2018 Championship “Week” Update: March 8

Only one shoutout to address from yesterday, and we congratulate Bucknell on winning the Patriot League tournament. They’re the 13th team to earn inclusion for the NCAA tournament, and they’ll be the most recent team added to the field at least until tomorrow. It’s the second Thursday of Championship “Week,” which means it’s the heaviest day of action. 12 leagues are holding their quarterfinals today, which in most cases means that they have four games going on today. While it means no championship games today, it also means a metric ton of DAYTIME BASKETBALL, so if you decide to play hooky from school and/or work today, no one is going to blame you.

There’s a TON of games that could have some sort of impact on Marquette‘s postseason hopes beyond just MU’s game against Villanova, so be sure to keep an eye on the T-Rank Rooting Guide. Also, there’s 10 #1 seeds in action today, and five of them are playing to avoid being consigned to the NIT by way of their regular season championship. Those are some pretty solid stakes if you’re looking for a quality game at some point.

NCAA AUTOMATIC BIDS

Bucknell (Patriot League)
College of Charleston (CAA)
Gonzaga (WCC)
Iona (MAAC)
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun)
LIU-Brooklyn (NEC)
Loyola-Chicago (Missouri Valley)
Michigan (Big Ten)
Murray State (OVC)
UNC-Greensboro (SoCon)
Radford (Big South)
South Dakota State (Summit League)
Wright State (Horizon League)

NIT AUTOMATIC BIDS

Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun)
Northern Kentucky (Horizon)
UNC-Asheville (Big South)
Rider (MAAC)
Wagner (NEC)

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All times Central.

AAC FIRST ROUND (ESPNU)

11am: #8 UConn vs #9 SMU
1:30pm: #5 Memphis vs #12 South Florida
6pm: #7 Temple vs #10 Tulane
8:30pm: #6 UCF vs #11 East Carolina

ATLANTIC 10 SECOND ROUND (NBC Sports Network)

11am: #8 VCU vs #9 Dayton
1:30pm: #5 George Mason vs #13 UMass
5pm: #7 Richmond vs #10 Duquesne
7:30pm: #6 Saint Louis vs #11 George Washington

ACC QUARTERFINALS (ESPN)

11am: #1 Virginia vs #9 Louisville
1:30pm: #4 Clemson vs #12 Boston College
6pm: #2 Duke vs #10 Notre Dame
8:30pm: #3 Miami vs #6 North Carolina

BIG 12 QUARTERFINALS (ESPN2)

11:30am: #4 Kansas State vs #5 TCU
2pm: #1 Kansas vs #8 Oklahoma State
6pm: #2 Texas Tech vs #7 Texas
8:30pm: #3 West Virginia vs #6 Baylor

BIG EAST QUARTERFINALS (FS1)

11am: #1 Xavier vs #9 St. John’s
1:30pm: #4 Creighton vs #5 Providence
6pm: #2 Villanova vs #7 Marquette
8:30pm: #3 Seton Hall vs #6 Butler

BIG SKY QUARTERFINALS (BigSkyConf.com)

2pm: #1 Montana vs #8 North Dakota
4:30pm: #4 Weber State vs #6 Northern Colorado
7:30pm: #2 Idaho vs #10 Southern Utah
10pm: #3 Eastern Washington vs #6 Portland State

BIG WEST QUARTERFINALS (Fox Sports Go, if you’re lucky)

2pm: #1 UC Davis vs #8 UC Riverside
4:30pm: #4 Cal State Fullerton vs #5 Long Beach State
8pm: #3 UC Irvine vs #6 Hawaii
10:30pm: #2 UC Santa Barbara vs #7 Cal Poly

CONFERENCE USA QUARTERFINALS

6pm: #1 Middle Tennessee vs #9 Southern Miss (Stadium on Twitter)
6:30pm: #4 Marshall vs #5 UT San Antonio (Stadium on Facebook Live)
8:30pm: #2 Old Dominion vs #10 Louisiana Tech (Stadium on Twitter)
9pm: #3 Western Kentucky vs #6 UAB (Stadium on Facebook Live)

MAC QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

11am: #1 Buffalo vs #8 Central Michigan
1:30pm: #4 Ball State vs #5 Kent State
5:30pm: #2 Toledo vs #7 Miami (OH)
8pm: #3 Eastern Michigan vs #11 Akron

MEAC QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

5pm: #3 Savannah State vs #6 North Carolina Central
7:30pm: #4 North Carolina A&T vs #5 Norfolk State

MOUNTAIN WEST QUARTERFINALS (CBS Sports Network)

2pm: #1 Nevada vs #8 UNLV
4:30pm: #4 Fresno State vs #5 San Diego State
8pm: #2 Boise State vs #7 Utah State
10:30pm: #3 New Mexico vs #6 Wyoming

PAC-12 QUARTERFINALS

2pm: #1 Arizona vs #8 Colorado (Pac-12 Network)
4:30pm: #4 UCLA vs #5 Stanford (Pac-12 Network)
8pm: #2 USC vs #10 Oregon State (Pac-12 Network)
10:30pm: #3 Utah vs #6 Oregon (FS1)

SEC SECOND ROUND (SEC Network)

1pm: #8 Texas A&M vs #9 Alabama
2:30pm: #5 Missouri vs #12 Georgia
6pm: #7 Mississippi State vs #10 LSU
8:30pm: #6 Arkansas vs #11 South Carolina

SOUTHLAND QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

5pm: #4 Sam Houston State vs #5 New Orleans
7:30pm: #3 Stephen F. Austin vs #7 Central Arkansas

WAC QUARTERFINALS (WatchESPN)

2pm: #3 Grand Canyon vs #6 UMKC
4:30pm: #2 Utah Valley vs #7 Cal State Bakersfield
8pm: #1 New Mexico State vs #8 Chicago State
10:30pm: #4 Seattle vs #5 UT Rio Grande Valley