continue their run in the ACC tournament, falling to #17 Florida State 82-71. With N.C. State's win over Virginia in their quarterfinal matchup, it would be a surprise to see Miami in the NCAA tournament come Sunday.

#24 Temple
The Owls were shocked in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinal. Chaz Williams' 20 points and 10 assists led 8-seed Massachusetts to the 77-71 upset. Temple's seeding will take a hit, and the A-10 tournament is even more wide open than it was at the start.

Saint Joseph's
Like Temple, the Hawks suffered an early exit from the A-10 tournament. But for Saint Joseph's, the defeat will cost them a shot at an NCAA tournament bid. Losing to St. Bonaventure 71-68 eliminates the Hawks from at-large consideration.

Tennessee
The Volunteers' late charge at an unlikely tournament bid came to an end on Friday with a 77-72 overtime loss to Ole Miss. The Rebels take Tennessee's place as the fringe SEC bubble team--they'll have to beat Vanderbilt in the semifinals to even get some consideration, though.

Nevada
Nevada joins the likes of Iona, Drexel, Middle Tennessee, and Oral Roberts--schools that were clearly the best teams in their conferences, but might miss the NCAA tournament because of a conference tourney upset. Nevada fell to Louisiana Tech in the WAC semifinals, 78-73, so welcome to the bubble, Wolf Pack.