Conference Tourney Live-Blog: Thursday, Early Games

11:55 Six games will get started by 1pm ET; Villanova-Georgetown, Dayton-Xavier, Oklahoma St.-Texas Tech, FSU-Wake, Michigan-Iowa, and South Carolina-LSU. The first three look to be televised, and only the first two are particularly interesting. I will be chiming in here with thoughts, updates, links, and God knows what else.

12:00 Sheehan is going to be updating his bubble post throughout the day.

12:02 The Bog has acquired the Las Vegas Sports Consultants' (LVSC) college hoops rankings. These are the guys that make the lines, and know more about basketball than anyone else (this is not an exaggeration). Here are a few that stand out:

t1: Kansas
t1: North Carolina
13. Clemson
t15. Connecticut
t15. Marquette
t15. West Virginia
19. Notre Dame
t15. Arizona
t23. Kansas St.
t23. Purdue
28. Drake
Unranked: Vanderbilt

Those four Big East teams bunch up in the middle are playing each other later today. Both should be excellent games. Georgetown has taken a 6-2 lead, by the way.

12:11 Wallace is killing 'Nova from 3; he has 9, and it's 12-4 Hoyas.

The Big Lead revealed his identity. He is blogging full-time now, apparently. I didn't know this.

Dayton has an early 7-4 lead on Xavier.

12:21 As mentioned in the comments, this game is absolutely huge for Dayton. If they win, it'll be hard to keep them out. If not, I can't see a 9-9 A-10 team relying on wins from December getting in. They're up 17-12 with 11:45 left in the first half.

12:25 Wallace is going nuts. He just hit an NBA 3. 23-12 Hoyas.

12:32 Lavender hits a deep 3, and Xavier immediately gets a steal and a dunk. 13-0 run, they're up 23-17 with 8:52 left.

12:34 Lunardi has Ohio St. and Florida as the last teams out. The Gators play Alabama tonight (they're favored by 3.5). tOSU is a 4.5 points underdog against Michigan St. tomorrow. Must wins for both teams.

12:45 Want an example of people who bet on these terrible longshot odds? Here you go.

12:46 Georgetown was up 15, but Ewing Jr. decided to toss the ball in the air after a foul, got a tech, and the lead is down to 11. If Villanova goes nuts from deep in the second half, like they did yesterday, they could get back in this.

Bilas is talking about how classy Georgetown looked when they walked off the floor after the Memphis loss. I guess?

12:54 Wallace now has 19 points, is 7/7 from the floor, and 5/5 from three. Georgetown by 13 with 51.4 left in the half.

12:58 40-29 Hoyas at the half. Hibbert has not taken a shot, by they are 10/16 from three. After going 11/21 from downtown against Syracuse, Villanova has shot only 2/8 today. That is going to have to change in the second half.

1:02 Other halftime scores:
FSU 31, Wake 26
Michigan 34, Iowa 25
Xavier 35, Dayton 29

1:18 Anderson nails a 3, and the Georgetown lead is down to 6. Dayton has also closed the gap to 37-35.

1:21 They kick it out to Reynolds, and he knocks down another triple. Lead is down to 3. Nova gets a steal, but gives it right back.

Now an offensive foul on Hibbert- that's his fourth. Things are not going well for the Hoyas.

1:22 Anderson hits a layup, and the foul. 40-39 G'town, with Anderson shooting 1 after the commercial.

That was not an offensive foul on Hibbert. Terrible call.

1:24. Dayton has now taken the lead, 43-41. The announcers seem confused- there's something wrong with the clock. Brian Roberts has picked up what I believe is his third foul, but there's really no way of knowing at this point.

1:31 Villanova has shot 21 free throws; zero for Georgetown. Nova is up 47-43.

Anderson lost his show, and shot a 3 anyway. He missed.

Georgetown is finally going to the line now.

1:33 Ewing with a powerful dunk to finish a fast break, and the foul. Georgetown takes a 48-47 lead in the free throw.

1:34 Wow. Stokes hits a 3, and Sapp comes back on the other end with another and one.

"What a skilled basketball team." Bilas absolutely loves Georgetown. 51-50, 12:00 left.

1:43 Sapp with a three. The Hoyas have scored 11 consecutive points to go up 9.

Xavier has extended their lead to 8, with 8:13 left.

1:49 Fisher and Reynold are both on the bench for Villanova, down 7 with 6:20 left. I think one of them was bleeding.

Georgetown hits a 3, and the lead balloons to 10. They are 15/26 from deep.

1:52 Hibbert picks up his 5th foul. He fouls out with zero points and four rebounds.

Raftery is now complimenting JTIII's "decorum".

Nova down 9 with 5:09 left, shooting the bonus. They hit both, lead down to 7.

I'm not entirely sure who made the FTs because these guys are talking about Bilas' Emmy nomination.

Summers makes a layup after a nice series of passes on a fast break, and Nova turns it over on the other end. 67-68, 4:30 to go.

1:55 After a Summers 3, Georgetown now has the ball, up 12, with 3:45 to go. After a Sapp 3, Villanova now has the ball, down 15, with 3:38 left. Wright has called a time out.

1:58 Xavier is now up 10 with 4:04 left. Looks like the Flyers' season is about to end.

2:06 1:26 left in the Xavier game, the lead is still 10. Dayton has the ball.

Georgetown is up 17 with 1:28 left. I have completely lost interest in both games. This is probably obvious. The noon slate was not that intriguing to begin with; the second wave of games is better.

2:12 Georgetown wins, 82-63. Florida St. and Michigan were also victorious.

Dayton hits two FTs to cut the lead to 6 with 27.3 left.

2:16 Dayton's comeback falls short, 74-65 final. The Flyers started the year 14-1, with wins over Louisville and Pitt. They won their first two and last three A-10 games, but were 3-8 in between; injuries played a big role in that. An exciting start, and a fun team, but their next game will be in the NIT.

2:19 Four bubble teams tip off in the next hour- West Virginia (vs. UConn), St. Joe's (Richmond), Miami (NC State), and Arizona St. (USC). The Pac-10, A-10, and Big East games are on TV. Illinois-Penn St. is on ESPN2, for reasons that are unclear.

2:30 Join Luke Winn's Tourney Blog Pool on Facebook.

2:32 Hubert makes the case for St. Mary's by saying "they played at Texas, they played at Southern Illinois." I'm not saying they shouldn't be in, but the fact that they lost two games by a combined 34 points is not exactly an argument for them.

2:49 Price stood right outside the three-point line for five seconds, dribbling between his legs, and then nailed a three right in the WV defender's eye. That was impressive. 9-8 UConn, four minutes in.

2:51 Price hits a fadeaway three. He has 10 points already.

Nobody has mentioned UConn at all this year, Bill Raftery? Are you insane?

15-12 UConn, 13:20 left.

3:02 Alexander, who has scored 115 points in his last four games, has 8 alraedy. 22-20 UConn, 9:00 to go in the half.

3:05 They are still talking about Bilas' Emmy nomination.

3:16 West Virginia has taken the lead, 33-31. They've stopped attacking Thabeet, and started taking (and making) the short jumpers and threes that they're given.

3:23 The Mountaineers are shooting lights out, and turning the Huskies over- the lead is up to 9. Alexander has 13, and they're shooting 53% from the field.

3:29 Alexander and Price have 13 apiece at halftime, and West Virginia leads, 42-36.

Things are going well for all the bubble teams. St. Joe's is up 30-22 at the half. Miami leads NC State 24-17 at halftime, and Arizona St. is up 17-16 on USC, midway through the first period.

3:43 I am currently reading an interview with Ken Tremendous.

3:47 West Virginia starts the second half off strong, and has opened up a 10-point lead. Calhoun calls a TO.

3:48 Miami is up 15 on NC State- a win puts them in the tournament, I guess.

Strangely, Colorado is up 12 on Baylor with 34 seconds left in the first half.

Vanderbilt leads Auburn by 6- you can read a live-blog of that here. They are going to go on a ten game winning streak and win the title, probably.

3:55 Very dumb foul by Thabeet in the backcourt. He got a rebound, and then threw an elbow at Wellington Smith (who may have flopped). That's his third foul- WVU has the ball, up 10, with 15:58 to go.

4:03 Each team has committed six fouls in the first 6:18 of the second half. That's a lot.

49-38 WVU.

4:09 What is the record for fouls in a half? We are at 17, and there's 12 minutes left. That means we're on pace for 42.5. WV is shooting the bonus already. They lead, 53-42 after two Alexander free throws.

4:11 Alexander knocks another one down, and now has 21. Austrie banks in a 3 on the other end; 55-54, 11 minutes left.

4:16 The two people that have refreshed this page the most times are both in Ohio. Go Tribe.

4:19 ASU has taken a 3 point lead on USC. They're in if they win that one.

A complete BS call with the shot clock about to expire gives Ruoff two foul shots. He makes them both, and WVU leads 61-48 with 9:18 to go.

4:26 Price drives, scores, and the foul (maybe). He hits the FT, and UConn is within 8.

4:31 St. Joe's beat Richmond by 14. Their tournament hopes likely rest on beating Xavier tomorrow. X could potentially knock three teams off the bubble if they win the tournament.

4:36 We could be in for an exciting finish in the USC-Arizona St. game. ASU is up 2 with 7:53 left, but USC is about to go to the line.

WVU leads UConn by 11, 4:22 to go. Alexander has 30.

4:40 Colorado is up 11 on Baylor. So weird. I thought the Bears were in, but I also thought they'd beat Colorado. If they lose this, I think they could be in trouble, especially considering how well the other bubble teams have fared this afternoon.

The Pac-10 game is tied at 51 with 6:46 left.

4:45 The WVU lead is down to 7. I do not know what happened, I was watching the ASU game. Looks like Dyson made a layup and Price hit two FTs. 70-63, 2:42 left.

4:47 I criticize UConn my fair shre, but Price is good. He gets to the rim, is fouled, and finishes. That's Ruoff's fifth. UConn within 5 with 2:02 left, Price going to the line for 1.

4:49 WVU has outrebounded UConn 14-5 on the offensive glass, and that is why they have not completely blown this lead. A nice block by Smith. and Dyson fouls out on the other end. WVU up 7, 1:16 left, and going to the line.

4:51 Auburn has closed to within 7 against Vandy with 10:43 left.

Alexander throws it down right over Robinson on the fast break. That was absolutely filthy. WVU by 7, 28.6 left. Going to the line.

That dunk really was excellent.

4:54 Another fast break dunk by Alexander, this time over nobody. He finishes by 34, and West Virginia wins, 78-70. They are now 13-7 in the Big East, and no longer on the bubble. Georgetown vs. West Virginia, tomorrow at 7.

4:56 USC up 2 with the ball, 1:25 left.

4:56 Gibson misses a putback, and ASU has a chance to tie. By ASU immediately turns it over. 55.2 left.

4:57 Pendergraph with a great putback that would've tied it. He's called for basket interference (which is a terrible call), and a loose ball foul. That's his 5th, and USC is shooting the bonus with 16.9 left.

This is a mess.

5:00 Apparently it was only an over the back call- that occurred before the putback. Jefferson hits the front end. And the second. 59-55 USC, 16.9 to go.

5:02 ASU misses two threes, and that's it. 59-55 final. They missed their last 10 FGs, apparently. They are right on the bubble- that Xavier win in December might save them.

5:05 Baylor and Colorado are going into OT. If the Bears can outscore Colorado for five minutes, they're in the tournament.

5:14 Baylor up 1 with 52 seconds left. I believe Colorado has the ball.

5:18 Roby scores, and Colorado takes a 1 point lead. Baylor misses, fouls, and Colorado hits 1/2. Baylor misses another shot.

5:19 Baylor gets the offensive rebound, and scores with 15.4 left. Tie game.

5:22 Hall misses for Colorado, and we're going into double overtime. Wow.

5:25 Colorado has opened up a four point lead, 3:50 left.

Vanderbilt won by 11.

5:27 Colorado up 6, 2:30 left.

5:29 The lead is down to 2, with 1:30 left.

5:30 Baylor is now going to the line with a minute left, and a chance to tie it up. What a game.

5:31 Baylor missed both FTs. Then I guess they got the rebound and missed a 3. Colorado up 4, 20 seconds left- I think Baylor has the ball.

5:38 Colorado up 5, with the ball, 2.2 seconds left.

5:41 Colorado wins, 91-84. That is a bad loss for Baylor- Colorado is #166 in the RPI. I think Baylor will still get in, but a lot can happen between now and Sunday.

5:43 The UCLA-Cal game has started, but I need to take a break. I'll be back a little after 7 ET for the late games- there will be another post up then.