Catching up with the little dances

The first weekend of March Madness is over with. 96 hours of seemingly-endless college basketball action has come to a halt, and we now must wait three more days until the NCAA Tournament to continue.

But that doesn't mean we have to forget about college basketball for the next 70 hours.

Why?

Because The N.I.T., C.I.T, and C.B.I are all taking place this week. The N.I.T finishes up second round action and begins quarterfinal competition to determine which four teams will travel to Madison Sqaure Garden for the semifinals. The C.B.I and C.I.T also continue this week, and since the C.I.T does not have a bracket, it may take you the entire time to project match-ups in the next round.

But since this is all that we are left with until Thursday, now is as good a time as ever to get caught up on "The Little Dances".


N.I.T. Results

First Round

Region 1
#1 Alabama 68, #8 Coastal Carolina 44
#2 Miami (FL) 85, # 7 Florida Atlantic 62
#3 Missouri State 89, #6 Murray State 76
#4 New Mexico 69, #5 UTEP 57

Region 2
#1 Colorado 88, #8 Texas Southern 74
#4 California 77, #5 Ole Miss 74
#6 Fairfield 62, #3 Colorado State 60
#7 Kent State 71, #2 Saint Mary's 70

Region 3
#1 Boston College 82, #8 McNeese State 64
#2 Washington State 85, #7 Long Beach State 74
#3 Oklahoma State 71, #6 Harvard 54
#4 Northwestern 70, #5 UW-Milwaukee 61

Region 4
#1 Virginia Tech 79, #8 Bethune-Cookman 54
#2 Cleveland State 63, #7 Vermont 60
#4 Wichita State 76, #5 Nebraska 49
#6 Charleston 94, #3 Dayton 84


Second Round

Region 1
Monday 3/21 - 7:00PM - ESPN - #3 Missouri State at #2 Miami (FL)
Monday 3/21 - 9:00PM - ESPN - #4 New Mexico at #1 Alabama

Region 2
#1 Colorado 89, California 72
#7 Kent State 62, #6 Fairfield 68

Region 3
#4 Northwestern 85, #1 Boston College 67
Monday 3/21 - 11:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Oklahoma State at #2 Washington State

Region 4
#4 Wichita State 79, #1 Virginia Tech 76 OT
#6 Charleston 64, #2 Cleveland State 56



C.B.I Results

First Round

Davidson 85, James Madison 65
Creighton 85, San Jose State 74

Duquesne 87, Montana 76
Oregon 68, Weber State 59

Boise State 83, Austin Peay 80
Evansville 77, Hofstra 70

Rhode Island 76, Miami (OH) 59
Central Florida 69, St. Bonaventure's 54



C.I.T Results

First Round

Air Force 77, North Dakota 67
Santa Clara 68, Northern Arizona 63
San Francisco 81, Idaho 73
Hawaii 76, Portland 64
Southern Methodist 64, Oral Roberts 57 OT
Jacksonville 71, East Carolina 66 OT
Buffalo 75, Quinnipiac 68
Iona 85, Valparaiso 77
Ohio 65, Marshall 64
East Tennessee State 76, Furman 63
Northern Iowa 84, Rider 50
Western Michigan 74, Tennessee Tech 66


Second Round

Santa Clara 88, Air Force 75
Buffalo 49, Western Michigan 48
San Francisco 77, Hawaii 74
Southern Methodist 63, Jacksonville 62



Upcomming Games

N.I.T. Second Round
Monday 3/21 - 7:00PM - ESPN - #3 Missouri State at #2 Miami (FL)
Monday 3/21 - 9:00PM - ESPN - #4 New Mexico at #1 Alabama
Monday 3/21 - 11:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Oklahoma State at #2 Washington State

N.I.T Quarterfinals
Tuesday 3/22 - 9:00PM - ESPN - #7 Kent State at #1 Colorado
Wednesday 3/23 - 9:00PM - ESPN - #6 Charleston at #4 Wichita State

C.B.I Quarterfinals
Monday 3/21 - 7:00PM - Rhode Island at Central Florida
Monday 3/21 - 8:00PM - Davidson at Creighton
Monday 3/21 - 9:00PM - Evansville at Boise State
Monday 3/21 - 10:00PM - Duquesne at Oregon

C.I.T Quarterfinals
Monday 3/21 - 8:00PM - Southern Methodist at Northern Iowa
Tuesday 3/22 - 7:00PM - Ohio at East Tennessee State
Tuesday 3/22 - 7:30PM - Buffalo at Iona
Tuesday 3/22 - 7:00PM - Santa Clara at San Francisco


Continue reading...

The Little Dances: Day 7

We all know that March Madness is all about the real NCAA tournament. But while those lucky souls that managed to earn themselves a bid to the Big Dance sit back and wait for Thursday, the rest of the country takes part in what I like to call the Little Dances -- the NIT, the CBI, and the CIT.

Here's what happened on Thursday:

Not too much. In a game that was originally set to go yesterday, but was delayed so Pacific could have ample travel time (damn-near across the entire country) the Tigers won 64-56. It was not nearly as close as the score indicates.

Sorry, but that's it for the in-depth analysis on the little dances from tonight.

I mean, come on, did you watch that Kansas State game?

Did you hear Gus Johnson?

I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

C.I.T

Semifinals
Pacific 64, Appalachian State 56

Finals
Tuesday, March 30
TBA - Pacific at Missouri State


N.I.T

Semifinals
Tuesday, March 30 (New York City, NY)
7:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Ole Miss vs. #3 Dayton
9:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Rhode Island vs. #4 North Carolina


C.B.I

Finals (Best of 3)

Game 1
Monday, March 29
7:00PM - St. Louis at Virginia Commonwealth

Game 2
Wednesday, March 31
8:00PM - Virginia Commonwealth at St. Louis

Continue reading...

The Little Dances: Day 6

We all know that March Madness is all about the real NCAA tournament. But while those lucky souls that managed to earn themselves a bid to the Big Dance sit back and wait for Thursday, the rest of the country takes part in what I like to call the Little Dances -- the NIT, the CBI, and the CIT.

The Atlantic-10 dominated Wednesday night. Rhode Island and Dayton went on the road, into more-than hostile conditions, and squeezed out victories to ensure bids in the Final-4 at MSG. Plus, let's not forget about mighty St. Louis. The team with the bulbous head coach who wants his team to be in a different conference beat Princeton, the team that once almost beat a number one seed as a number-16 seed but didn't, and in the process earned themselves a right in the best-of-3 bizarro championship series of the College Basketball Invitational.

Here's what happened on Wednesday:


N.I.T
Quarterfinals

#2 Rhode Island 79, #1 Virginia Tech 72
The Rams trailed by as many as nine in the second half, but made a late push to defeat the hokies on Tech's home court. Lamont Ulmer had 13 points for the Rams, including the final two, a put-back off of his own miss, that won the game. Rhode Island's reward for a victory in Blacksburg? A semifinal date with the defending national champion North Carolina Tar heels in New York City.

#3 Dayton 77, #1 Illinois 71
The Dayton Flyers pulled ahead of the Fightin' Illini early in the game and never looked back. The Flyers trailed 3-0 before two consecutive trips down court resulted in baskets gave them the lead for the first and only time of the night. Illinois' Dimitri McCamey was two rebounds shy of a triple-double (13pt, 8reb, 10ast) but as a team the Illini shot below 30% and despite a late comeback, could never take the lead back. The Flyers move on to New York City to tangle with the #2-seeded Runnin' Rebels of Ole Miss.

Semifinals
Tuesday, March 30
7:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Ole Miss vs. #3 Dayton
9:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Rhode Island vs. #4 North Carolina


C.B.I

Semifinals
Virginia Commonwealth 88, Boston 75
St. Louis 69, Princeton 59

Finals (Best of 3)

Game 1
Monday, March 29
7:00PM - St. Louis at Virginia Commonwealth

Game 2
Wednesday, March 31
8:00PM - Virginia Commonwealth at St. Louis


C.I.T

Semifinals
Missouri State 67, Creighton 61

Thursday, March 25
8:00PM - Pacific at Appalachian State
Continue reading...

The Little Dances: Day 4

Sorry if we haven't been as up-to-date with the Little Dances as we should have been.

As you can imagine, we have had our eyeballs glued to CBS for the past 100 hours. But this break in March Madness action would be an applicable time to inform you of the other tournaments going on. After all, some of the kids playing this week do deserve to be playing post-season basketball.

One interesting tidbit about the College Basketball Invitational: The championship is a best-of-three series.

Can you imagine a Kansas/Kentucky best-of-three for the National Championship?

Neither can I. Thank you very much Northern Iowa.

But still, a best-of-three series would be a neat idea. But I guess I should wait in line. The NCAA already has it's hands full with another "neat" idea.

Here is where we stand after Monday's action:


N.I.T

Second Round

Monday, March 22
#1 Virginia Tech 65, #4 Connecticut 63
#1 Illinois , #5 Kent State
#2 Rhode Island 85, #6 Nevada 83
#3 Dayton 81, #2 Cincinnati 66

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 23
7:00PM - ESPN - #5 Texas Tech at #2 Ole Miss
9:00PM - ESPN - #4 North Carolina at #2 UAB
Wednesday, March 24
7:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Rhode Island at #1 Virginia Tech
9:00PM - ESPN2 - #3 Dayton at #1 Illinois


C.B.I

Quarterfinals

Monday, March 22
Boston 91, Morehead State 89 OT
Virginia Commonwealth 93, Charleston 86
Princeton 74, IUPUI 68 2OT
St. Louis 68, UW- Milwaukee 62 2OT

Semifinals

Wednesday, March 24
7:00PM - HDnet - Boston at Virginia Commonwealth
9:00PM - HDnet - Princeton at St. Louis


C.I.T

Quarterfinals

Monday, March 22
Missouri State 69, Louisiana Tech 40
Creighton 73, Fairfield 55
Appalachian State 80, Marshall 72
Pacific 63, Northern Colorado 59

Semifinals

Wednesday, March 24
7:00PM - Pacific at Appalachian State
9:00PM - Creighton at Missouri State

Continue reading...