There are only 26 games left – 14 of them will see their winners earn an automatic bid to the Tournament.  I could probably rant about all the games – but that would make this pretty long (and it already will probably be pretty long).  Here are the games to watch:

BID STEALERS – These are the games where the winner might reduce the size of the bubble by one.

• Atlantic 10 Semi-finals (Rhode Island vs St. Bonaventure and St. Louis vs Davidson).  Technically, Davidson has a NET ranking high enough to be on the bubble – but from a realistic perspective, Rhode Island sending VCU into the at large pool has taken a spot.
• Mt West – San Diego State vs Utah State (6 pm EST) – Utah State probably is already in – they were right on the cusp of the bubble / lock line to begin with.  But anything can happen in a championship game – and after last night’s upset of Nevada, there is no reason to believe that San Diego State can not steal the Mountain West bid.
• MAC – Bowling Green vs Buffalo (7:30 pm EST) – Buffalo is a ranked team who only lost twice this year to MAC opponents and probably locked into the tournament.  One of those two losses this year was at Bowling Green – so before you think Buffalo’s automatic bid is a guarantee, remember what happened to VCU.

MAJOR CONFERENCE FINALS – there is a good mix of games here

• Big 12 – Kansas vs Iowa State (6 pm EST) – even when the Jayhawks regular season streak gets taken away, they still figure out a way to be able to raise a banner next year.  Not to mention they saved the bubble by knocking off West Virginia last night.  Iowa State had a good upset of co-champ Kansas State last night – so they will likely have something to say about where that banner gets raised.
• Big East – Villanova vs Seton Hall (6:30 pm EST) – Seton Hall started this week on the bubble.  I have to expect that making the final is enough to get the Pirates in the dance, but they have their chance to make it a mute point – of course, that path has to go through Villanova who has dominated this conference in recent years.
• ACC – Duke vs Florida State (8:30 pm EST) – This creates an interesting matchup of two locked teams.  Have to expect that Duke will be a 1 seed if they win tonight (maybe they are even if they lose).  But Florida State is one of the strong defensive teams that can slow down the Blue Devil’s talented starting five – their question will be whether they can score enough points to take advantage of their defense.
• Pac 12 – Washington vs Oregon (10:30 pm EST) – are both of these teams bubble teams that have done enough to make the tournament.  I have to suspect Washington as the conference champion has done enough.  It is definitely unclear if Oregon (or the Arizona State team the Ducks beat last night to get here) has done enough.  Should be a great game – when both teams know they might not want to leave their NCAA hopes in the Selection Committee’s hands.

CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS – great mix of locks and bubbles

• SEC – Florida vs Auburn (1 pm EST) will see if the Gators can continue their bubble run to get to the Championship game.  Then Tennessee vs Kentucky (3 pm EST) could be the game that sends the winner to a potential #1 seed.  The Tennessee vs Kentucky game probably is the best matchup of the day.
• Big 10 – Michigan St vs Wisconsin (1 pm EST) should be a really great physical game – with the Spartans trying to stay in the race for a top 2 seed..  Michigan vs Minnesota (3:30 pm EST) will see if the Wolverines can also stay in the race for a top 2 seed, while the Gophers will try to make their bubble case by showing they can beat another top team that is not named Purdue.
• American – Houston vs Memphis (3 pm EST) and Cincinnati vs Wichita State (5 pm EST).  Houston is trying to to see if they can sneak into the 2 seed conversation.  Memphis is trying to improve their bubble profile – and a victory against Houston would certainly do that.  Cincinnati is safely in the tournament but would obviously like to improve their seed.  And Wichita State will be trying to steal a bid – the championship title is their only way into the dance.

Enjoy the games!!!!