It Should Be Enough

Maryland lost to Duke today, but only by six. It looked like it could go either way at halftime, and then things got bad. With about seven minutes left, Maryland was down by 12. Then, thanks to some last-minute heroics by Eric Hayes, the deficit decreased by six instead of gaining more. Only playing an eight-man rotation really hurt the Terps, as the Blue Devils ran by them in the second half on their way to controlling the game. It was really apparent with the lack of big men; Dave Neal looked gassed for the majority of the game, and Landon Milbourne didn't produce the way he normally does against Duke. 

Either way, it looks like the Terps will be dancing this coming week, most likely as an 11th seed. In three different projections I've seen, the Terps have drawn Marquette, Xavier and Arizona State. The Terps could take any of those teams. That's for tomorrow now. For now, to recap today:

The Good

- Memphis eased through the Conference-USA tournament, crushing Tulsa 64-39. Book Memphis for a number 1 seed; book Tulsa for the NIT. 

- Tennessee beat Auburn. If Auburn had beaten Tennessee and gotten that on their resume, they would have been hard to ignore even if they lost in their next game. This way, Tennessee can still win the SEC championship game and save an at-large bid, as well. 

- Missouri beat Baylor. Baylor was making everyone sweat, but for once, a Big 12 team took care of business and put the Bears (who were 5-11 in conference in the regular season) down. 

- Temple, who was definitely in bubble consideration, is no longer a factor since they beat Duquesne in the A-10 championship game. It was unfortunate Temple got there in the first place, but good that they held off Duquesne and limited the Atlantic 10 to only three bids. 

- Utah squeaked by San Diego State to win the Mountain West title. San Diego State is squarely on the bubble along with Maryland, so it would have been devastating for them to get the automatic qualifier bid. 

The Bad

- LSU proved just how terrible the SEC is by losing to Mississippi State. How MS ST can even be considered by some to be a bubble team now is beyond me; LSU was literally the first ranked team they had faced the entire season. In any case, MS ST is now in the SEC championship game. If they were to win, it would steal an at-large bid from somebody. 

- USC delivered a huge blow to the Terps' at-large hopes by beating Arizona State in the Pac-10 title game. The Terps are definitely one of those teams in "the last four in/out" right now, so, for example, if they were the second to last team in after losing to Duke, they became the last team in after USC got in. 

The Two Things Left That Could Go Wrong

- Utah State could lose to Nevada tonight. That would put Utah State into the at-large field, and they would definitely be on the bubble. I'm not sure whether they would or would not get a bid, but it would be an extra headache. In any case, it's definitely not as bad as if ...

- Mississippi State beats Tennessee tomorrow. If the Terps don't get in the tournament, that could very well be the game that keeps them out. Tennessee will be in, probably as a seventh seed or so, and there's no chance that Mississippi State's resume stacks up favorably compared to the Terps' if the Bulldogs lose tomorrow. 

So, that's about it for Championship Weekend. I'll be back tomorrow after the selection committee is done breaking hearts tomorrow.