– With UAB’s win over Memphis, Ohio State or Illinois has a realistic shot at a one-seed, and may well control their destiny. Illinois is more of a darkhorse in this regard, but they have six wins over the RPI top 25 with three of them away from home. If either wins out, they’ll have a great case.

– I received some nice feedback about the stuff on pre-tourney favorites yesterday. Here are some amendments: In 2002, Kansas had somewhere close to equal billing to Duke, and lost in the Final Four. And in ‘93, Kentucky and Michigan were as popular (if not moreso) a pick as UNC.

– I envy folks privileged enough to be at the Savvis Center today. Tourney implications galore today in four Arch Madness games. It could get wild today, but not any wilder than Indiana State scoring 10 points in the first half against Drake last night and then posting 62 in the second half.

– Nice job by Syracuse last night. With their tourney hopes still in limbo, they surrendered 108 points on 66 possessions against DePaul. Easily the worst defensive game in all the land this season. Morehead State did a better job containing UConn. And the Orange were 21st in adjDE entering the game.

Line o’ the Night

                           FG    3pt  FT   Reb
                      Min  M-A   M-A  M-A  O-T   A F S TO BLK Pts
Maurice Latham         36  7-11  1-1  4-4  3-12  5 2 0  5  0   19
Result: Loss. Belmont 90, Campbell 76.