A rash of upsets populated Wednesday’s key conference tournament games, as 15 of the 29 games involving top-50 teams from the CB360 Composite National Rankings resulted in upsets (based on the CNR). The day featured eight head-to-head matchups between CB360 top-50 teams, with a total of 37 top-50 teams in action. All four of Wednesday’s games at the SEC Championship saw the lower-seeded team win.
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(Note – Scores for all games involving the CB360 top-50 are listed below, with the customary links provided for the two non-tournament games … quick summaries for specific tournaments likewise are being added at the bottom of this page … also be sure to access CB360’s conference tournament main page via the link posted above.)
All but two of Wednesday’s games involving CB360 top-50 teams took place in conference tournament settings, along with a couple of key west-coast games (Oregon State’s 2-1 upset of Oregon and a similar 1-run win for Washington State, 3-2 vs. Portland).
At this point in the season, many teams are positioning for NCAA Tournament seeding – but many others simply are looking to make a strong closing impression on the selection committee (i.e. to cement their spot in the field). Teams that notably took care of business (some in upset fashion) or avoided “stubbing their toe” on Wednesday include:
• #28 College of Charleston 12, Appalachian State 11 (SoCon)
• #39 The Citadel 9, Furman 5 (SoCon)
• #40 Oregon State 2, #19 Oregon 1 (non-conf.) in Portland)
• #43 Baylor 11, #37 Kansas State 8 (Big 12)
• #44 Elon 1, Samford 0 (SoCon)
• #48 North Carolina State 13, #21 Clemson 8 (ACC)
• #49 Liberty 7, Winthrop 2 (Big South)
A couple of the teams listed above – namely College of Charleston (entered the week #25 in the official NCAA RPI) and Oregon State (#30) – appear to be in solid RPI-based footing as potential NCAA at-large selections, but their wins on Wednesday still are noteworthy … as losses could have boosted the Selection-Monday outcry from some opposing fans and media (based on other seeming deficiencies in tournament resumes for those teams).
Wednesday’s 15 top-50 upsets (in addition to the aforementioned wins by N.C. State, Oregon State and Baylor), included:
• Missouri 7, #2 Texas 3 (Big 12)
• #34 LSU 10, #5 Florida 6 (SEC)
• #23 Mississippi 3, #10 South Carolina 0 (SEC)
• #12 Miami 9, #17 Florida State 3 (ACC)
• #29 Alabama 7, #14 Auburn 1 (SEC)
• #16 Vanderbilt 2, #13 Arkansas 0 (SEC)
• Arkansas State 8, #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 6 (Sunbelt)
• UNLV 6, #38 New Mexico 3 (Mt. West)
• Rutgers 9, #42 Pittsburgh 5 (BIG EAST)
• Nicholls State 13, #46 Texas State 2 (Southland)
• Florida Atlantic 9, #47 Western Kentucky 8 (Sunbelt)
• McNeese State 8, #50 Southeastern Louisiana 7 (Southland)
The loss by Florida State does no favors to the Seminoles’ suddenly fading hopes to be one of the 16 regional #1 seeds (and/or host sites) during the NCAA’s opening weekend. Arkansas and Auburn likewise would be well-served in that regard to win today and avoid an uninspiring 0-2 showing at the SEC Championship.
Some of the other top-50 losers on the list above have more graver concerns (such as simply qualifying for the NCAAs). Six teams – Pittsburgh (RPI #52), Texas State (RPI #50), Southeastern Louisiana (RPI #48), New Mexico (RPI #42), Louisiana-Lafayete (RPI #37) and Western Kentucky (RPI #36) – have to be concerned about their NCAA chances, following Wednesday’s upset losses. Also of note, any prognosticators had Kansas State entering the week on the good side of the NCAA bubble, but the Wildcats opened the Big 12 Tournament with the loss to Baylor (K-St. was #41 in this week’s NCAA RPI).
Six other teams that are outside the CNR top-50 (but still retained hopes for making a run at the NCAAs) failed to register key victories on Wedesday:
• Boston College (6-4 loss to #3 Virginia; ACC)
• Kansas (3-2 loss vs. #15 Oklahoma; Big 12)
• Texas Tech (9-2 loss vs. #27 A&M, dropping Red Raiders under .500; Big 12)
• Georgia Southern (11-4 loss vs. lower-seeded Western Carolina; SoCon)
• Northwestern (La.) State (4-3 loss vs. lower-seeded Lamar; Southland)
• Florida International (7-1 loss vs. lower seed South Alabama; Southland)
WEDNESDAY’S TOP-50 RESULTS (5/26/10; upsets in italics)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings)
• Missouri 7, #2 Texas 3
• #3 Virginia 6, Boston College 4
• #4 Coastal Carolina 11, VMI 2
• #34 LSU 10, #5 Florida 6
• #7 Louisville 11, West Virginia 4
• #23 Mississippi 3, #10 South Carolina 0
• #11 TCU 13, Utah 2
• #12 Miami 9, #17 Florida State 3
• #29 Alabama 7, #14 Auburn 1
• #15 Oklahoma 3, Kansas 2
• #16 Vanderbilt 2, #13 Arkansas 0
• #18 Connecticut 9, Cincinnati 6
• #40 Oregon State 2, #19 Oregon 1 (non-conf. game; at Portland’s PGE Park)
Final Stats | OrSt Recap | ORE Recap | Photos
• #31 North Carolina 13, #21 Clemson 8
• #22 Rice 11, East Carolina 3
• at #24 Washington State 3, Portland 2 | Final Stats
WSU Recap | PORT Recap
• #27 Texas A&M 9, Texas Tech 2
• #28 College of Charleston 12, Appalachian State 11
• Arkansas State 8, #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 6
• #36 Florida Gulf Cosat 9, Stetson 4
• UNLV 6, #38 New Mexico 3
• #39 The Citadel 9, Furman 5
• Rutgers 9, #42 Pittsburgh 5
• #43 Baylor 11, #37 Kansas State 8
• #44 Elon 1, Samford 0
• Nicholls State 13, #46 Texas State 2
• Florida Atlantic 9, #47 Western Kentucky 8
• #49 Liberty 7, Winthrop 2
• McNeese State 8, #50 Southeastern Louisiana 7
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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE (tournament central)
(Regions Park; Hoover, Ala.)
Day-1 (double-elimination/2 brackets … upsets in italics)
• (8-seed) LSU 10, (1-seed) Florida 6
• (7-seed) Alabama 7, (2-seed) Auburn 1
• (6-seeed) Mississippi 3, (3-seed) South Carolina 0
• (5-seed) Vanderbilt 2, (4-seed) Arkansas 0
Next (Thur., 5/27; home team listed second): AUB vs. SC (9:30 a.m.) … FL vs. ARK (approx. 1 CT) … ALA vs. OleMiss (4:30 CT) … LSU vs. VAN (approx. 8 CT)
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AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE (tournament central)
(at Binghamton’s Varsity Field)
Day-1 (double-elimination … upsets in italics)
• (4-seed) Albany 9, (1-seed) Binghamton 6
• (3-seed) Stony Brook 10, (2-seed) Maine 1