Beltway Basketball Bonanza-- planting seeds...

In a single elimination situation... seeding is paramount. Who's on your side of the bracket? How do you match up with your first round opponent? Are there other bad matchups that loom? What I like about college hoops is everybody has something to play for in late February-- from conference tournament position to national tournament seeding... and there is plenty of hope and a little bit of nope around the beltway this week.

Maryland (17-10, 6-6--7th place with a first round ACC game against #10 Virginia) won a necessary game against North Carolina State to stay in the national conversation... albeit barely. The RPI and SOS aren't at-large worthy... but the emergence of Terrell Stoglin (25 points and 9 assists against the Wolfpack-- the fourth straight double digit scoring output) has been a nice development. Beat Florida State and North Carolina (combined 19-5 in the ACC) this week-- and then you'll have something.

Cruising the Commonwealth-- Way to find your way back to the bubble, Virginia Tech (17-8, 7-5--4th place with a quarterfinal matchup against Clemson/Wake winner). A 61-54 loss to Virginia deflated whatever excitement there was in Blacksburg after beating Maryland...getting swept by an ACC bottomfeeder decidedly not awesome. Can Seth Greenberg's group turn things around in time for a visit to Wake Forest? If so-- Saturday night's duel with #1 Duke could deliver a tournament ticket punching performance. If not-- I'm sure they can purchase group seats at the Verizon Center for the first two rounds. Virginia (13-13, 4-8--10th place with a first round matchup against Maryland) is actually tied for 8th place with Miami and North Carolina State-- but tiebreakers have them tenth. They play the Wolfpack March 1st.

Georgetown (21-6, 10-5--3rd place in the Big East with a quarterfinal matchup against whomever triumphs out of the #6 Syracuse-#11 Marquette-#14 Providence trio) was able to shake off a 2-for-10 performance by Austin Freeman in a 61-55 win over South Florida. The Hoyas now have an intriguing final two weeks: a showdown against arch-rival Syracuse sandwiched by a home-and-home against a Cincinnati team that's won three of four.

Alma Mater Update-- the Orange somehow held off Rutgers in overtime and then prevailed at Villanova (holding the Wildcats to 5-of-26 from three point range) to slide up the standings of the Big East. While they're currently sixth-- SU is a half game out of third and a two game losing streak could drop them to tenth. Nice to see Scoop Jardine score 20 points against the Wildcats--although Rick Jackson has been just as big a factor during the three game surge (15ppg and 9rpg). Safe to say we're ready for Saturday's showdown with the Hoyas.

George Mason (23-5, 14-2--#1 in the CAA with a quarterfinal game against the Delaware-Georgia State winner) is officially the hottest team in the nation. Saturday's Bracket Buster 77-71 win at Northern Iowa saw Ryan Pearson notch his 3rd double-double of the last month... while Andre Cornelius posted his 3rd 20 point effort of February. The Patriots wrap up the outright CAA title with a win over Northeastern or at Georgia State (combined 11-21 in the league).

George Washington (14-12, 7-5--6th in the A-10 with a first round matchup against #11 St. Louis) squeaked by LaSalle to keep its reputation as the middle ground of the Atlantic Ten. Tony Taylor tallied 17 points and 11 assists... making me realize how happy I am the junior has one more year of me saying "Tony Taylor tallied". Technically GW is tied for 5th in the A-10 with Rhode Island; they play there March 2nd.

Maryland Womens' Minute-- free throw shooting plagued the Terps in a 72-66 loss at Florida State... and now the Terps are 7-5 in the ACC with two conference games remaining. A sweep of Virginia Tech and Boston College plus 1-1 finishes by North Carolina and Georgia Tech would result in the Terps getting an ACC Tournament first round bye.

American (19-8, 9-3--#2 in the Patriot League with a quarterfinal contest against Colgate) locked up home court advantage through the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament-- the hammer and anvil combo of Vlad Moldeveano and Stephen Lumpkins assisted by Nick Hendra and his nine assists against Holy Cross. On the Shamrock Shake front-- I've been two a few McDonalds-- to no avail. I think a trip to Bender Arena is just what the doctor ordered.

Howard (6-20, 4-10-- #9 in the MEAC with a first round game against Delaware State) split its weekend games... topping Florida A&M but losing to Bethune Cookman. The Bison still have one final chance to win a road game... Saturday against Maryland-Eastern Shore.