As always, the bubble has created some unexpected results. With a bid on the line, teams like Texas and Indiana lost to teams with losing records and thus, nothing to lose. There were also some great games like UCF’s overtime victory over Cincinnati. And of course, congratulations to McNeese, Lehigh and Idaho for winning their conference tournaments to book their tickets to the dance!

While I haven’t fully checked, today is going to be a great day of basketball. 15 of the top 25 teams will be playing today, many of them for the first time. So, if you are a bubble team and made it this far, you now get your chance to make your impression. Instead of playing in a game where it would be considered a bad loss, you now are likely playing a team that might catch the committee’s attention if you win.

But you still need to win!!!!

I was going to pick a game from each time range but I just can’t. Look at the choices to make just from the noon games.

• In the ACC, we get #10 Virginia playing NC State – as Virginia looks to see if they can sneak into the conversation for a 2 seed while NC State tries to continue to strengthen their resume and move off the bubble – they are probably safe but a victory over Virginia probably seals the deal.
• In the Big 10, Iowa and Ohio State play in a game that both teams would like to have since it would be a win over a fellow bubble team. Once again, both are probably safe. That might be a better game to pick since it is two bubble teams instead of one.
• In the SEC, we have Kentucky and Missouri – the Tigers need this win more than the Wildcats thanks to their weaker NET ranking, but both are high quality teams that can make a run – that certainly must be the best game of the timezone.
• In the Big 12, we have #7 Iowa State vs #16 Texas Tech – so now we have two games between teams that both might be protected top 4 seeds in the tournament – that should be an incredible game!!! Why watch two bubble teams play when we could watch a game that could easily be a preview of an Elite 8 regional final.

There is so much to choose from today. You can’t go wrong. Whether you want to follow a small conference bid stealer, such as the days kick-off at 11 am where undefeated Miami(OH) tries to protect their spot by beating Massachusetts in the MAC or you want to follow any of the fantastic games in the power conferences, Thursday has you covered.

Enjoy the games!!!