throwback

Have to admit this is the first time i've really sat & watched the blue birds since our game with them - and I'm really glad we don't have a Fox Sports 1 contract. I love Gus Johnson, but the slow mo replays, close ups, fake drama, etc are a bit much. PU up 56-50, 2:47 to play

They have a tendency to suck every time we need them not to this year don't they. Good point - just as long as their AD isn't screwing us over in the NCAA selection committee room too

Man do I effing hate Creighton. They can't do anything right. They have one job. One. Sigh.

I know the NCAA committee says it doesn't look for interesting matchups, it's always just a coincidence when it happens. But is it possible they go out of their way to match us with a Big XII team? The reason I ask is each of the past 2 seasons, didn't Nebraska's women get matched with Big XII teams, Kansas in the first round two years ago and they played in Texas A&M's regional last year right? Met the Aggies in the 2nd round I believe. So maybe Texas, Baylor, or Oklahoma would be around the 6-7 seed line to perhaps match with NU as a 10-11 seed? Just a thought for those of us who believe in conspiracy theories.

98-77 WMU wins it - yeah that meltdown won't play well in Indianapolis

Have to think UCLA gained a couple of seed lines today

I agree - but they'll be a team that appears on that CBS graphic that says "Midnight bubble burst" or something clever like that with a 40-45 RPI ranking and everyone will say, why did they leave the little guy out? It's not fair to take the X-th place team from X Big Conference. WMU up 13 now with 5:00 to play.

PU was a mess all season chemistry wise, so they may not be all that sad to see some players leaving early. First one is soph guard Ronnie Johnson http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24485872/purdue-sophomore-ronnie-johnson-transferring

Toledo struggling, down 50-44 early 2nd half

And Palm's latest update has us solidly in as a 10, no First 4 game. He has 7 teams listed as in but on the bubble, but we are not one of them. Iowa is also a 10 but is on the bubble. I think it's just really tough to know what to do with them. Some good wins, but poor RPI and late season collapse. Last four in: SMU, Providence, Tennessee, BYU First four out: Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota, UW Green Bay http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology EDIT: Sorry uneblinstu beat me to it.

New Bracket Matrix update - NU still on 98 of 99 brackets, as high as a 9 on five brackets, as low as a 13 on one, and then of course out on one. NU still averages out to an 11 seed, fifth of last at-large teams in, Tennessee passed us, but we passed Xavier. St Joes is 3 spots ahead of us now. Providence is the last team in, so according to this they may need to either win the auto bid tonight vs the Blue Birds or at least play a very close game to stay in as an at-large. If they would lose badly, it could be tight for that last spot on the Matrix between them, Southern Miss and Minnesota. Maybe 20% of the brackets in the Matrix have not been updated today yet.

MSU jumps to #21 at Real Time RPI after its win, while Ohio St stays in Top 25. Wisconsin at #6 http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

Kentucky in complete control up 16 with 2:08 to play So it's been a good day for NU to stay out of the First 4 games - got the two losses we really wanted, Tennessee & NC State, plus the two bid stealing teams both will lose, St Bony and Georgia. Would be nice to see Providence lose tonight and St Joes lose tomorrow, but that's really about it at this point. Also wouldn't be bad to see Mich St win today and tomorrow. Not going to be much drama Sunday. NCAA committee can put NU's name on the 10 seed line & sit back and relax.

NC State done! Duke wins 75-67 Kentucky up 61-50 with 4:15 to play

Duke having a hard time putting the finishing touches on this thing - still up 72-65 with 27.7 to play, but just got a 5-second call and on the next inbounds attempt had to use its last timeout. It's a good thing NC State looks gassed

Duke still up 69-61 with the ball with 1:53 to go, but they're playing pretty tentatively as NC St gets more aggressive defensively...

MSU up 17 at halftime - if they can hang on, that should guarantee us 3 Top 25 RPI wins, as both MSU & OSU should have clinched Top 25 spots & Wisconsin certainly isn't falling out of the Top 25 Duke looking strong, up 66-54 with 4:00 to play, so another good result for NU just about clinched Kentucky up 53-43 over Georgia, 12:00 to play

Remember when everyone was saying MSU was a Final Four type team? They're actually playing like it today - up 37-16 with 5:30 to go before halftime

Good news - Duke pulling away, 56-47 at under 12:00 timeout Mich St up 29-16 on Wisconsin at 7:30 mark

That's funny - no one can seem to agree on Iowa, whether it's an RPI computer or a bracketologist. Live-RPI.com has them at #55.

Kentucky up 34-30 over Georgia at halftime Mich St stays hot, leads 19-13 at 12:00 mark And the one result we really would like to see is still tight: Duke 49, NC St 45, 15:00 mark

I also agree that they've done their homework and feel very confident that they're in, hence the watch party. But even if they aren't, this is a great chance to celebrate a terrific season and thank the players and coaches for what they accomplished. Six weeks ago it was tough to imagine us even getting an NIT home game, let alone being able to have an NCAA watch party. Now that doesn't mean we won't be upset if we're somehow left out of the NCAAs, but I hope people don't stay away just because of that small chance. The players deserve a huge crowd there to celebrate the (likely) NCAA bid and the season as a whole. It's been a while, so I'm not sure of protocol for this type of thing, but do we rush the floor when we appear on the bracket? Or do we have to wait until the full field is announced?

Mich St borrowing NU's offensive game plan vs Wisconsin - drive and then drive some more. MSU up 9-5 at first media timeout.

Duke 39, NC State 38 at halftime, Wolfpack hanging tough Mich St out quickly 7-0 over Wisconsin Kentucky 30, Georgia 23, 3:00 before halftime

Latest Bracket Matrix update has four fewer brackets for some reason - we're in on 98 of the 99. Still a projected 11 seed, now 5th among the last teams in as at-larges in terms of average seed. Xavier passed us. Appears as though the latest matrix update occurred just after St Joes & Tennessee games went final today - St Joes is 2 slots ahead of us, Tennessee is one slot below us. Among the at-large teams below us, only two are still playing. Providence is the last team in (Big East final tonight), NC State is sixth team out (ACC semis now). Georgia is not on any brackets yet, but they could potentially be a bid stealer. Really though most of the brackets agree on who's in and who's out. BYU is the 2nd to last at-large team in, and they're on 86 of 99 brackets. Providence is the last at large in, and they're on 68 of 99 brackets. Southern Miss is the first team out and they're on 28 of 99 brackets. Minnesota is in on 18 of 99 brackets and they're the 2nd team out. So pretty good agreement among the sample. So if you believe in the Bracket Matrix's idea of sampling a large number of bracket predictions to come up with the most accurate projection, we look very strong to be in, and look pretty good to avoid the First 4 games. Iowa is still a projected 10 seed, but is on only 93 of the 99 brackets.