Keeping the bubble afloat
Based on Devon’s post earlier today, 9 things had to happen today, 7 of which actually did.
| Who needed to win | Who needed to lose | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State | x | USC | |
| Temple | x | Duquesne | |
| Utah State | x | Nevada | |
| Missouri | x | Baylor | |
| LSU | x | Mississippi State | |
| Tennessee | x | Auburn | |
| Memphis | x | Tulsa | |
| Utah | x | San Diego State | |
| Duke | x | Maryland |
LSU and Arizona State definately dropped the ball today. LSU’s loss to Mississippi State means that if you are a Nittany Lion fan or a fan of any other team with a legitimate shot at the at-large bids, you will be praying on hands and feet for a Mississippi State loss to Tennesssee at 1:00 pm.
Then theres Arizona State’s loss to USC to hand the Trojans a automatic spot in the dance they truly did not deserve.
Our fate truly rests with the Selection Committee tomorrow and we’ll be covering every minute of it live right here on NittanyWhiteOut at 6:00 pm EST. So join us and join our bracket challenge (information will be announced during our CoverItLive Selection Sunday session) for a shot at a free football ticket to this season’s Border War between Penn State and Ohio State.
Hey guys, it’s Devon. I want to thank Charlie for reading my mind and posting this update before I even logged in. I just want to add a little bit of perspective about our situation.
Most of the things that absolutely had to happen did. USC stole a bid away, and made me remember just how much I fucking hate them. But nothing crazy happened; Tulsa didn’t beat Memphis, Baylor didn’t somehow win the Big XII, and Utah knocked San Diego State back on the bubble.
If Tennessee can take care of business tomorrow against the Mississippi State bulldogs, all that has happened in the past couple days is that the Last Four In become the Last Three In. These are the final teams bidding for those three spots, in order of my perceived likelihood that they are selected:
Maryland, Penn State, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s, Creighton, Arizona, Florida, and Davidson
So as you can see, we’re not dead yet. It would seem that Maryland is a virtual lock, so we’re basically back at square one.
Now, before we lost to Purdue and San Diego State lost to Utah, Lunardi and others had us ahead of the Aztecs. You’d think a loss to the Boilermakers, especially given the way they manhandled Illinois today, looks better than a loss to Utah. As for Creighton, Saint Mary’s, et al; they were perceived as inferior before we lost to Purdue. Now that we’ve had some time to digest and get over the loss, we can tell that Penn State is still more deserving than those teams.
The sky is not falling. If Tennessee can win tommorow, I still predict we’ll make the Field of 65, but nobody really knows what’s going on in the heads of the selection committee. All that I can say is it’s sure going to be interesting tomorrow.
God, this is more fun than the actual tournament, isn’t it? [No]
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