Tuesday's Pregame Beat

7:00 pm: Georgetown @ Louisville: The Hoyas are a tough team to figure out right now. They have lost two in a row and four of seven, but in that stretch have also beaten Villanova and Duke, two teams competing for the fourth No. 1 seed, handily. They were just as inconsistent their last time out, as the Hoyas managed to dig themselves a 23 point hole against Syracuse before rallying to cut the lead to one.

Louisville hasn't been much better. In their last three games, they lost by 20 to St. John's, beat Syracuse on the road, and struggled to hold of DePaul. Louisville is currently in fifth in the conference, but they still have some work to get done before they are considered a tournament lock. Beating the Hoyas at home would be a nice start. Georgetown is playing for nothing but seeding right now, in both the NCAA Tournament and the Big East tournament. The top four in the Big East get a double bye, and Georgetown is a game behind both Louisville and West Virginia, two teams they play down the stretch.

9:00 pm: Tennessee @ Florida: If the NCAA Tournament started today, Florida would probably be in. But it doesn't start today. It starts in about three weeks. In those three weeks, the Gators still have to play Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. As they are currently 8-4 in the league, losing all three games would mean Florida was swept by the three best teams in the league and would finish 9-7 in the SEC. Does a 9-7 SEC team get in the dance when it hasn't beaten anyone of note in league play?

Tennessee, on the other hand, is playing to get into the second spot in the SEC East. Since the conference has two divisions and 12 teams, the top two teams in each division get a bye in the tournament. Right now, Tennessee and Florida would both be playing first round games.

Bubble Watch

• 7:00 pm: Illinois @ Michigan: Illinois should be in. Let me rephrase that. Illinois good enough to be in, but they need to do a little more work in order to get in. The Illini have a very difficult schedule down the stretch, finishing with newly bubbled Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Wins won't be easy to come by, making this game very important.
• 7:00 pm: Old Dominion @ Georgia State: The Monarchs cannot afford another loss after losing during BracketBusters.
• 7:00 pm: Virginia @ Miami FL: The Cavs are basically done, but with a competitive ACC, a late run could be enough.
  
• 8:00 pm: Kansas State @ Texas Tech: Tech is almost dead in the water, but if they can win out and pick up a couple Big XII Tourney games they could be in. That's a big if, however.

Other notable games

• 7:00 pm: Syracuse @ Providence
• 8:05 pm: Northern Iowa @ Evansville
• 9:00 pm: Hofstra @ Northeastern
  
• 10:00 pm: New Mexico @ Colorado State