College Basketball Championship Week: March 3 results, March 4 schedule

Yesterday's Men's Results

Things went mostly according to plot yesterday, although there were some notable surprises. Most important: ninth-seeded Holy Cross bounced top-seeded Bucknell in double overtime in the Patriot League quarterfinals, and fourth seed Florida Gulf Coast absolutely destroyed the Atlantic Sun regular-season champion North Florida Ospreys in the A-Sun semifinals.

(Interestingly, North Florida's not necessarily dead yet, as Dunk City now faces Stetson in the A-Sun final. If Stetson -- ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to APR sanctions -- wins that game, the automatic bid devolves back onto North Florida.)

Presbyterian upset Radford 65-64 in a 10-7 game in the Big South on a crazy ending. An airball was rebounded for a putback which missed, followed by DeSean Murray grabbing the rebound and dinking the ball into the hoop just as time expired to give the Blue Hose the upset.

Phil Valenti popped for 33 as Canisius outlasted Niagara in a three-overtime contest in the MAAC first round. In the Ohio Valley the Cinderella story continues as eighth seed Austin Peay once again scored an upset, knocking off the fourth-seeded Tennessee State Tigers 74-72. Peay now faces top-seeded Belmont for a trip to the final.

Lastly, the Patriot League saw two upsets. American, the sixth seed, eliminated third seed Boston University, and as mentioned Holy Cross sent Bucknell to the NIT behind Malachi Alexander's 20 points. The full slate:

Yesterday's Women's Results

There were some crazy things yesterday. In the Atlantic 10, Fordham and Massachusetts lurched into overtime tied at 52... and then Fordham scored 21 points in five minutes of overtime to bury the Minutepeople. In the MAAC, Siena and Rider also went to overtime... and Siena had so many players foul out they had to finish with four women on the floor. They still won.

And out in Las Vegas in the WCC tournament, the Hood twins combined for 55 points (Malina with a game-high 33, Maya with 22). But their season is over unless they get a post-season bid, because San Francisco's Taylor Proctor launched a desperation three at the buzzer which found the cylinder and sent that game to overtime as well. That shot broke the Toreros' backs, and the Lady Dons pulled out a four-point win.

Several tournaments went to form, with either no upsets or only 9-8 style reversals. That was true in the ACC, MAAC, SoCon, and Ohio Valley (although an overtime win by SIUE over Southeast Missouri State was required to maintain sanity in Nashville). The A-10, SEC, and WCC only had one real upset each (Rhode Island over St. Joe's, Vandy over Georgia in OT, and the aforementioned USF-USD game).

But the Big 10 and Pac-12 were nuts. Half of the Pac-12 second round went the wrong way, with Cal knocking off Utah (another OT thriller) and Arizona dumping Oregon. In the B1G, the day started with a mild upset as Iowa toppled Michigan, but then Northwestern broke Minnesota and Rutgers slipped past Nebraska.

The full results from yesterday's action:

Today's Men's Schedule

Today sees full quarterfinal action in the Big South and Missouri Valley, and half the bracket in the MAAC. The Ohio Valley semifinals are tonight, and the SoCon, WCC, and Colonial get under way.

In the MAAC, we finally get Monmouth and Iona on the court as they face their quarterfinal foes. Wichita State also gets on the board this evening as Arch Madness launches into full swing. And, as mentioned, Austin Peay tries to extend their improbable run. The full schedule:

Today's Women's Schedule

The ACC, A-10, Big Ten, MAAC, Ohio Valley, Pac-12, SEC, SoCon, and WCC continue apace, with the top seeds in those tournaments finally hitting the hardwood. But three more conferences join the party today: the American, the Atlantic Sun, and most importantly to most of you reading this, the Big 12. Texas Tech takes on Iowa State in the early game while TCU should unceremoniously dispatch the winless Jayhawks in the nightcap.

As per usual, some games are already underway as we post this, and Mercer has already sent Furman packing in the SoCon. (Sorry, your intrepid chronicler works overnights these days.) The full schedule: