Georgetown

The "Braggin' Rights" game between Illinois and Missouri is alway an intense affair, with the fans in the stands split by the halfcourt line and both teams understanding what's at stake before they even hit the floor. This season's game was no different, although for a good portion of the first half it seemed as if the undefeated Tigers were on their way to a romp. Bruce Weber's team refused to fold, and once Missouri got out of control Illinois was able to mount their rally.

Andre Drummond (UCONN)

Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt)

Meyers Leonard (Illinois)

Mason Plumlee (Duke)

Herb Pope (Seton Hall)

Robert Sacre (Gonzaga)

Henry Sims (Georgetown)

Mouphtaou Yarou (Villanova)

Cody Zeller (Indiana)

Tyler Zeller (UNC)

Suspense was expected in the matchup between Georgetown and #12 Alabama, and that's exactly what the two teams provided as the Hoyas beat the Crimson Tide 57-55 on a Hollis Thompson three-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining. Instead of simply giving Jason Clark (22 points) the ball and telling him to shoot, Georgetown used the senior guard to run a dribble hand-off with Thompson on the right wing and the junior rose up and knocked down the shot. Levi Randolph's shot from half court missed just left of the rim at the buzzer, ending the Tide's 24-game home win streak. 

Thursday's schedule is highlighted by the first night of the SEC/Big East Invitational, and while the marquee games are tomorrow there are solid match ups to keep track of tonight. At the top of that list has to be Georgetown (5-1) heading south to take on #12 Alabama (7-0), and the question will be what John Thompson III's big men can do against JaMychal Green (15.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Tony Mitchell (14.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg).

Collegehoops.net's Bracketology projections have consistently proven to be the best in the business. Over the last 4 years, I'm the #1 ranked Bracketologist according to the Bracket Project. This ranking includes the likes of Joe Lunardi, Gary Parrish, Jerry Palm, and Andy Glockner.. none of whom come close. 

Monday marks the beginning of one of the most prestigious in-season tournaments as the Maui Invitational begins at the Lahaina Civic Center. The big game of the day: Michigan taking on Memphis, with both teams having designs on bigger things after seeing their seasons end in tough fashion on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament last year. Josh Pastner's Tigers have played just one game on the season but they were impressive in that appearance, beating Belmont 97-81 on Tuesday.

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Louisville

Marquette

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

West Virginia

Other (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John's, USF, Villanova)

As part of our 5-Year Ranking series, here's how the Big East teams stack up according to conference wins. There's a huge gap between the upper half of the Big East and the bottom 7 teams, but both Cincinnati and St. John's seem like they'll be closing ground over the next few years.

First Tier
 

Next up in the short series of looking ahead to next season is the Southwest region, where things essentially went haywire the first weekend. Advancing to San Antonio was the top seed Kansas and seeds 10 through 12, and when the dust settled VCU won the region. A number of teams have some important personnel issues to address, but the Jayhawks won't be the lone team expected to contend for their league title out of this region in 2011-12.

Tulsa (March 18)
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Boston University

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