A lot of trophies to be had this week.

Leading off

Welcome to Day One of Year Four of the Day Guide. Every day when conference tournaments or NCAA Tournament games are play, I'll post a primer on the day's action before 11 a.m. The only exception Wednesday or any other early travel day.

What to look forward to today

William & Mary vs. Old Dominon, CAA Final- The Tribe is one of a small handful of schools who've been Division I since there has been an NCAA Tournament, that has never earned a bid. It'd be fun to see them pull off the upset.

Prediction of the day

IUPUI and Oakland earn spots in the Summit finals.

Bubble guide:

W&M at ODU  - Old Dominion has a shot at an large bid if it loses. Bubble Teams are pulling hard for the Monarchs.

Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's - Most bracket predictors seem to think St. Mary's with no signature wins has  already done enough to clinch a bid. I'm not so sure. Bubble teams are rooting for a Gonzaga rout.

Questions I don't know the answer to:

If DePaul were to somehow win the Big East Tournament (it's not going to happn; this is strictly hypothetical), would they be in the play-in game? I realize the Blue Demons' RPI would be too good, but shouldn't any team with a losing record have to play in the play-in game? If not, what would its seed be?

Top 24

1. Kansas
2. Kentucky
3. Syracuse
4. Purdue
5. Duke
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan State
8. Kansas State
9. West Virginia
10. New Mexico
11. Butler
12. Pitt
13. Tennessee
14. Temple
15. Villanova
16. Wisconsin
17. Gonzaga
18. Vanderbilt
19. UTEP
20. BYU
21. Texas A&M
22. Maryland
23. Georgetown
24. Baylor

Links

Nice Ricky Harris story in the Baltimore Sun.

Mike Celizic is excited for championship week.

Buzzer beaters

Boston University's win over Stony Brook Sunday ensures New England at least one NCAA bid. The Terriers will play Vermont for the America East title.  According to friend of the blog Dave Guthro, New England has had at least one team since 1971.

...34 hours til UMass-Charlotte...