Not sure I will do this every day this week – but thought this could be fun!!!!   Here are the games that I am excited about today!!!!

Game of the day:

Missouri Valley Championship – #21 Wichita State (29-4) vs. Illinois State (27-5) – this game epitimizes the mid-major conferences.   These two teams both dominated the MVC, both have RPIs in the top 50, and both have 27+ victories this year.  But because they are mid-majors, they don’t have a lot of wins against other potential tourney teams.  The winner of the game will be dancing – the loser will be sweating out the entire week on the bubble hoping that the committee rewards their amazing success this season.

Conference Championships:

• Big South – #1 Winthrop (25-6) vs #7 Campbell (17-16) – Winthrop had to survive overtime against Gardner-Webb in their attempt to back up their regular season title with a trip to the dance.  Will they be able to finish their defense today?
• Atlantic Sun – #1 Florida Gulf Coast (25-7) vs #3 North Florida (15-18) – FGCU is another regular season champion who needs one more victory to defend their title.  Or will North Florida manage the rare feat of having a losing record but earning a bid to the tourney?

Other Games of Interest:

• #16 Purdue (24-6) at Northwestern (21-9) – how can a Big 10 fan not be excited about watching the regular season champion play the team that might be this year’s best story – can’t imagine a scenario that doesn’t have the Wildcats finally making the dance
• Minnesota (23-7) at Wisconsin (22-8) – winner claims the 2nd seed in the Big 10 tourney and a double bye.  The Gophers are another great story of improvement from only 8 wins last year.   The Badgers looked like they would run away with the conference title and now are just trying to end a skid that has seen them lose 5 of their last 6 games
• Monmouth (27-5) vs Siena (16-16) – Monmouth has a top 50 RPI this year – but they were passed up last year with maybe a better profile when they didn’t claim their conference bid.    Hoping that they can win the MAAC so we don’t have to see if that history repeats itself.
• Penn State (14-16) at Iowa (17-13) – Iowa has come out of nowhere to make a last ditch run at the tourney – they need to beat the Nittany Lions to continue
• East Carolina (14-16) at Houston (20-9) – can the American conference sneak a third team into the tournament – the Cougars can’t afford to lose at home

Enjoy the games!!!!