San Diego State held off Boise State despite 19 turnovers (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — The last time he was on the staff of a bubble team, Boise State coach Leon Rice was an assistant at Gonzaga under Mark Few.

He recalls tracking every fellow bubble team in its conference tournament and cringing whenever one of them pulled out an unlikely win.

"I remember watching Colorado and Kansas State, and [Kansas State] got the ball, started celebrating a win and traveled," Rice said. "Then [Colorado] threw it in, hit a three, sent it to overtime and won it in overtime. So I'm not going to do that again."

For the first time since that 2002-03 season at Gonzaga, the fate of Rice's team is again in the selection committee's hands. His Boise State team could have taken a huge step toward securing an at-large bid Wednesday night with a win over San Diego State in the Mountain West quarterfinals, but they shot the ball uncharacteristically poorly against the Aztecs' stingy defense and lost 73-67.

Though it's a helpless feeling having no more chances to play between now and Sunday, Rice lobbied for his team during his postgame press conference and again with a small group of reporters afterward.

He noted his team's 21-10 record includes top 50 RPI wins at Creighton and at home against UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego State. He noted several of his team's losses came on the final possession or in overtime against elite competition. And he noted that his team played the type of non-conference schedule the selection committee insists it values, one that included power-conference programs Michigan State, LSU and Utah and elite mid-major Creighton.

Dorian Green (Getty Images)LAS VEGAS — If Colorado State is going to advance beyond the Mountain West semifinals, the Rams will likely have to do it without their starting point guard.

Senior Dorian Green sat out Colorado State's quarterfinal victory against Fresno State on Wednesday afternoon as a result of a left ankle injury he suffered in his team's regular season finale against Nevada. Coach Larry Eustachy said afterward Green's injury is a bit more serious than the staff first thought, so there's a "99.9 percent" chance he won't play Friday night when the second-seeded Rams meet host UNLV with a spot in Saturday's title game at stake.

"This tournament is extremely important, but obviously the NCAA tournament is what we've worked for all year," Eustachy said "If there's any doubt at all, he won't play."

The absence of Green would deprive Colorado State of one of its emotional leaders and its top playmaker and perimeter shooter. Green is averaging 13.1 points and 3.9 assists as a senior and he lit up UNLV for 24 points in the Rams' January victory over the Rebels.

Colorado State managed to rally from a three-point halftime deficit against Fresno State without Green, but the Rams clearly aren't as dangerous offensively with junior Jon Octeus starting in Green's place. Octeus had nine points, three assists and zero turnovers, but he missed six of the eight shots he attempted.

Anthony Bennett (Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — Moments after Anthony Bennett beat his man down the floor and finished a secondary break with a crowd-pleasing reverse slam, UNLV coach Dave Rice met him with a fist bump as he walked off the floor.

Nobody would have blamed Rice if he'd given Bennett a bear hug.

The way Bennett played in the second half of UNLV's 72-56 Mountain West quarterfinal victory over Air Force is the way UNLV will need him to play if it is going to enjoy success the rest of March.

Bennett emerged from a three-week slump exacerbated by a lingering shoulder injury, erupting for an efficient 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting. More importantly, Bennett played with the concentration and effort he sometimes lacks, sprinting in transition, competing for rebounds and chasing Air Force's shooters on the perimeter.

"The place I'm proudest was his commitment to the defensive end in the second half," Rice said. "He made a great commitment on the defensive end. You have to do that because the way we guard Air Force, we switch five. We've got to get out, certainly their shooters are able to take advantage of big guys."

The breakout game from Bennett came on the heels of three weeks at the end of the regular season during which he hasn't played like a future lottery pick. Bennett scored in double figures only one of UNLV's previous five games, a stretch that included the Feb. 23 game at Wyoming when he injured his left shoulder early and played only four minutes.

Victor Oladipo (Getty Images)

The Dagger will be previewing this week's eight marquee conference tournaments. Here's our look at the Big Ten tournament:

Big Ten Tournament
Dates: March 14-17
Site: Chicago (United Center)
Top four seeds: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan State 4. Wisconsin
Draw: Click here

Best draw: There's no such thing as an easy draw in the loaded Big Ten, but Michigan State's path is about as favorable as it could have hoped. Not only do the third-seeded Spartans avoid the likes of Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois in the quarterfinals, they're on the opposite side of the bracket from top-seeded Indiana, the only Big Ten team they didn't beat in the regular season. Iowa wouldn't be a cakewalk in the quarterfinals and likely semifinal opponent Ohio State is peaking in March, but Michigan State could have been in worse position.

Worst draw: For the top seed in the tournament, Indiana's draw is extremely difficult. The Hoosiers will begin in the quarterfinals against Illinois or Minnesota, two

Nate Wolters (USA Today Sports Images)

All the revenue and entertainment value generated by conference tournaments in one-bid leagues sometimes comes at a price.

Each year, a couple of deserving league champs with upset potential or an intriguing star player will bow out unexpectedly in their conference tournament, depriving us of seeing how they'd fare on college basketball's biggest stage.

That South Dakota State avoided such a fate in the Summit League tournament this week is terrific news for the sport. The Jackrabbits guaranteed the nation the chance to see star guard Nate Wolters shine in the NCAA tournament for a second straight year by taking down rival North Dakota State 73-67 in Tuesday night's Summit League title game.

Wolters showcased his full arsenal against the Bison, sinking impossibly deep threes at the shot clock buzzer, out-battling taller players for rebounds, setting up his teammates for open looks with no-look passes and finishing at the rim himself. The senior finished with 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals, pretty good for a kid who had to be persuaded he was good enough to play Division I basketball four years ago.

Unlike last year, when South Dakota State won the Summit League tournament as an under-the-radar No. 2 seed behind dominant Oral Roberts, the Jackrabbits have been the favorite since the preseason.

Sometimes they've handled that pressure poorly, such as when Belmont clobbered them in Nashville in December or when North Dakota State and South Dakota both upset them in January. More often, however, they've lived up to expectations, amassing a 13-3 league mark, decisively winning three conference tournament games in four days and throwing in a seed-bolstering upset at New Mexico in late December.

E.J. Reed (AP)With five of its six leading scorers back from last year's 25-win team, LIU Brooklyn began the season as the clear favorite to win the NEC and return to the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.

The Blackbirds accomplished that goal in Tuesday's NEC title game by demolishing Mount St. Mary's 91-70, a feat made more impressive by the midseason adversity LIU endured that made a league championship seem unlikely.

In mid-December, reigning NEC player of the year Julian Boyd suffered a season-ending torn ACL, robbing LIU of its best player for the remainder of the season. The Blackbirds lost six straight games from Dec. 19 to Jan. 10, but gradually other players stepped up in Boyd's absence and carried the team back into contention in the NEC.

Jamal Olasewere became more comfortable in the role of go-to threat. C.J. Garner made a conscious effort to be more aggressive and shoulder more of the scoring load. And Jason Brickman continued to dish out assists at a national-leading pace, serving as the catalyst for a high-octane offense that produces nearly 80 points per game.

"Our guys had to adjust to new roles because Julian was such a big part of our offense," Perri said last month. "C.J. Garner needed to be more aggressive because he's capable and Jamal had to figure out he didn't have to do everything by himself. There were four or five games right after that where he was turning the ball over at an astronomical level, but he was just trying to do too much. Once he realized he was able to create for others, that helped us out a lot."

The new-look Blackbirds showed off their improvement this week during their run to the NEC tournament title.

Anthony Collins (USA Today Sports Images)Here's the good news for anyone who didn't like the outlandish board shorts-style jerseys South Florida debuted during Tuesday night's opening-round Big East tournament game: They won't be making a return appearance.

The 13th-seeded Bulls squandered a late eight-point lead in regulation against 12th-seeded Seton Hall and lost 46-42 in an overtime battle between two of the Big East's worst offenses. That spares viewers from a second-round matchup between South Florida and Syracuse that would have been a color-clashing assault on the senses.

According to Under Armour, the reason the green and gold jerseys had colors and patterns associated with swimwear is to evoke "the South Beach environment." Why a Tampa-based university located 288 miles Northwest of Miami would want its jerseys to conjure images of South Beach is a perfectly reasonable question.

The white version of the jersey was audacious yet somehow more aesthetically pleasing, but since the Bulls are the Big East's second-to-last seed, they would have only worn those in the unlikely event they meet DePaul in the title game. As a result, fans saw the dark green incarnation on Tuesday night – and the reaction was predictably mixed.

"Okay, these South Florida jerseys are atrocious. Look like shorts my dad would wear in the 90's," one TV viewer tweeted. Countered another viewer, "South Florida's jerseys are freshhh."

Even those who hated the jerseys will admit they weren't any uglier than the game itself. Neither team broke 40 points in regulation and Seton Hall didn't even break 30 until two Aaron Crosby free throws with 2:50 remaining.

Duke guard Quinn Cook (Getty Images)

The Dagger will be previewing this week's eight marquee conference tournaments. Here's our look at the ACC tournament:

ACC Tournament
Dates: March 14-17
Site: Greensboro Coliseum
Top four seeds: 1. Miami 2. Duke 3. North Carolina 4. Virginia
Draw: Click here

Best draw: Miami's well-deserved reward for its outright ACC title was landing on the opposite side of the bracket from Duke and North Carolina. That's especially important this season since the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will likely have plenty of fan support in their home away from home in Greensboro. Miami still will probably have to survive bubble team Virginia or talented but erratic NC State in the semifinals, neither of which would be easy. But all things considered, the Hurricanes have to be very satisfied with their draw.

Worst draw: For a Maryland team that underwhelmed in league play and probably has to win the ACC tournament to get an NCAA bid, the draw could not have shook out less favorably. Just to even make the title game, the Terps will have to survive Wake Forest in the first round, become the first team to beat Duke with Ryan Kelly in the quarterfinals and probably upset crowd favorite North Carolina in the semifinals. Good luck, Terps. Enjoy the NIT.