Portland State, Robert Morris Join The Party

No automatic bids will be given today, but with so much basketball to soak in something entertaining is bound happen.

First last night: Dallas Green (no relation to the former Yankee manager, I hope) hit his only basket of the game with 2.5 seconds left to give Robert Morris its first tournament appearance in 17 years.

"He probably was the fifth guy on the floor I would have picked (to take the shot)," coach Mike Rice said. "His nickname is the screen machine, for all the screens he sets."

Thanks for believing in me, Coach! Then out west, Julius Thomas dunked his game-winner with 3.5 seconds left to give Portland State its first tournament appearance in 1 year. Happy day for the Vikings!

Later today, the Big Ten and ACC kick off their preliminaries while the Big East enters day three. Again, it's mostly first- and second-round games (53 of them!), but now legitimate bubble teams begin fighting for their lives. This is all leading up to the big weekend where I lock myself in a room filled with Fritos and Coke Classic and curse myself for not being able to afford that 150-inch big screen TV that I so richly deserve. One man enters, only one fatter red-eyed man leaves.

Bracket Racket 3/12: The [Storming The Floor] College Basketball Scoreboard [ESPN]