Friday has brought lots of excitement.  How about Texas A&M hitting a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left against Alabama to take a 1 point lead to then watch the Tide’s star player Collin Sexton drive down the court to hit a runner in the lane to potentially save Alabama’s season.

How about Conference USA becoming a wide-open bid stealing league as regular season champion Middle Tennessee State (with a 27 RPI) lost in overtime to Southern Miss – a team they beat twice by double digits in the regular season.

For the last few weeks, I have heard about how amazing Missouri has been to become a potential tournament team without their star one-and-done player who was injured at the start of the season.  And now that Michael Porter Jr is coming back, they might be a tough out.  Maybe the Tigers would have been better off without that star jacking up 17 shots on way to a 62-60 loss to Georgia.

Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma State all won big games yesterday to earn chances to prove they are more than a bubble team against their conference’s elite teams.  They all left today with double digit losses and big questions of if they will make the tournament.

From a local perspective here in Richmond, both Richmond and VCU won today and will get their chance to make the Atlantic 10 a bid-stealer.  The Spiders go against #2 seed St. Bonaventure while the Rams get conference regular season champ Rhode Island.

With all the bubble teams losing by double digits, I think about my bracketology and how wrong I am likely going to be – it is going to be tough to pick.  I am glad my picks are just for fun – the committee’s decisions will matter a lot, and most likely, no matter who they choose, someone is bound to be upset with what might be a legitimate argument that they belong in more.

Friday sees quarterfinals from the SEC, with the semifinals from the ACC, Big 12, Big East and Pac 12.  Should be some fantastic games!!!