March Madness Sites

With the opening round of the NCAA tournament starting on March 16th, I thought it would be vital to know where the games are taking place.

Tuesday, March 16th- Opening Rounds
*UD Arena in Dayton Ohio. Host= University of Dayton

First and Second Rounds (March 18th nd 20th)
*New Orleans Arena. Host= Tulane University
*Dunkin Donuts Arena in Providence, Rhode Island. Host= Providence College/Big East
*HP Pavillion in San Jose, Ca. Host= San Jose State University
*Spokane Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington. Host= Washington State University

First and Second Rounds (March 19th and 21st)
*HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. Host= MAAC
*Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Host= Jacksonville University
*Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Host= Marquette
*Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Host= Big 12 Conference

Regionals (March 25th and 27th)
*East: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. Host= Syracuse University
*West: Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Host= University of Utah

Regionals (March 26th and 28th)
*Midwest: Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. Host= Missouri Valley Conference
*South: Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. Host= University of Houston

Final Four (April 3rd and 5th)
*Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Host= Butler University

Week of March 1st Bubble team results/upcoming games

With Selection Sunday happening on March 15th, many teams are in need of huge wins against opponents to be able to claim a bubble spot in the NCAA tournament. Starting with games on Tuesday March 2nd, the results are as followed.

Tuesday Games
Vanderbilt at Florida- Vanderbilt beat Florida 64-60 making the Gators go into Kentucky 9-7 in the tough SEC.

Georgia Tech at Clemson- Clemson beats Georgia Tech 91-80 bringing safety to Clemson's chances at the NCAA tournament, and the Yellow Jackets basically out of it.

Louisville at Marquette- Marquette punishes Louisville 69-48 making them feel real good about their position as Louisville must keep on going through the struggles of the Big East Tournament.

Wednesday Games
Wake Forest at Florida State- Florida State wins 51-47 helping the Seminoles to a chance at the NCAA Tournament.

Connecticut at Notre Dame- The Huskies demolished Notre Dame 76-51. This win could very well be for the spot in the bracket.

Charlotte at Rhode Island- Rhode Island beats Charlotte 80-58 making Charlotte lose a lot of hope for a chance at the NCAA tournament.

Games Still to Come
Thursday- Dayton at Richmond- If Dayton does not win this, they must make it to the A-10 finals to have a shot at getting into the NCAA tournament.

Saturday- UAB at UTEP- must win for both teams.

Saturday- Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech- Since GT lost to Clemson, this is a huge one for both teams!

Saturday- Notre Dame at Marquette- must win for Notre Dame.

Saturday- New Mexico State at Utah State- Utah State needs this one for the WAC crown, and at large hopes at the NCAA tournament.

Best Scorers in every Conference in NCAA

America East Conference- John Holland- 19.9 PPG
ACC- Malcolm Delaney- 20.5 PPG
A-10- Jordan Crawford- 19.6 PPG
Big East- Luke Harangody- 24.1 PPG (Notre Dame)
Big Sky- Damian Lillard- 19.7 PPG (Weber State University)
Big South- A. Parakhouski- 21.7 PPG (Radford University)
Big Ten- E. Turner- 19.5 PPG (Ohio State University)
Big 12- J. Anderson- 22.8 PPG (Oklahoma State University)
Big West- O. Johnson- 18.0 PPG (UC Santa Barbara)
CAA- C. Jenkins- 20.4 PPG (Hofstra)
C-USA- A. Coleman- 25.6 PPG (Houston)
Ivy- Z. Rosen- 17.8 PPG (Penn State)
MAAC- R. Pickett- 17.1 PPG (Manhattan)
MAC- D. Cool- 21.1 PPG (West Michigan)
MEAC- R. Holmes- 22.0 PPG (Morgan State)
MVC- O. Eldridge- 15.9 PPG (Illinois State)
NEC- C. Hassan- 19.2 PPG (Sacred Heart)
OVC- T. Marshall- 17.7 PPG (Jacksonville State)
Pac-10- L. Fields- 22.1 PPG (Stanford)
Patriot- C. Harris- 21.1 PPG (Navy)
SEC- D. Downey- 22.5 PPG (South Carolina)
Southern- D. Sims- 20.4 PPG (Appalachian State)
Southland- M. Haynes- 23.0 PPG (Tex Arlington)
SWAC- G. Johnson- 17.0 PPG (Jackson State)
Sunbelt- T. Johnson- 18.0 PPG (La Lafayette)
WCC- O. Samhan- 21.5 PPG- (St. Mary's)
WAC- A. Oliver- 22.9 PPG- (San Jose State)
Independents- C. Garcia- 19.1 PPG (Seattle University)
MWC- J. Fredette- 20.7 PPG (Brigham Young University)
Horizon- B. Wood- 17.7 PPG (Valpairaso)
A-SUN- A. Hodzic- 22.7 PPG (Lipscomb)
Summit- R. Glenn- 19.3 PPG (IUPUI)
Great West- A. Gonzalez- 17.8 PPG (Houston Baptist)
****Stats official as of 3/4/10

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/statistics?conf=1

LOCAL NEWS: #22 Maryland beats #4 Duke 79-72

On senior night for Maryland's Vasquez, Hayes, and Milbourne, the Terps were able to pull an upset on the Duke Blue Devils. Because of this win by the Terps, they are now tied with Duke for the #1 spot in the ACC. With the ACC struggling this year, it is vital to be one of the top because not that many will enter the NCAA tournament due to conference struggles. Maryland and Duke are shoe-ins for the tournament, but being the ACC champ is just as important to both these teams. Maryland was the underdog in this game, but with Vasquez and Hayes scoring 35 points combined, it is hard for them to lose. Congratulations to University of Maryland on the big win!

NCAA AP Top 10/ESPN-USA Today Top 10/Crack's Top 10

According to the AP Poll, the top 10 teams in the country are as followed:
1. Syracuse
2. Kansas
3. Kentucky
4. Duke
5. Kansas State
6. Ohio State
7. Purdue
8. New Mexico
9. Villanova
10. West Virginia

According to ESPN and USA TOday, the top 10 teams in the country are as followed:
1. Syracuse
2. Kansas
3. Kentucky
4. Duke
5. Kansas State
6. Purdue
7. Ohio State
8. West Virginia
9. Villanova
10. New Mexico

According to me, Crack, the top 10 teams in the country are as followed:
1. Syracuse
2. Kansas
3. Kentucky
4. Kansas State
5. Duke
6. Ohio State
7. Purdue
8. New Mexico
9. Villanova
10. West Virginia

* These rankings are as of 3/2/2010

The Kansas Jayhawks were known as the number 1 team in the nation for about 3-4 weeks before Oklahoma State upset them on February 27th 85-77.

Kentucky #1 in Country for less than a week

South Carolina beats Kentucky, taking them away from being the #1 team in the nation.

Syracuse is currently the #1 team in the Country according to the NCAA Coaches and AP Polls. Aside from Duke, All other teams in the top 4 were once ranked #1 at some point through out this season. Syracuse is the most recent because of its highly effective zone defense.

Kansas has the longest active winning streak at home, and is ranked #2 in the country according to the NCAA coaching and AP Polls.

Kentucky is ranked #3 in the country according to the NCAA Coaching and AP Polls.

Currently, Duke University is ranked #4 in the country in the NCAA Coaches and AP polls.