The long-awaited Southern Conference final between Appalachian State and Davidson — two teams on the periphery of the bubble all season long — will not happen. #1-seeded Davidson did its part, thumping #5 Furman 91-68 in its semifinal, but #3 College of Charleston made the most of its home-court advantage (the tournament is played at the “neutral site” of North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.) and upset #2 App. State, 89-87 in overtime. Dammit. So tomorrow’s 6:00 PM title game, moved from ESPN2 to ESPN because of the anticipated showdown of two teams with a combined 54 wins, will instead feature the unheralded Cougars playing David to a Goliath named Davidson. As for the Mountaineers… well done, nice season, hope you enjoy the NIT. :(

In other hoops news tonight (in addition to the Missouri Valley stuff already discussed in Mike’s posts), the first NCAA berth of the season has been clinched — by Penn of the Ivy League, which easily dipatched Yale to earn its third straight regular-season title and auto bid.

But while Yale became the first of Connecticut’s six Division I teams to be eliminated from NCAA consideration, Hartford survived with a 2-point win over Stony Brook in the America East tournament’s 8-9 game. Now the Hawks face a stiffer test: against #1 seed Vermont. That likely slaughter game is at noon tomorrow. (Possible live audio here; I’m not sure.)

Another Connecticut team’s season comes down to tomorrow as well. #6 Fairfield plays #3 Loyola (Md.) at 10:00 PM in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference quarterfinals. The good news for the Stags: it’s in Bridgeport, which is sort of like a home-court advantage. (Live audio here.)

Oh, and Western Illinois, the college that my mom attended for two years (before transferring to the University of Illinois), also has what could be its last hurrah of the season tomorrow. The #7-seeded Leathernecks face #2 Oakland in the Mid-Continent quarterfinals at 9:30 PM. (Live audio here.)

Other games of interest tomorrow:

• VMI at Winthrop (Big South title game), 2:00 PM, ESPN
• Southern Illinois vs. Bradley (MVC semis), 2:35 PM, Fox Sports Midwest and Comcast Ch. 37
• Notre Dame at Rutgers, 4:00 PM, ESPN
• Belmont at East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun title game), 4:00 PM, ESPN2
• Creighton vs. Missouri State (MVC semis), 5:05 PM, Fox Sports Midwest and Comcast Ch. 37
• USC at Wazzu, 7:00 PM, Fox Prime Ticket and Fox College Sports Pacific
• Austin Peay vs. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley title game), 8:00 PM, ESPN2
• The CAA quarterfinals, all day (details here)