Rundown

How good did North Carolina look last night in their curb-stomping of the Duke Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor? That's the Tar Heel group we expected all season, and the one that appears to be in top form at the right time (i.e. heading into March Madness). If they meet again in the ACC Tournament, I expect a game similar to the first two - controlled by UNC for nearly the entire way.

Murray State avoided the upset (54-52), and claimed the automatic bid from the OVC yesterday, holding off Tennessee State as bubble teams everywhere rejoiced. The Racers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 30-1 record.

Why is Northwestern in Lunardi's field? After winning at Iowa yesterday, the Wildcats close the regular season 18-12 (8-10), and outside of splitting with Michigan State, I just can't justify it. Are we really going to point to a non-conference win over Seton Hall? LSU? In their last 20 games, Northwestern is 8-12. Is that what we want in the field? I'd rather take a look at Tennessee (18-13, 10-6), a team that's won 8 of 9, including wins over Florida and Vanderbilt, not to mention an earlier win over Florida (yep, they swept 'em) and a non-conference win over UConn. Since adding Jarnell Stokes to their roster mid-season, the Vols have gone 10-4. I think they are more likely to win a first round game than Northwestern.

Bubble teams are keeping an eye on the Mo Valley finals today ... Creighton v. Illinois State. If Illinois State wins, that's one less at-large spot for the rest of the field, because there's no way they would get in without the automatic bid, whereas Creighton is safely in the field of 68.

Butler's quest for another chance at creating some March magic came to an end last night, falling to Valpo (for the third time this season) in the Horizon League semi-finals. Butler just couldn't get it going, losing by 19.