To be honest, there is one last mid-major tournament final that gets preference tonight before the major conferences take their turn on the stage. The Patriot final at 7:30 pm EST will see Colgate try to defend their regular season title against 2nd place Boston University. Colgate managed to win both games during the regular season against Boston – a third win sends them to the dance.

There are some major conferences in play but they are still all the early rounds. Things really get interesting for them tomorrow. But this isn’t Thursday’s viewing guide – so here are the bubble teams who found themselves stuck in an interesting early round game (or just games of interest).

2 pm – NC State vs Pittsburgh. Don’t know what to think about NC State – they have a NET ranking of 54 so they are in the discussion. Can’t really afford to lose this game.

5:30 pm – Arizona vs Washington. Arizona is also an interesting team. Their NET ranking of 14th says they are safely in the tournament. But I suspect things might get a little bit uncomfortable if they lose to Washington and their NET falls.

7 pm – St John’s vs Georgetown. A pair of teams in the 60s of the rankings. Don’t worry think either can get in without winning the Big East tourney (each has too many losses) – but these two teams should be evenly matched for an entertaining game.

7pm – Notre Dame vs Boston College. The Fighting Irish are in the 50s of NET. They have done that by winning the games they are supposed to but always falling short against the top teams. To have any chance they have to beat one of those top teams in the ACC – which implies they better beat BC so they can get a chance to do that Thursday.

8:30 pm – Indiana vs Nebraska. The Hoosiers are likely the Big 10s best hope to get 10 teams in the dance, since I can’t see my Boilers making it with 16 losses unless they get to the final on Sunday. Indiana doesn’t have 16 losses but – you don’t make a good impression by losing to Nebraska – who just added 2 football players to the team to fill their roster after suspending two players.

9 pm – Arkansas vs Vanderbilt. Arkansas is the best test of what the committee does with injuries. The Razorbacks are 19-7 this season with second leading scorer Isaiah Joe. But they went 0-5 while he was out for a knee injury. His return to the lineup has got Arkansas winning again (including recently against LSU). But we might not get to find out if the committee will look past their 7-11 SEC conference record due to the injury if they don’t handle business against Vandy.

9 pm – Stanford vs Cal. Stanford is like Arizona – really good NET ranking at 30 but don’t want the last memory of the committee being a lost to Cal.

9 pm – UNC vs Syracuse. Can a deep run in the ACC tourney get Syracuse to the dance (they have done it before). Can you believe the Tar Heels are so far under 500 that their season is over if they don’t win the ACC tourney? Last chances to watch Cole Anthony before he probably goes pro….

9:30 pm – Xavier vs DePaul. Not interested in the 9 pm games – then watch this Big East game. Xavier is one of the better ranked bubble teams in action on Wednesday – and DePaul is much improved (they were 12-1 before the tough Big East conference completely derailed their season).

11:30 pm – Colorado vs Washington State. You are still awake!!!! Well there is still basketball for you. Colorado was ranked for a while and like Arizona has a great NET ranking – so they are probably in. But Colorado has lost their last 4 games, so it would be good to not let that continue against Washington State.

So – while not a lot of games, there is still plenty to watch. Enjoy the games!!!