Notre Dame and Ohio State play on.

Denver is done.

Cornell will be staying in Ithaca for the first two weekends of the tournament.

That's the key moving and shaking from today's games.

There's still probably a surprise or two out there tomorrow, but today's five games featured a mild upset in the MAAC (VMI over Providence) and otherwise predictable results.

So the bracket remains close to what it was, though Ohio State slips ahead of Army for the final spot --- for now. If the Buckeyes win on Sunday, they'll be in the field anyway and Notre Dame returns to the pile of at-large possibilities. If they lose, their profile will probably sustain enough damage to drop them out of the field.

But no one knows for sure.

(1) Duke vs. ECAC/Loyola

* If there's two western teams in the field, it is bad news for the Greyhounds. The selection committee's limit of two flights pretty much consigns Loyola to a trip to Durham unless VMI can spring a second upset in the Metro Atlantic tournament.

(8) Georgetown vs. GWLL/Notre Dame

* A matchup that remains unchanged from earlier in the week. Somebody's got to earn the No. 8 seed, and these teams are as likely as anyone to secure it.

(5) Johns Hopkins vs. PATRIOT/Colgate

* The mileage cutoff for the selection committee when determining who flies and who is stuck on a charter bus is 350 miles; Mapquest says Hamilton, N.Y., is 323 miles from Baltimore. So this pairing is definitely possible.

(4) North Carolina vs. AMERICA EAST/UMBC

* A Baltimore team can be bused to the Research Triangle, making the selection committee's job a lot easier. It would be stunning if the Tar Heels aren't paired with Loyola, UMBC or a western team.

(3) Virginia vs. CAA/Drexel

* A rematch of the teams' season opener in Philadelphia. A Hofstra win in the CAA title game means a much better chance for a western team to land in Charlottesville.

(6) Maryland vs. IVY/Princeton

* Let's be perfectly clear about the Tigers: They'd better win tomorrow at Brown. The home victories over Cornell and Hofstra are nice and the RPI and SOS numbers aren't dead weights. But the AQ is Princeton's road into the tournament, especially since a loss will hurt its computer numbers.

(7) Cornell vs. Ohio State

* I'm still inclined to believe Army will end up opposite the Big Red if they take care of Penn tomorrow. As for Navy fans who still have some hope, Ithaca is 340 miles away from Annapolis.

(2) Syracuse vs. MAAC/Canisius

* From out of the frying pan and into the fire; if Canisius isn't shipped to Duke, it will most certainly be given a ticket east on the New York State Thruway to the Dome.

--- Patrick Stevens