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Thursday’s Michigan State @ Purdue matchup lived up to the hype! After taking a 39-36 deficit into halftime, Michigan State came all the way back to beat Purdue in Mackey.

My current tournament picture. Let me tell you: This is a mess right now. This weekend should help provide clarity, however, there is significant volatility in the below areas:

• The final 1 seed is clearly UConn right now, but it’s absolutely close
• The final 2 seed is extremely close, especially with Purdue losing.
• The final 4 seed is a razor thin margin, I went with Purdue for now, but it could really be any of them/Alabama/Tennessee/Arkansas. This weekend is critical to determine these seeds
• The final 2 6 seeds feel like they’re own little bubble. The 7 seeds are below the 6’s, but Louisville/Wisconsin are kind of just there in between SJU/BYU and Villanova/Utah State
• Saint Mary’s is a bit of a perplexing resume. I have them as an 8 right now, but I’d feel much better about that if they beat Gonzaga
• UCF moves to an 8, but I could see them being at a relatively wide array of teams
• The 9 seed through Missouri is relatively close
• Miami (OH) is a bit of a separator between the two bubble groups
• Auburn through Cal grouping is very chaotic; any of the teams could jump up a bit or fall down and out of the field
• San Diego State is currently my MWC AQ but would be out of the field if not for that
• VCU/UNM/VT/USC/IU are all a win away from being back into the field, and we will continue to see a lot of movement over the next week leading into champ week!

Friday Night kicks the weekend off strong!

Miami @ Western Michigan | 6:00, CBSSN

The RedHawks will look to move to 29-0 after a matchup with WMU. Miami is favored by 12.5.

Michigan @ Illinois | 8:00, FOX

Game of the night, and one of the top games of the entire weekend. Illinois is projected as a 2, while Michigan projects as a 1. The Wolverines come in favored by just 1.5 and this promises to be a high scoring, high intensity matchup on FOX!

Ivy

As always, the Ivy Friday night slate is loaded! Yale is at Cornell in Ithaca in a key battle. Yale is favored by 2.5 and looking to get to 10-2. Brown and Columbia face off in a game that will help shape the bottom of the league. Harvard travels to Princeton to try and push their cushion out a bit further in 2nd place. Finally, Dartmouth and Penn are battling in Philly. A Penn win gets them pretty safely in that 4th spot, but a loss would cause chaos!

MAAC

Quinnipiac is playing Niagra in a key game for the 2nd spot race. Rider is at Iona in a game that will help shape the bottom of the bracket. Siena is at Fairfield in a key battle towards the top of the conference, Mount Saint Mary’s looks to keep their sights set on the top tier of the conference, Merrimack plays Canisius. MC going for 17 conference wins, and Manhattan and Saint Peters will battle in a key battle.

A-10

Dayton is in DC to take on George Washington. Can Dayton avoid a hangover game after beating SLU?

Sun Belt

We will have our first Conference championship bracket of the year set after tonight.

However, pure Sicko pandemonium is possible. Here’s the scenario for a SEVEN WAY tie:

Can’t wait for the Sun Belt tomorrow.
A 7-Way Tie is in play. pic.twitter.com/E8m0AUn1wM

— The Sickos CBB Committee (@SickosCBB) February 26, 2026

MAC

Miami/WMU is mentioned above. But the game of the night in the conference is this elite matchup between Akron and Kent State! 8:00 on ESPNU. Akron is favored by 3.5.

Let’s kick off the weekend in a great way!