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The Breakfast Buffet: Sean Miller faces his alma mater, Marquette meets “Mr. March”, Eric Musselman

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, the morning column 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

Sean Miller faces his alma mater
This isn’t the first time that this has happened in the NCAA Tournament. 14 years ago in 2009, Miller led Xavier against Pitt in the Sweet 16 in what was his final game with the Musketeers before he took the Arizona job. Today in Greensboro, he’ll again square off with the Panthers, but this time there will be a berth to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament on the line. Tip off is at 12:10 PM ET on CBS.

Marquette meets “Mr. March”
There’s tough matchups in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and then there’s what Marquette has today in Columbus. Under Tom Izzo, Michigan State has advanced to the Final Four from all different places in the bracket, including as a No. 7 seed in 2015. That’s exactly where the Spartans were slotted a week ago on Selection Sunday. Michigan State has advanced to the Final Four eight different times under Izzo. This is a formidable test for Shaka Smart and the Golden Eagles, who won both the Big East regular season and tournament titles. Tip off is at 5:15 PM ET on CBS.

Eric Musselman continues his NCAA Tournament dominance
Arkansas is 8-2 over the last three NCAA Tournaments under Musselman and that’s just the beginning of this guy’s March Madness resume. Between his tenure in Fayetteville and his previous stop at Nevada, Musselman’s teams have advanced to the second weekend in four of the last five NCAA Tournaments. Another impressive feat? The Razorbacks have beaten a No. 1 seed in each of the past two NCAA Tournaments following Saturday’s one-point win over Kansas. Arkansas will play the winner of today’s game between UConn and Saint Mary’s next week in Las Vegas.

On The Side

  • Texas is now 21-7 under Rodney Terry and in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008. Last week, the Longhorns won the Big 12 Tournament for only the second time in program history. Is anyone else wondering why Terry hasn’t been named Texas’ permanent head coach yet?
  • UCLA’s Amari Bailey is averaging 17 points in the five games that the Bruins have played since losing Jaylen Clark to a season-ending achilles injury.
  • Princeton is the first team from the Ivy League to reach the Sweet 16 since Cornell did it in 2010.
  • Houston is now 30-2 over the past three seasons in games where Tramon Mark scores in double figures. Mark had 26 in Saturday’s win over Auburn.
  • Providence has offered Ed Cooley a new contract, with significant financial upgrades for both him and his coaching staff, a source told College Hoops Today. Cooley is receiving heavy interest from Georgetown. He also received a new contract after last year’s run to the Sweet 16.

Leftovers