We have our first three teams in the NCAA Tournament field!
Belmont had to rally from a 13 point first half deficit to defeat Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun championship, UNC-Asheville grabbed control in the second half and beat VMI in the Big South Championship, and Murray State beat Tennessee State in the rubber match between the two teams and eased a lot of tension amongst bubble teams in the Ohio Valley championship.
In the Ivy League, Harvard and Penn both won yesterday. This turns all of the Crimson fans into Tigers fans, as Harvard now needs Princeton to defeat Penn on Tuesday to clinch Harvard's first NCAA bid since their only appearance in 1946. If Penn wins, Harvard will be in a 1 game playoff for the NCAA bid for the second straight season.
Only one automatic bid is on the line today. The Missouri Valley title game matches up #2 seed Creighton against #4 seed Illinois State after ISU knocked off #1 seed Wichita State yesterday. Bubble teams will be safe if the Bluejays can win, but an Illinois State championship will mean the MVC turns into a 3 bid league.
Hit the jump for today's lineup!
America East Semifinals (on ESPN3):
#1 Stony Brook (21-8) vs #4 Albany (19-13), 4pm Central
#2 Vermont (21-11) vs #6 Hartford (9-21), 6:15
CAA Semifinals (on ESPN3):
#1 Drexel (26-5) vs #4 Old Dominion (20-12), 1pm
#2 VCU (26-6) vs #3 George Mason (24-8), 3:30pm
MAAC Semifinals (on ESPN3):
#1 Iona (25-6) vs #4 Fairfield (18-13), 1pm
#2 Loyola (22-8) vs #6 Siena (14-16), 3:30pm
MVC Championship (on CBS):
#2 Creighton (27-5) vs #4 Illinois State (20-12), 1:05pm
NEC Semifinals:
#3 Robert Morris (23-9) at #2 Wagner (25-5), 11am
#5 Quinnipiac (18-12) at #1 LIU-Brooklyn (23-8), 6pm
Southern Semifinals (on ESPN3):
#1N UNC-Greensboro (13-18) vs #3N Western Carolina (16-17), 5pm
#1S Davidson (23-7) vs #2N Elon (15-15), 7:30pm
Summit League Quarterfinals:
#4 Western Illinois (16-13) vs #5 North Dakota State (17-12), 6pm
#3 Oakland (17-14) vs #6 Southern Utah (13-16), 8:30pm
Sun Belt Quarterfinals (on ESPN3):
#1 Middle Tennessee (25-5) vs #9 Arkansas State (13-19), 6pm
#4 Louisiana-Lafayette (16-14) vs #5 North Texas (16-13), 6:15pm
#2 Arkansas-Little Rock (15-15) vs #7 Western Kentucky (12-18), 8:30pm
#3 Denver (21-8) vs #6 South Alabama (17-11), 8:45pm