Big Ten

Week One Conference Tournament Schedules

ACC (March 8-11 in Atlanta)
Regular season champion: North Carolina
.pdf bracket

In the latest installment in his "Coaching Greats" series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with Nikki Kelley, the daughter of the late Fred Taylor. Taylor, who also played at Ohio State, returned to the school and helped lead the Buckeyes to seven NCAA tournament appearances and a national title in 1960. 

Jon Teitel: Your dad served in the Air Force from 1943-1946. What impact did his military service have on his role as a father?

Last week CHN writer Jon Teitel unvelied part one of his CollegeHoops.net All-Conference selections, featuring the fourteen conferences that begain conference tournament play at that time. The final seventeen teams are here, with the Player of the Year in each league in italics. 

In other action on Tuesday night both Connecticut and Xavier fell on the road, and it's now beyond danger time for both teams.

While NCAA Tournament runs by Butler and VCU prove that there is more parity than ever in college basketball, the power conferences still rule. Here is a ranking of all 74 power conference teams, including a comparison to how they ranked in the previous update 2 months ago.

 

Although the conference table was mostly set back in January when we last updated the Consensus Conference Ranking, there have been some changes since. As you'll see below, the Mountain West dropped from 4th to 6th since January 3rd, while the Colonial and Ivy have jumped 2 spots.

With games at #13 San Diego State and against #11 UNLV this week, Steve Alford's New Mexico Lobos had a great opportunity to not only take control of the Mountain West but also make a statement nationally. 

Mission accomplished. 

Wednesday night's game between New Mexico and San Diego State was a big one for the visitors, as Steve Alford's team didn't own a single win over a Top 25 team. But also on the line was sole possession of first place in the Mountain West after UNLV fell at TCU on Tuesday night.

With Selection Sunday rapidly approaching the chances left for teams to improve their tournament resumes are dwindling, which makes this week vitally important to Steve Alford's New Mexico (20-4, 6-2) Lobos. While the have an impressive record there aren't a lot of marquee wins to their credit, but they've got a shot at one on the road as they visit #15 San Diego State (20-4, 6-2). What's also on the line this week: the driver's seat in the Mountain West race, as UNM has lost to both SDSU and UNLV while those two split their two meetings.

As the streak grew longer, it seemed as if it became a foregone conclusion in the eyes of many that Murray State would simply run through the Ohio Valley Conference on their way to a Sears BracketBusters contest against Saint Mary's. Steve Prohm's head coaching career got off to a dream start, as the Racers won 23 straight games with Isaiah Canaan and Donte Poole leading the way. That run came to an end on Thursday night as the Racers fell 72-68 to a Tennessee State team that relied on balance to grab their eighth win in the last nine games.