No major disasters for bubble teams last night, as Butler clinched the Horizon’s auto-bid, Oral Roberts won the Summit League, and Western Kentucky took home the Sun Belt title. The Hilltoppers likely weren’t going to make the field anyhow, but as Andy Glockner pointed out in yesterday’s Bubble Watch, they had at least a smidgen of a chance, while MTSU had absolutely none. Today more of the big boys kick things off in their post-season tournaments, as the Atlantic 10+4, Big East, and Pac-10 start their tournaments with “opening round” play. The MAC, SWAC, Big West, MWC, and C-USA also all get started today, while auto bids will be handed out tonight in the NEC and Big Sky. Those two conference championships are airing on ESPN2 starting at 6 PM CDT. So much for those Arkansas State/Arkansas games with Nolan Richardson on the wrong sideline. Strollin’ Nolan now says he’s no longer a candidate for the job. It’s a true shame, if only for the fact that we didn’t get to witness the meltdown from Hog fans if he’d reappeared at a school so close to Fayetteville. The always-excellent Tye over at Bring on the Cats has the most thorough guide to Kansas City you could imagine. Check it out before you hit the road for this weekend’s games, and perhaps we’ll see you down in the Power & Light district. |