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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

David Jean-Baptiste gave us an incredible March Madness moment
Dramatic buzzer beaters are part of what makes this month special. We had one to remember in Monday night’s SOCON Tournament title game between Furman and Chattanooga. With the Mocs trailing by two points in overtime, Chattanooga’s David Jean-Baptiste — a 6-5 senior — put up a three-point shot just inside of half court that went right through the bottom of the net as time expired. It was ecstasy for the Mocs, who are now headed to the NCAA Tournament and pure heartache for Furman. You’ll be seeing the clip of this shot for many years to come.

Auburn’s remains focused on being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament
The Tigers won an outright SEC regular season title this past weekend, but their goals have quickly shifted. Auburn (27-4) is now focused on doing something that it hasn’t done since 1999 — earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “We absolutely talk about it,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “Our guys are aware of it. We talk to them about the importance of seeding, the way it affects television times and things like that. We’re focused on being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.” Auburn was projected as a No. 1 seed along with Gonzaga, Arizona, and Baylor in last week’s BRACKET BREAKDOWN.

Seeds in mid-major conference tournaments are meaningless
We’re still five days away from Selection Sunday and already we’ve seen anarchy hit the mid-major level. As of today, four teams — Towson, Cleveland State, Northern Iowa, and Texas State — who were the top seeds in their respective mid-major conference tournaments have lost before the title game. Translation: Seeds are meaningless in mid-major conference tournaments.

The ACC likely have won’t have more than a third of its conference in the NCAA Tournament
All of that can change if a bid stealer emerges this week at the Barclays Center, but in all likelihood, the ACC will have five teams — Duke, Notre Dame, Miami, North Carolina, and Wake Forest — at most — in the NCAA Tournament. That’s just 33.3 percent of the league. Another thing to remember? Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Miami all cannot afford a bad loss this week at the Barclays Center.

Beware of “the dark side of March”
Any sequence of events that produces incredible highs is also going to produce incredible lows. This is “the dark side of March”. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to see certain teams, players, and coaches live their dreams. We’re also going to see teams, players, and coaches have their dreams crushed. Keep an eye out for this over the next few days as Championship Week — especially in mid-major conference tournaments — is guaranteed to produce incredible raw emotion. Beware “the dark side of March”.

Leftovers