Community Picks: Depaul 0% vs Georgetown 0%

Monmouth piled up 27 victories this season, upset four power-conference opponents and won its league outright. Valparaiso racked up 26 victories this season, won its league by three games and went 4-2 against top 100 teams. They're both now in jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament, the latest victims of a chaotic championship week in which upsets have so far been the only certainty.  With Monmouth falling 79-76 to rival Iona in Monday night's MAAC title game and Valparaiso losing 99-92 in overtime to Green Bay in the Horizon League semifinals, conference tournament carnage has claimed two more regular season champs. Seven top-seeded teams have already slipped up in conference tournaments and only SoCon winner Chattanooga has so far managed to cut down the nets. All the upsets will make for a weaker NCAA tournament because some of the nation's best small-conference squads will be relegated to the NIT. March Madness will miss Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker if Wichita State does not earn an at-large bid, as will it also be worse off if a deep, experienced Valparaiso team is left home or if Monmouth's fun-loving bench is doomed to the NIT.  Diluting the NCAA tournament is the downside to small conferences holding end-of-the-year tournaments instead of simply awarding automatic bids to their regular season champion. Season-long excellence is typically more of a harbinger for NCAA tournament success than pulling off an upset or two in a conference tournament is. Continue to Article

March 08, 2016 12:15:am EST

Josh Hart scored 18 points, Kris Jenkins had 17 and No. 3 Villanova closed out the regular season with an 84-71 win over Georgetown on Saturday. The Big East champion Wildcats (27-4, 16-2) dominated from the opening tip and looked every bit the favorite to win the conference tournament in New York. Win a second straight Big East tourney, and the Wildcats are all but guaranteed a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Continue to Article

March 05, 2016 2:36:pm EST

A Big East regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament are all familiar accomplishments for Villanova. The third-ranked Wildcats will try to end the regular season on a positive note Saturday and send Georgetown to its longest losing streak in 12 years. Villanova (26-4, 15-2) fell 90-83 at then-fifth-ranked Xavier on Feb. 24 to fall out of the top spot in the AP poll. Continue to Article

March 04, 2016 9:47:pm EST

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Luke Fischer scored a career-high 23 points, including the go-ahead free throws with less than two seconds left, and Marquette edged Georgetown 88-87 Tuesday night. Continue to Article

March 01, 2016 11:46:pm EST