Thursday Night Carnage

(Even though Bubble can be a 4-letter word around here, for entertainment purposes, please replace the word "Weasel" with "Bubble" and Enjoy the Music While Your Party is Reached -- it's 1991, son.)

A Breakfast Buffet dedicated to the Waiting Line...

Last night cleared up the Waiting Line some, and made it extremely difficult for several teams to ever get to eat in the Buffet

Because Waiting Line Ejection Came For: Miami (fl), Northwestern, New Mexico, UNLV, Rhode Island, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Kansas State,

Punch Goes the Ticket For: Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Wisconsin

One Step Closer to the Turnstile: SD State, Penn St, Virginia Tech, Dayton, Boston College, Texas A&M (despite the loss),

Still Sold Out, but might get tickets on eBay (in order of resume strength): BYU, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Creighton, Southern California, St. Mary's, Florida, Temple, Auburn, So Carolina

Even eBay tickets might be cost prohibitive: Providence, Utah St (if they lose their conference tourney), Kentucky, Davidson

Unless Southern Cal, Alabama, Baylor, Wyoming, Tulsa/UAB/Houston, Kentucky or Auburn (in the waiting line, but towards the back of the line), and MAYBE Nevada in WAC win their conference tournament, the numbers seem to look like this:

31 autobids, plus (including the teams above) 33 teams already invited, 9 of which could become conference champs -- leaving 25 already invited, so 10 spots remain beween the "One Step Closer" group, the "Still Sold Out, but" group, and the "Even eBay tickets" group ... the first two groups have 17 teams

San Diego St: A win over BYU might do it and would be a berth in the MWC final

Penn State: Virtually in, a good showing versus Purdue even in a loss is likely all they need

Virginia Tech: Win over UNC clinches, a close loss and the Hard Luck Hokies could be good to go

Dayton: Hard to see them out at this point

Boston College: See: Flyers, Dayton

BYU: Win over SD State is likely all they need

Texas A&M: back in Line, but had already started eating, so would need some major work for those teams who have never been in in order not to get back in.

Arizona: No conference tourney surprises, and losses today from several teams to clinch it

Maryland: Win over Wake Forest and they get a signature win late, which is gold this time of year

Creighton: Need more help than UofA

Southern California: Beat UCLA to start, but this is all in LA, even a 3-OT loss to Washington or Ariz St in the Final might not be enough

Saint Mary's: Must beat Eastern Washington by 20 or more, and prove a Patty Mills' Gaels team is not the team that lost by 300 to Gonzaga on Monday

Florida: Their resume compares poorly to other teams, but a win or two on the way to a SEC championship game loss would put some serious shine on it

Temple: Down on the list, but beating Xavier is signature like Maryland over Wake ... so they might not need much more than that

Auburn: Anything short of SEC title game berth won't be enough, but no hotter team out there right now. Auburn looks and feels like a tourney team, now they need a couple wins to let their candidacy on paper reflect that

So Carolina: Still just 1 top 50 win, and zero versus a team more likely than not to make the tourney

Providence: too many teams above them, can't do anything else to help themselves

Utah St: A loss against a WAC team would be deadly (except MAYBE Nevada (the tourney is in Reno) in a WAC final

Kentucky: Must get to SEC final, then their outlook might appear differently, but still a long, long shot.

Davidson: Needs Friday's carnage to make Thursday look peaceful, then a lot of Stephen Curry Sympathy in the Committee room.

The 4th Annual Buffet Live Blog coming today...

Enjoy your Breakfast Buffet, Buffetology coming tonight before Championship Games hit this weekend.