2017 Championship “Week” Update: March 4

WE GET AN AUTOMATIC BID HANDED OUT TODAY!

Someone from the Ohio Valley, either #2 seed Tennessee-Martin or #4 seed Jacksonville State, is going to be the first team officially into the NCAA tournament today. The OVC does their best to protect their top two seeds in the tournament, giving them byes all the way to the semifinals, but that didn’t stop the Gamecocks from knocking off #1 Belmont last night, 65-59. Two straight years as the #1 seed for Rick Byrd and the Bruins, two straight semifinal losses. We also have to give a shoutout to Jonathan Stark and the Murray State Racers for giving us some drama over the past few days. UT-Martin held Stark in check, only letting him shoot 11 times for 11 points in order to advance in the tournament.

There’s all sorts of quarterfinals action shaking loose across the country, a few semifinals prepping us for title game action, and the Summit League makes their debut. Plus all the regular final regular season Saturday action that you get with college basketball, but that’s a whole different article.

NIT Automatic Bids: Belmont (OVC)

All times Central

CAA QUARTERFINALS (CAA.tv, maybe)

11am: #1 UNC Wilmington vs #9 Delaware
1:30pm: #4 William & Mary vs #5 Elon
5pm: #2 College of Charleston vs #7 James Madison
7:30pm: #3 Towson vs #6 Northeastern

HORIZON LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

4:30pm: #1 Oakland vs #9 Youngstown State
7pm: #2 Valparaiso vs #10 Milwaukee

MAAC QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

6pm: #3 Iona vs #6 Rider
8:30pm: #4 Siena vs #5 Fairfield

MISSOURI VALLEY SEMIFINALS (CBS Sports Network)

2:30pm: #1 Illinois State vs #4 Southern Illinois
5pm: #2 Wichita State vs #6 Missouri State

NEC SEMIFINALS (NEC Front Row)

11am: #4 St. Francis (PA) at #3 Wagner
1pm: #7 Robert Morris at #1 Mount St. Mary’s

OHIO VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP (ESPN2)

7pm: #2 Tennessee-Martin vs #4 Jacksonville State

SOCON QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

11am: #1 UNC Greensboro vs #9 The Citadel
1:30pm: #4 Chattanooga vs #5 Wofford
5pm: #2 Furman vs #7 Samford
7:30pm: #3 East Tennessee State vs #6 Mercer

SUMMIT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

6pm: #1 South Dakota vs #8 Western Illinois
8:30pm: #2 North Dakota State vs #7 IUPUI

WEST COAST QUARTERFINALS

3pm: #3 BYU vs #6 Loyola Marymount (TheW.tv)
5:30pm: #4 Santa Clara vs #5 San Francisco (TheW.tv)
9pm: #1 Gonzaga vs #9 Pacific (ESPN2)
11:30pm: #2 Saint Mary’s vs #10 Portland (ESPN2)