Recent Game Recaps

INDIANAPOLIS -- Every day we get just a little more physically vulnerable, every day another step closer to the inevitable finish line of life. The positive trade-off is that whether we've cheated the reaper by strengthening our bodies or not, our minds are always increasing in power. Every day, we learn, we pick up something we didn't know before. Here are some truths that have revealed themselves over the weekend.

Bally has a street value. For the record, it's $43.00. That's how much Bally went for in this weekend's first-ever eBay auction, which is a lot more than the 26 clams Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha are priced at. Think about that for a moment. Thanks to everybody who bid Bally up, and if you're not one of the four finalists in the Tom Petty song-off, you'll have one last chance to win your own orange buddy tomorrow. That's right, one last chance... this will be the last weekly contest for Season 5.

Bally is severely delicious. This is what was waiting for me at press row before the Horizon League clincher at Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

These Bally cupcakes were a gift from Sally and Chris, a wonderful family that loves the Butler Bulldogs and have been great supporters of this very website. Bally haz a flavr thanks to The Flying Cupcake Bakery in Indianapolis, and from Twitter and e-mail reports over the weekend, is apparently now available for your Selection Sunday party or just-because. No word on whether or not they ship, but if Hoops Nation pounds them with orders, who knows?

It's almost Play-in Pizza Time. On my way out of Dayton on Saturday night after watching Wright State eke out a moral victory over Horizon two-seed Green Bay, I stopped in at the South Park Tavern a/k/a The Original Pizza Factory for a slice of pizza. If that name sounds familiar, it's because it's the Dayton pizza parlor that is the center of Hoops Nation every year two days after Selection Sunday and it's even been written up on famous websites. Bill Daniels, the owner, is the man responsible for the "GO 64 [or 65] SEED" signs in an ever-increasing fan section in UD Arena, and he's the very embodiment of the 16-over-1 thinking we espouse here on The Mid-Majority.

If you're in the area, and especially if you're not, please consider making the trip to Dayton for P.I.G. IX. It's a wonderful experience, and the atmosphere at both the tavern and the game is really great. There are annual trekkers coming in from Chicago, and this will be my fourth time. I'm hoping to organize a small-to-medium-sized Mid-Majority get-together at the SPT, so if you're interested in coming by, please drop a note in The Formâ„¢. Hope to see you there.

Chat supremacy is imminent. On Friday, I will be chatting all day from the Missouri Valley quarterfinals in St. Louis, otherwise known as Bizarch Madness. We'll start at 12 noon eastern, or 11 a.m. local time, and go until the second session is over at around 11 p.m. Central. And then we'll keep going until nobody's left. This is a moon shot at Rob Neyer's 12:01 at ESPN.com last April, and while it wouldn't go in their record book, it'll be a clear statement.

The chat will be filled with all kinds of whistles and bells, like a scoreboard and Twitter integration. Tweeting at @midmajority will put your question in the queue, so if you're in the building you can join in.

Seedz

No fewer than 14 of the 23 sub-Red Line conferences wrapped up their regular seasons this weekend, which means that they're ready for elimination time. Here are the seed assignments so far; the SoCon will finish up tonight, and the other nine will be racked up next weekend.

America East: 1. Binghamton 20-8 (13-3); 2. Vermont 23-7 (13-3); 3. Boston University 17-12 (11-5); 4. New Hampshire 13-15 (8-8); 5. Stony Brook 16-13 (8-8); 6. Maryland-Baltimore County 13-16 (7-9); 7. Albany 14-15 (6-10); 8. Maine 8-20 (4-12); 9. Hartford 6-25 (2-14)

Atlantic Sun: 1. Jacksonville 17-12 (15-5); 2. East Tennessee State 20-10 (14-6); 3. Belmont 18-11 (14-6); 4. Lipscomb 16-13 (12-8); 5. Campbell 14-15 (11-9); 6. Mercer 17-14 (11-9); 7. Stetson 13-16 (9-11); DNQ: North Florida, Kennesaw State, Florida Gulf Coast, South Carolina-Upstate (D-I transitionals)

Badlands: 1. North Dakota State 23-6 (16-2); 2. Oral Roberts 16-14 (14-4); 3. Oakland 20-11 (13-5); 4. IUPUI 16-13 (9-9); 5. Southern Utah 10-19 (8-10); 6. IUPU-Fort Wayne 13-16 (8-10); 7. South Dakota State 12-19 (7-11); 8. Centenary 8-22 (6-12); DNQ: Missouri-Kansas City; Western Illinois (eliminated)

Big Sky: 1. Weber State 20-8 (14-1); 2. Portland State 21-9 (11-5); 3. Montana 17-11 (11-5); 4. Idaho State 12-18 (9-7); 5. Northern Colorado 14-17 (8-8); 6. Montana State 13-15 (6-9); DNQ: Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona (eliminated)

Big South: 1. Radford 18-11 (15-3); 2. Virginia Military Institute 22-7 (13-5); 3. Liberty 21-10 (12-6); 4. North Carolina-Asheville 14-15 (10-8); 5. Winthrop 11-18 (9-9); 6. Gardner-Webb 13-16 (9-9); 7. Coastal Carolina 11-19 (5-13); 8. High Point 9-20 (4-14); DNQ: Charleston Southern (eliminated), Presbyterian (D-I transitional)

Colonial: 1. Virginia Commonwealth 21-9 (14-4); 2. George Mason 20-9 (13-5); 3. Northeastern 18-11 (12-6); 4. Old Dominion 20-9 (12-6); 5. Hofstra 20-10 (11-7); 6. Drexel 15-13 (10-8); 7. James Madison 18-13 (9-9); 8. Georgia State 11-19 (8-10); 9. Delaware 13-18 (6-12); 10. William & Mary 10-19 (5-13); 11. Towson 10-21 (5-13); 12. North Carolina-Wilmington 7-24 (3-15)

Horizon League: 1. Butler 25-4 (15-3); 2. Wisconsin-Green Bay 22-9 (13-5); 3. Cleveland State 21-10 (12-6); 4. Wright State 18-12 (12-6); 5. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 16-13 (11-7); 6. Youngstown State 11-18 (7-11); 7. Illinois-Chicago 15-14 (7-11); 8. Loyola (Ill.) 14-17 (6-12); 9. Valparaiso 9-21 (5-13); 10. Detroit 7-22 (2-16)

Metro Atlantic: 1. Siena 23-7 (16-2); 2. Niagara 24-7 (14-4); 3. Rider 18-11 (12-6); 4. Manhattan 16-13 (9-9); 5. Fairfield 16-14 (9-9); 6. Saint Peter's 11-18 (8-10); 7. Iona 12-18 (7-11); 8. Loyola (Md.) 12-19 (7-11); 9. Canisius 10-19 (4-14); 10. Marist 9-22 (4-14)

Missouri Valley: 1. Northern Iowa 20-10 (14-4); 2. Creighton 25-6 (14-4); 3. Illinois State 22-8 (11-7); 4. Bradley 17-13 (10-8); 5. Southern Illinois 13-17 (8-10); 6. Evansville 17-12 (8-10); 7. Wichita State 15-15 (8-10); 8. Drake 17-14 (7-11); 9. Indiana State 10-20 (7-11); 10. Missouri State 11-19 (3-15)

Northeast: 1. Robert Morris 21-10 (15-3); 2. Mount Saint Mary's 17-12 (12-6); 3. Sacred Heart 16-13 (12-6); 4. Long Island 16-13 (12-6); 5. Quinnipiac 14-15 (10-8); 6. Central Connecticut State 13-16 (8-10); 7. Wagner 16-13 (8-10); 8. Saint Francis (NY) 10-19 (7-11); DNQ: Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth, Saint Francis (PA) (eliminated)

Ohio Valley: 1. Tennessee-Martin 21-8 (14-4); 2. Austin Peay 17-12 (13-5); 3. Murray State 18-11 (13-5); 4. Morehead State 16-15 (12-6); 5. Eastern Kentucky 18-12 (10-8); 6. Tennessee State 12-17 (9-9); 7. Eastern Illinois 12-17 (8-10); 8. Tennessee Tech 12-17 (6-12); DNQ: Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouti (eliminated)

Patriot League: 1. American 21-7 (13-1); 2. Holy Cross 16-13 (11-3); 3. Navy 19-10 (8-6); 4. Army 10-18 (6-8); 5. Lehigh 15-13 (5-9); 6. Colgate 9-19 (5-9); 7. Bucknell 7-22 (4-10); 8. Lafayette 8-21 (4-10)

Sun Belt: 1. Western Kentucky 21-8 (15-3); 2. Arkansas-Little Rock 22-7 (15-3); 3. Troy 19-11 (14-4); 4. North Texas 18-11 (11-7); 5. Middle Tennessee State 17-13 (10-8); 6. South Alabama 17-12 (10-8); 7. Denver 14-15 (9-9); 8. Louisiana-Lafayette 10-19 (7-11); 9. Florida International 12-19 (7-11); 10. Louisiana-Monroe 10-19 (6-12); 11. New Orleans 11-18 (6-12); 12. Arkansas State 13-16 (5-13); 13. Florida Atlantic 6-25 (2-16)

West Coast: 1. Gonzaga 23-5 (14-0); 2. Saint Mary's 23-5 (10-4); 3. Portland 18-11 (9-5); 4. Santa Clara 15-16 (7-7); 5. San Diego 15-15 (6-8); 6. Pepperdine 8-22 (5-9); 7. San Francisco 11-18 (3-11); 8. Loyola Marymount 3-27 (2-12)

If you swing that way, head over to Basketball State for a continually-updated one-screen of seeds, matchups and results from Championship Fortnight.

Conference Calls

Tomorrow is the first Tourney Central of the year as the Big South, Horizon and OVC get things going. We'll start every day with season capsules, brackets, overviews, previews and recaps. If you want to review how last season went, you can do so here.

Colonial: In what will be the most difficult tourney to predict (do not bet on individual games this weekend, not even the first round ones), there was a wild regular-season finish on Saturday. Old Dominion (12-6, No. 4) won at Northeastern (12-6) 57-54 in overtime to complete the Huskies' drop from first place in early February into the No. 3 position after four losses in five league games; 6-10 Monarch Gerald Lee, who scored 17 points and provided the final free throw, is the biggest wild card in the event. VCU (14-4, No. 1) stopped Georgia State's momentum as Eric Maynor became the school's all-time leading scorer; George Mason (13-5) wrapped up its No. 2 seed campaign with a pullaway win over Towson, preserving a perfect 14-0 home record.

Bizarro Valley: Next year, back to normal. This time, pure basketball nuttiness. Creighton and Northern Iowa will officially share the conference regular-season title -- the first tie at the top since 2002 -- and they split the regular-season series. The Elginator 3000 was fired up, and returned the one-seed winner: the UNI Panthers, who will await the winner of Thursday's 8/9 game between Drake and Indiana State. Creighton will play either Wichita State (No. 7) or Missouri State (No. 10) in the quarters.

Badlands: On Saturday night, a young upstart reached the Final Level by defeating a powerful opponent in its own house. By that I mean, North Dakota State (16-2, No. 1) won the outright Badlands Conference regular-season title in its first try with a 75-72 win at three-time champion Oral Roberts (14-4, No. 2), breaking the G'Eagles' 35-game home winning streak in the process. Now, a musical tribute. Bison Fever!

To reach that upper level, your mind, body and soul must be one.

It's a sacrifice, it takes hard work, it's a way of life.

When you got The Glow, you feel the one.

When you got The Glow, your body's gold.

So don't let go... of the power of elevation.

(Talkin' about that Glow.)

U'useless Stat of the Day

It's a dream of any college basketball team: to go undefeated from March 1 forward. As you might remember (except you, Davidson fans, this never happened), Kansas went 10-0 in March, then added two more in April, on its way to claiming the National Championship.

But what of the other eight teams that didn't have their seasons end in a March loss? None of those ended the season with an on-court drop per se, but were eliminated for other reasons. Take Yale, for instance, which went 3-0 in March to close its Ivy League season. The Ancient Eight, of course, doesn't believe in elimination play (which may explain why it hasn't won at the NCAA's since 1998, the third longest drought among all conferences), and the Bulldogs just ran out of rope in a 7-7 season.

Then there were schools like North Dakota State, which wasn't postseason-eligible yet in the Badlands and closed its regular season with a Mar. 1 win over eventual league champion Oral Roberts. Or 3-23 North Carolina Central, a MEAC wannabe that took part in a Mar. 15 sorta-exhibition before that conference's title game at Winston-Salem State. Utah Valley didn't and doesn't have a conference, but beat Cal State Bakersfield to close its season. A few teams, like Northern Colorado (Big Sky), Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC), Eastern Illinois and Jacksonville State (OVC) missed their conference tourneys but ended with wins.

So who rode that March momentum into 2008-09? NDSU won its league, Northern Colorado made the Big Sky playoffs for the first time, and Eastern Illinois doubled its year-over-year win total. Jax State had a good nonconference (8-3) before falling short in the OVC, finishing ninth (5-13). But going 3-0 in March 2008 hasn't done much for Yale, which is having the same sort of .500 record as last year. And N.C. Central is having another 3-win season. This year, when they play that WSSU game at the MEAC tournament, they might win a fourth.