Peaking Ahead to Thursday's College Basketball Slate

Check out Pay's latest bracket projections.
Also check out the schedule for conference tournaments.
Last night's reactions are up too.

Tomorrow has quite a lineup. Here are some things to take note of (thanks Pay for the help):

Tubby Smith and Minnesota, Pay's third to last team in, are in action tomorrow against Northwestern, a team a little further down the bubble chart.
Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Games in RED have major bubble implications.

ACC First Round
Game 1: No. 8 Virginia Tech vs. No. 9 Miami, noon
Game 3: No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 NC State, ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Big East Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 8 Providence, ESPN, noon
Game 2: No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 5 Marquette, ESPN, 2 p.m.
Game 3: No. 2 Pittsburgh vs. No. 7 West Virginia, ESPN, 7 p.m.
Game 4: No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 6 Syracuse, ESPN, 9 p.m.

Big Ten First Round
Game 1: No. 8 Minnesota vs. No. 9 Northwestern, noon
Game 2: No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 10 Iowa, ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Indiana, ESPN2, 5 p.m.

Big XII Quarterfinals
Game 6: No. 4 Kansas State vs. Texas, 3 p.m.
Game 7: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, 7 p.m.

PAC-10 Quarterfinals
Game 3: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Arizona, 3 p.m.
Game 5: No. 3 California vs. No. 6 USC, 9 p.m.

SEC Opening Round
Game 1: E4 Kentucky vs. W5 Ole Miss, 1 p.m.
Game 4: E3 Florida vs. W6 Arkansas, 9:45 p.m.

Mid-major alert! Big West, MAC, MEAC, MWC, Southland, SWAC, and WAC (is that mid-major really?) games tomorrow as well. Enjoy!!!

Thursday Night Streaming Updates...

We don't have many of these regular season Thursday left (to be honest, it's our last) and there are plenty o' matchups we have our eyes on.

Shocker, it's not all about the college basketball bubble...yet.

So who do you have tonight on the "bubble" for the Oceanic 6 on Lost?
Credit: Newsday.com

Checking in right before 9:00pm.

• #13 UCONN trails at Providence 64-59. Providence is savoring this matchup and the potential to play spoiler to white-hot UCONN. Jerome Dyson just scored his first basket. I suddenly have memories of his 10-point run during their double-digit comeback against Cincinnati. Thabeet re-enters with 4 fouls...interesting to see how he handles this in the paint.
  
• UCLA v. Stanford still tips off at 11pm eastern time. I understand my obvious East Coast-bias; however, there is no reason a game this rock solid (talkin' #3 vs. #7 and potential Pac-10 regular season supremacy) should be on so late for such a large portion fo the country.
• Georgia Tech leads Clemson by 2 with a little over six minutes left to play. Will any conference be as up and down as the ACC should be the next couple days? Something tells me free throws and deep-threes will decide the victor of this late-season ACC matcup.
  
• Northeastern Conference (Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Wagner, etc.) has started up tonight, no real upsets of note yet.
• Keep an eye on Xavier vs. St. Joe's at 9pm tonight. The Hawks are playing for their lives on the bubble, while the Musketeers have recently been called out on several blogs (including this one) for being rated a little too highly.

My girlfriend has taken over HD to watch the Project Runway finale. Sad times around 9:30pm.

• Of course, Clemson loses to (5-9 in conference) Georgia Tech 80-75. It's shocking to say, but Virginia Tech could play their way into the 3-seed in the ACC Tournament and still be on the outside of the "bubble" looking in. Clemson, Miami, and Virginia Tech may enter March Madness - wherever they are seeded - as some of the worst teams to be their respectively. Yeah, I said it.
• Providence hangs on late and impressively knocks off UCONN. Does this derail Husky momentum or are they saving it for MSG? The Friars may have locked up the 12-seed in the Big East tournament (only next year can all 16 years go to MSG).
• St. Joe's up early 20-17 on Xavier. This could be interesting to follow...
• Illinois also up on Michigan State 25-17 mid-way through the 1st-half. The Spartans may be the most frustrating team in the country - outside of College Park - this entire season. They are gonna be brutal to judge once brackets are released.
• No real eye-openers on the mid-major schedule right now. Maybe I need to look harder.
• UCLA v. Stanford is still at 11. I'm protesting by going to bed before then.
  
• Here are two fuzzy, yet hilarious random YouTube clips: Family Guy & Holiday Hawk. Enjoy!
  

Pay checking in at 9:50

• I have my eye on Oregon (7-9) versus Arizona State (8-8). Oregon is up 7 with 12 and change in regulation. If they hold on, their game against Arizona (who's handling winless Oregon State) may very well be an NCAA elimination game if both teams lose in the quarters of the PAC-10 tournament. On a side note, does anyone else think that Dick Enberg should write an essay for every tournament game that he covers and not just the finale?
• St. Joe's is up 7 at halftime against A-14 behemoth Xavier. I'll be shocked if they win and are not included in Joe Lunardi's next edition of ESPN Cracketology.
• Clement and I just spoke not too long ago and we're both missing out on the Stanford/UCLA. I'm really interested in seeing how the Cardinal guards will handle Collison and Westbrook. Though they are not the team that lost to Louisville by the first media timeout in the NCAA Tournament last season, I cannot say that I am sold on Stanford's ability to break guard pressure. While the Bruins won't press like a Louisville or a UAB of yesteryear under the tutelage of Mike Anderson, I envision them creating situations whereby the Cardinal will have to work to get the ball past the timeline.

Nearing 11pm

• Oregon (8-9) defeats Arizona State (8-9) setting up a clash between Arizona (8-9) and Oregon. If Oregon and Oregon State (who plays Arizona State) and you can only pick six PAC 10-teams, then who gets the boot [assuming all three lose in the Pac-10 quarters]?
• Xavier down 9 late. Make that 7 with 1:40 to go. I really hate the Hawk.
• Looking forward to the craziness of Arch Madness tomorrow with SIU and Illinois State in must-win situations.
• If Utah State hangs on at Boise State, the Aggies will be 11-4 and the Broncos will be 12-4. New Mexico State is up to 11-4. If Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico State will, then there will be an irrelevant four-way tie because New Mexico State has homecourt advantage regardless of their seed.
• Just to follow up, it's looking like St. Joe's is winning this one, setting up a huge showdown on Saturday at Dayton.
  

Until next update...