Brian Collins
In the opening game of the 2013 NCAA Men's tournament, the North Carolina A&T Aggies (19-16) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference are prepared to take on the Liberty Flames (15-20) representing the Big South.
The Flames took home the Big South title to close out the season, giving them a berth in the tournament despite an 0-8 start to their season. Under the direction of coach Dale Layer, Liberty won their last five games of the season and hopes to carry the momentum into the Big Dance.
Louisville avoided the fate suffered by the number one seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the semifinals of the Big East Conference tournament, sending Notre Dame packing 69-57.
Despite a late comeback in the second half, the Hoyas were unable to erase the lead the Syracuse Orangemen had built by halftime. When time expired, the Orange held on to defeat Georgetown 58-55 and advance to the finals of the Big East tournament.
With the Big East Conference tournament championship right around the corner, it is still somewhat unclear who will be in it.
Late in the first half, Syracuse was dominating the Georgetown Hoyas, the number one seeded team in the tournament. Trevor Cooney came off the bench and hit two of three 3-point attempts to give the Orange a big lead. Going into the half, the No. 5 seeded Orangemen led 29-20 and didn't look to be slowing down.
Kansas State (26-6, 14-4 Big 12) and Oklahoma State (24-7, 13-5 Big 12) will meet for the second time in the one week, but this time a ticket to the conference tournament championship game is on the line.
In ACC tournament action, the number two-seeded Duke Blue Devils are set to take on the number seven-seeded Maryland Terrapins at 7 p.m. in the Greensboro Coliseum.
In Big Ten conference tournament action, the No. 3 seed Michigan State Spartans will look to defeat a hungry Iowa Hawkeyes team tonight at 9 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago.
This will be the first meeting between the two teams this year and the Spartans will certainly be looking to build on the momentum they've created since losing three conference games in a row to Indiana, Ohio State, and in-state rival Michigan.
Georgetown, the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament , will take on the fifth- seeded Syracuse Orangemen tonight in the semifinals at 7 p.m. in New York.
The high-scoring offense of Syracuse (72.1 points per game) is hoping to improve on its past two meetings with the Hoyas, having been held to just 85 points total in those games.
The Big Ten tournament is underway and already a few upsets have been avoided.
In what has been a rollercoaster of a season for most Big Ten teams, the strength of the conference cannot be questioned, yet they continue to do internal damage to themselves.
Marquette crashed the Big East title party last week with its dramatic overtime victory over St. John's, 69-67, giving them a three-way tie for first atop the conference.
The No. 4 Louisville Cardinals, are set to take on Villanova in the quarter finals of the Big East tournament tonight at 7 p.m. EDT as they look for their eighth straight victory on the road to the NCAA tournament.
Rory McIlroy will need to rebound from a stunning loss at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in order to stand a chance at defending his titled at the Honda Classic.
Tonight, in Big Ten action, the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines (23-4, 10-4 Big Ten) take on the struggling Nittany Lions (8-18, 0-14 Big Ten) who are yet to win a conference game this year.
The Bruins (20-7, 10-4 Pac-12) will look to better their chances of a Pac-12 Championship tonight as they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-8, 9-6 Pac-12).
The fifth-ranked Miami Hurricanes (22-4, 13-1 ACC) need to fend off visiting Virginia Tech (12-15, 3-11 ACC) if they hope to hold on to a projected number one seed in the upcoming NCAA March Madness Tournament.
For the first time in 24 years, the Golden Gophers knocked off the number one team in the nation, the Indiana Hoosiers."We took care of the ball, something we haven't done in a long time," said Minnesota Coach Orlando 'Tubby' Smith.
