One week to Selection Sunday, and conference tournament season is heating up.  Plenty of action in the Never Been Kissed conference, as those teams who have never made the Sweet Sixteen in the 31 tournaments since the field expanded to 64 vie for contention.

First, the updated standings through Saturday’s action:

We have added the gray section to honor the fallen.  These teams are OUT and are playing for next year’s NBK.   SMU has been gray all year, serving a one-year postseason ban.   And like rain on your wedding day, isn’t it ironic that the Mustangs are now 16th in the country by the KenPom.

Princeton will not be puckering up this year, as Yale beat Columbia on Saturday to clinch the Ivy and thus the automatic bid.  The Tigers will close the season with a meaningless game on Tuesday.

James Madison also joined the ranks of the gray and grim on Saturday, falling to both William & Mary in the CAA tournament.  The Tribe may push their way into the NBK rankings before all is said and done at the CAA in Baltimore.

Colorado remains atop the NBK, despite a close 2-point loss at Utah.  The Buffs are in the top spot mainly due to their position safely in the tournament, but as Selection Sunday approaches we will need to adjust our ranking criteria.  It will become more important to avoid play-in games and encounters with #1 seeds in round two.  Colorado would be better off climbing to a 7-seed or dropping down to a 10- or 11-seed, in terms of their Sweet Sixteen odds.

South Carolina trounced Arkansas to stop a two-game losing skid.

Welcome Evansville!  Jim Crews’ old club trounced Indiana St by 26 to move on to the Arch Madness final.  There they expected to meet Wichita St, but the Shockers were upset in OT by Northern Iowa.  So the Purple Aces go from being a heavy underdog to a slight favorite to clinch the bid in Sunday’s final.

Welcome Iona!  With Princeton’s demise, a spot in the NBK 16 opened up and the Gaels rushed to fill the void.  The precarious ranking is justified, however, as Iona will have to beat Siena on their home floor tonight, then presumably knock off rival Monmouth in the final.

We mentioned yesterday the NBK Selection Committee would be in attendance for the St Bonaventure game at SLU.   Much as they did last week vs Dayton, the Billikens sufficiently mucked things up to make the game close and interesting.   We counted four players tended to for blood on their bodies or uniforms or both.  The Bonnies backcourt scraped to a 9-point win at Chaifetz Arena, securing a share of the Atlantic-10 for SBU.  Well done Bonnies, but not enough to move them up in the NBK.

Honorary mention to Austin Peay — the 8-seed from the OVC — winning the auto-bid on Saturday, completing a four-game tear.  This marks the first time all year the 18-17 Governor have been over .500 and the first time they have won four straight.  Austin Peay has never made the Sweet Sixteen and though they are now safely in the field will need some help in cracking the Never Been Kissed rankings.