After the performance put on by your team yesterday, we can't bare to look at them either, Dino. (AP)

For all the close, and bad, basketball yesterday, more teams actually stayed alive in the bubble hunt than killed themselves off. So, so many games to get to. I won’t inundate you with the minutea, so just some not-so-quick hits here and there on what mattered yesterday in college basketball. We start anew in just a few hours, after all.

Auto bid on the line today:

Patriot: Lafayette (19-12) vs. Lehigh (21-10). Love the Friday 4:45 p.m. tip in this one.

The four bubble teams that blew it

West Virginia 54, Cincinnati 51. Once Da’Sean Butler’s lucky-as-hell bank shot (which he apparently called) gets up on YouTube, I’ll embed it here. Cincinnati couldn’t catch a lot of breaks this season and since Lance Stephenson said he’ll be back next year, I’m interested to see where it’ll be slotted in the preseason. As for WVU, it now gets a potential slate of teams that won’t boost its credentials enough to warrant a 1-seed. I never thought it should’ve gotten one anyway, but now it seems extremely, extremely unlikely. And Devan Ebanks is a miserable late-game manager. Said it before, and he proved not only me, but many doubters correct again.

Stanford 70, Arizona State 61. Sun Devils never deserved to be in, and this solidified it. Rooting for Stanford to take the Pac-10 title now that Oregon is done.

Houston 66, Memphis 65. The Tigers had a one-point lead on 16-15 Houston with 10 seconds remaining. Now, what makes Houston an interesting case study is the fact it has Aubrey Coleman, who happens to be the leading scorer in Division I, averaging a cool 26 points per. Logic seems simple, right? Don’t let Coleman get the ball, and certainly don’t let him be the one to put the shot up that can beat you. But that’s what happened. Coleman got two Tigers defenders to bite, and he dipped under both of them to drop in an eight-foot baby shot that gave the Cougars a 66-65 with 5.1 remaining. Then Willie Kemp, who had kept Memphis in the game for the majority of the second half, was called for a carry as he raced down the court in an effort to get off a shot before the buzzer. Turnover. Game over. NCAA-tournament-season over. Memphis is going to the NIT, and coach Josh Pastner’s first year with the team will be considered, by some, to be a failure because of that.

Southern Miss 58, UAB 44. As for UAB, its loss is even more unacceptable. First of all, consider the fact it played its game after Memphis, so it had the knowledge that the Tigers’ loss could only be the team’s gain if it continued to win. Since Memphis fell against Houston, the Tigers’ profile took a hit, and UAB losing to the Tigers twice this season now looks even worse on the resúmé. The Blazers also didn’t get a win over UTEP in two tries. So with Southern Miss on the other bench in the C-USA opener, you’d expect UAB — a program and team known for its hustle and bustle — to come out with some fire underneath it. No such thing.

The seven who didn’t

Notre Dame 50, Pittsburgh 45. This win unequiovocally puts Notre Dame into The Dance. Now Irish fans have to worry about playing into the 8/9 game. Though that Duke matchup might be wanted.

San Diego State 72, Colorado State 71. Too, too close for comfort for the Aztecs. For all the bad losses in the past two days, few would have been worse than this one.

Washington 59, Oregon State 52. It’s somewhat disturbing that I stayed up until 1:51 in the morning on the East Coast to watch the end of this game, but hell, I love this time of year. Taxing as it may be (and watching 14 hours of hoops certainly is), I can’t get enough. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: Oregon State mentally shut down in the second half, and that’s why UW won. Huskies had spurts when they looked good but OSU gave this one away.

Chandler Parsons (25) shoots as he is defended by Auburn guards Tay Waller (24) and DeWayne Reed (12). (AP)

Florida 78, Auburn 69. Would you look at that, Florida got a win. It sets up the game against Mississippi State today, and MSU is definitely out with a loss. If Florida loses, the web continues to tangle, but it’s hard to figure the Gators can get pushed out.

Utah State 84, Boise State 60. Can’t keep the Aggies out. Not after winning like this in its conference tournament and continuing to keep the nation’s second-longest winning streak going.

Georgia Tech 62, North Carolina 58. Is Georgia Tech now definitively in? I say yes, even though the Jackets are downright offensive at times. Fortunately, Derrick Favors ate his Wheaties and owned the UNC frontcourt.

California 90, Oregon 74. Only put Cal in this group because if it had fallen against Oregon you can beat your ass it would be up for debate whether or not would be in. Today, though, a lock.

Other conference tournament results

ACC

North Carolina State 59, Clemson 57. Why, Clemson? And you wonder why other ACC fans laugh at you. I’m sure we’re going to get a “conference tournaments don’t matter” piece or two this weekend, and Clemson and the rest of the ACC will be the prime example. Really boring, uninspired play in Atlanta yesterday.

Miami 83, Wake Forest62. Flaming garbage, that’s what Wake Forest is. Hell, the entire ACC has been one big crapshoot this season, only everyone’s been to preoccupied or afraid to write it. Demon Deacons will be a sleeper Sweet 16 pick, but only if they can remember how to win a damn ball game. Like Georgia Tech, too much talent to be losing games by 21 points to teams like Miami.

BIG EAST

Georgetown 91, Syracuse 84. Game’s almost 24 hours old now. My quick take: Syracuse will gladly take the days off. Arinze’s injury should be bluffed about or kept quiet to ensure the 1-seed, though I think the team gets it regardless. Georgetown is so hot and cold it’s amazing. Monroe was effective and Chris Wright did whatever he wanted. Rest assured, whatever you pick Georgetown to do in your bracket, you will be wrong.

Marquette 80, Villanova 76. These two meet in close games with more regularity than any other set of teams I can think of. Yet another mid-afternoon must-watch yesterday, and Marquette has now morphed from the zit-faced nerd to the handsome jock when it comes to late-game management; it’s completely unrecognizable from the team it was in November. Villanova has dropped five of seven. Buyer beware.

BIG 12

Kansas State 83, Oklahoma State 64. Good thing Oklahoma State got a token win over Nebraska to close out its season and so many other teams have failed to do anything. Otherwise, the Pokes wouldn’t be a sure thing. Man, did they look dreadful. This was the most overlooked bad performance from yesterday. James Anderson, not a great way to follow up your Big 12 PotY award, eh?

Baylor 86, Texas 67. Longhorns or Wake Forest: who’s entering The Tournament with less gas in the tank? Baylor skyrocketing up everyone’s stock board. A 4-seed is definitely in play and I think a 3 isn’t out of the question if it steamrolled to a Big 12 title. Baylor as a top-4 seed. Incredible. Hard to not fall in love with this group when you watch it. It’s everything Texas thought it could and would be.

Kansas 80, Texas Tech 68. A close but quiet win for Kansas. Very few teams had no-doubt-about-it performances.

MISC.

UTEP 76, Central Florida 54. The Miners tell the rest of C-USA, “This is how it’s done, fellas.”

New Mexico 75, Air Force 69. Game was way, way too close considering how terrible Air Force really is this year. Just keep it noted in case New Mexico loses today against San Diego State. Team hasn’t lost since Jan. 9, but it might sway you away from putting it in the Elite Eight. Darington Hobson had 28 points and 15 rebounds to drag this team to a W.

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