A couple of factors completely the fault of Notre Dame - the atrocious non-conference schedule, going one and done in the Big East tournament - will most likely hinder their seeding to the five or six range, but the rest of the field is working hard to help them stay there.  Joe Lunardi just updated his Bracketology, and two teams that were one the four line yesterday, Purdue and Indiana,
have slipped down into the dreaded 5-12 area, with mid-majors Drake and Butler taking their place.

The main concern of Irish fans now?  Can Michigan State can pull the upset over Wisconsin, which would probably push them up over the Irish, leaving UConn as the fourth number four seed.  This seems fair, considering UConn had a comparable league record with wins over Marquette, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Indiana and good losses to Gonzaga, Memphis and Georgetown.  The other five seed gaining momentum is Pitt, but even if they beat the Hoyas, I'm not sure they jump all the way up for the six or seven range where they started championship week to a four.

I'm not going to complain - and nor should anyone else across the internets - when the Irish get stuck with a bad seed or match-up tomorrow.  You play the 226th ranked non-conference schedule, go 4-5 against the other top teams in the league and lose in the first round of the Big East tournament, you don't get to gripe.  Unless the team gets shoved down past a six seed, there can be no talk of conspiracies unless it is directed towards the athletic department and not trying their best to elevate the basketball program.  

A few more highlights from a full day of college hoops:

*    The fallout from the storm in Atlanta last night has huge implications for the SEC tournament, which now have the winner of the noon Kentucky vs. Georgia contest playing again tonight, and then should they somehow win again, immediately play the championship the next day, meaning they'd potentially be playing three games in a little over twenty-four hours.  Short of bumping back Selection Sunday to Monday or ignoring the results of the SEC Championship, this is probably the only way to handle the situation, although you can be sure there will be plenty of people unhappy no matter how this turns out.

*    I mentioned Indiana losing above, but I hope you all got to see how they lost.  After blowing a late lead to the efforts of D.J. White,  Tubby Smith's crew went all Christian Laettner, knocking the Hoosiers off at the buzzer.  If you somehow haven't seen it yet, go check it out along with some Pat Forde commentary, here.

*    Steve Lavin made a great point yesterday that the atrocities committed by the PAC-10 officiating crews over the last couple of weeks have had an effect on not just their conference standings, but on the bracket as a whole.  If UCLA, Memphis, Rocky Top, North Carolina and Kansas all win their conference tournaments - which isn't exactly crazy talk, despite the Vols needing some Chris Lofton onions against South Carolina - I say that UCLA gets the two seed.  You can go back over every team and look at a bunch of games they should have or should not have won, but if the Bruins drop either the Stanford or Cal game (and they should have lost both), they're not in the conversation for a one seed anymore.  Kansas is left out right now, but if they can avenge their lost in Austin to the Longhorns, I say they move up a line.

*    Who should the Irish be rooting for today?  Outside of the Wisconsin/Michigan State game, I don't think there's a whole lot going on that has a direct impact on Notre Dame's potential seeding.  That means you get to sit back, relax and enjoy the madness.