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The Breakfast Buffet — March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

St. John’s gets a crack at Villanova at full strength
This rendition of the Big East hasn’t had St. John’s as a nationally relevant piece to its puzzle. That can change if the Red Storm beat Villanova on Thursday in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s lost to the Wildcats by six a few weeks ago at the World’s Most Famous Arena, but didn’t have Posh Alexander (14.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds) available due to injury. That will change on Thursday. The Red Storm have not made the semifinals of the Big East Tournament since 2000.

Iona falls in Atlantic City
25 wins in your first 31 games gets you nowhere. Not if you’re in a one-bid league like the MAAC. A return trip to the NCAA Tournament felt like an inevitability for Rick Pitino and Iona after going 25-6 during the regular season, but Rider — who entered Wednesday’s MAAC Tournament game at 13-18 — had other ideas. The Broncs’ 71-70 win in Atlantic City was arguably the most surprising result thus far of Championship Week and reiterates why seeds in mid-major conference tournaments are absolutely meaningless. Iona is the latest program to experience “the dark side of March” as the Gaels are now headed to the Postseason NIT.

Buddy Boeheim’s career likely ends on a bad note
The son of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, Buddy Boeheim proved that he wasn’t just “the son of a Hall-of-Famer” over the past few years, developing into an All-ACC shooting guard who led the Orange to the Sweet 16 just one season ago. Unfortunately, his actions on Wednesday will also be a part of his career bio. During Syracuse’s ACC Tournament win over Florida State, Buddy Boeheim got into a scuffle with Seminoles guard Wyatt Wilkes and punched Wilkes in the stomach out of frustration during a heated play. The poor decision led to a one-game suspension from the ACC, which will be served in today’s game against Duke. That’s a tough way for a senior to go out if the Orange fall to the Blue Devils.

Xavier and Wake Forest have a long couple of days ahead
There’s brutal losses and then there’s the types of defeats that these two teams had on Wednesday, which were both exceptionally brutal. Needing a win to safely ensure their respective positions in the NCAA Tournament, Xavier (18-13) lost to Butler (14-18) in overtime in the first round of the Big East Tournament while Wake Forest (23-9) fell to Boston College (13-19) in overtime in the ACC Tournament. There’s a legitimate possibility that these two losses will keep both of these teams — who are firmly on the bubble — out of the NCAA Tournament. It’s going to be a long couple of days for Xavier and Wake Forest until the brackets are announced on Sunday evening.

Colgate could win an NCAA Tournament game
There’s no substitute in March for a winning DNA and that’s what the Raiders possess. Colgate has now won 15 straight games following Wednesday night’s 74-58 win over Navy in the Patriot League Tournament title game. Don’t be shocked if it’s not the last game that this team wins this year. The Raiders’ top five scorers are all juniors and seniors who have already played in multiple NCAA Tournaments during their career. Four of those starters — Nelly Cummings, Tucker Richardson, Jack Ferguson, and Ryan Moffatt — have made in excess of 50 three-point shots this season. Colgate shoots 40 percent from three-point range as a team.

Leftovers