Final Four picks

Duke over UCLA
The Bruins emerge from a weak region but are too young to go all the way.

UConn over Florida
The Gators great run ends here as UConn is just too deep and big.

Duke over UConn
Its blocks galore as Shelden Williams and UConn reject shot after shot but Duke shows up in big games more than this UConn team does.

Minneapolis Region

The final region

Villanova over Monmouth
At least Monmouth won a game.

Arizona over Wisconsin
A match up against two struggling teams. Arizona hasn’t lost to North Dakota St.

Nevada over Montana
I almost picked Montana here but I think Nevada will win a game and Montana is not a 12 seed.

BC over Pacific
Pacific just doesn’t have the size to win this one.

UW-Milwaukee over Oklahoma
The Panthers are flying under the radar and have everyone back from their Sweet 16 team except for Ed McCants. Oklahoma has the same team too except they lost to Utah in the second round.

Florida over South Alabama
South Alabama has a deep, veteran team but Florida is playing close to home and has a lot better talent. The Jaguars have only played one tournament team and lost by 18.

Northern Iowa over Georgetown
One Missouri Valley team will win and it will be Northern Iowa.

Ohio St. over Davidson
The Buckeyes in a breeze

Villanova over Arizona
The Wildcats will beat a bad Arizona team.

BC over Nevada
Nevada has Nick Fazekas but Boston College has Craig Smith and Jared Dudley.

Florida over UW-Milwaukee
The run of this great Panthers team comes to an end.

Ohio St. over Northern Iowa
The Buckeyes won’t lose in Dayton

Villanova over BC
Four guards beat two forwards any day.

Florida over Ohio State
Billy Ball continues its march to the Elite 8.

Florida over Villanova
Villanova could win this game but I just couldn’t put 3 one seeds in the Final Four.

Oakland Region

This is by far the weakest regional. I would pick 4 teams from the Washington DC regional (UConn, UNC, Illinois, and Michigan St.) to win this one but I can't.

Memphis over Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts keeps it very close.

Bucknell over Arkansas
You have to pick Bucknell after they beat Kansas last year and Arkansas hasn’t been dancing for a long time.

Pitt over Kent State
It has been four years since Kent State’s run to the Elite 8 but another one isn’t in store.

Kansas over Bradley
Bradley’s Patrick O’Bryant scares me and he just might cause an upset. On top of that Kansas is a very young team but I think they will be too quick for a tough Bradley team.

SDSU over Indiana
Indiana is already without DJ White and will have a hobbled Robert Vaden so that leaves Marco Killingsworth to carry the load which he can’t do.

Gonzaga over Xavier
The Zags are just too good for Xavier.

Marquette over Alabama
Alabama’s great run since Chuck Davis went down ends here as Marquette just has too many players for Alabama to handle.

UCLA over Belmont
The Bruins won’t leave the state of California unless they reach the Final Four.

Memphis over Bucknell
Bucknell will hang in there and keep it close but Memphis will eek out another win.

Kansas over Pitt
The Panthers could easily win this game and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the Elite 8 but I’m going with Kansas for no good reason.

Gonzaga over SDSU
Adam Morrison will lead the Zags to the Sweet 16 but it will be another close game.

UCLA over Marquette
If this game was in any another location, I would like Marquette with all their players but UCLA has 3 great players and is playing close to home.

Kansas over Memphis
The Tigers may not even be around for this game and if they are Kansas is supremely better.

UCLA over Gonzaga
This is going to be another good game but Gonzaga finally loses a close one.

UCLA over Kansas
Kansas is just a bit too young to go to the Final Four.

Washington DC Region

There is quite a few chances for upsets in this region and I think some will happen.

UConn over Albany
At least the Great Danes made the tournament for the first time in their history.

Kentucky over UAB
Both teams have a lot of holes and UAB did beat Kentucky in a 9-1 match up two years ago but I like the Wildcats here. This Kentucky team went to the Elite 8 last year and still has most of the team intact.

Utah St. over Washington
The Huskies have been all over the map all season while Utah St. just keeps winning games no matter what conference they are in.

Michigan St. over George Mason
The Spartans have 3 future NBA players and went to the Final Four last year. George Mason's best win is at Wichita St.

UNC over Murray St.
Tyler Hansbrough is a monster and Murray St. probably won't have an answer for him. The Racers should keep it pretty close but North Carolina will win a game this year.

Seton Hall over Wichita St.
The Pirates have showed up when it matters this year except against Duke and UConn which has happened to a lot of teams.

Winthrop over Tennessee
The Eagles have been to the dance 6 of the past 8 years and should have been higher than a 15 seed. Tennessee hasn't been to the dance in a long time and should have been a 4 seed. Looking at it like a 4-13 match up an upset becomes much more likely. Winthrop can run with Tennessee and should grab a lot more rebounds than them. Bruce Pearl is still coach of the year but his UW-Milwaukee team was better last year.

UConn over Kentucky
Kentucky has been too erratic this year to give the Huskies a serious challenge but if UConn doesn't show up and Kentucky is on fire, they might keep it close.

Illinois over Utah St.
Brown and Augustine are enough to get to the Sweet 16.

Michigan St. over UNC
I'll take the experience of the Spartans over the youth of the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels can win this game which would be to get Paul Davis in foul trouble something that is not that hard and letting Hansbrough run amok inside.

Seton Hall over Winthrop
The Pirates could easily lose to Winthrop but I like Seton Hall to win here.

UConn over Illinois
Illinois just doesn't have the manpower to stay with UConn.

Michigan St. over Seton Hall
Seton Hall's magical run will come to an end here and it won't even be close.

UConn over Michigan St.
This will be a great game and Izzo will have his guys ready to play. The Spartans have the guys to stay with UConn and the Huskies have guys who might disappear in a game this big.

Atlanta Region

For the most part this is a pretty boring region.

Duke over Southern
duh

UNC-Wilmington over GW
The Seahawks are pretty much playing at home and couple that with a less than 100% Pops and GW looks like a team on the outs.

Syracuse over Texas A&M
The Orangemen are riding a hot streak after winning the Big East tournament. Texas A&M has really only beat Texas this year so this doesn't look like the 12 v 5 upset. Syracuse will also look to avenge their loss to Vermont last year.

LSU over Iona
Iona will definitely be in this game because Tyrus Thomas won't be at 100% and Iona is a pretty strong team on their own merit. LSU has enough pieces to get past Iona though.

West Virginia over S. Illinois
This game looks almost exactly like West Virginia's first round game against Creighton last year. West Virginia won that one and will win this one. Southern Illinois also lost to Monmouth and Alaska-Anchorage and wouldn't even be in the dance had they not won the Missouri Valley's automatic bid.

Iowa over Northwestern St.
Northwestern St. is a pretty good team and should keep it pretty close but Iowa is too good to lose this one.

Cal over NC State
The Wolfpack made a run last year but that was with a balding Julius Hodge. The balding is still there but Hodge is gone. The Wolfpack have also been on a serious slide. Cal has Leon Powe and a bunch of guards and that should be enough to win a game.

Texas over Penn
The Quakers don't have the size or bench to stay with the Longhorns for long.

Duke over Wilmington
The Seahawks will be motivated but Duke is just too good.

Syracuse over LSU
A true toss up. LSU has more talent but might be a year too young to make a serious run. Syracuse is older as they start 3 juniors and a senior and will advance for a chance to get killed by Duke.

West Virginia over Iowa
The Hawkeyes will fall to the Mountaineers press. The Hawkeyes don't score enough and their defense will fall to the West Virginia's 3-point shooting.

Texas over Cal
The Longhorns are too good to lose to Cal.

Duke over Syracuse
Gerry McNamara won't outshoot JJ Redick in this one.

West Virginia over Texas
The Mountaineers took Texas to the wire earlier this year and should have won. If they shoot will, they will win.

Duke over West Virginia
Shelden Williams will clean the glass as West Virginia is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country.

Play-in game

Monmouth and Hampton are two teams who upset the one seeds in their conferences during the postseason tournament. Monmouth is better than Hampton and they come from a better conference so they should win to get the chance to be crushed by Villanova.

Winner- Monmouth

Thank you to all who visited and I hope to have region previews up during the week.

My final conference tournament record was a respectable 19-12.

Final Bracket Notes

Ohio St. will be a one seed should they win the Big Ten tourney this afternoon. If they don’t then Memphis will be the final one seed.

Bradley is pretty much in at this point. They got to the MVC finals and they played really well once they got O’Bryant back. The Braves also have a solid RPI and SOS and are 7-3 in their last ten games.

It is hard to see Missouri St. be denied an at-large bid because their computer numbers are amazing. Their RPI is 19 and their SOS is 36. They are also 8-2 in their last ten.

Michigan struggled down the stretch but they also had a few injuries to deal with. Their computer numbers are pretty good but 3-7 in their last 10 is a killer. If their injured guys are close to normal they should be good to go for a bid.

George Mason is a very interesting case. They have a solid record and they won a share of the Colonial regular season title. If they hadn’t suspended Skinn, they would probably be a near lock at this point. However the suspension should hurt seeding more than getting in and I think they will get in. They have a RPI of 26 and are 8-2 in their last 10 with the two losses coming to a good Hofstra team. Their SOS doesn’t help them but at 79 it doesn’t hurt them either.

I think Texas A&M is looking good. Their non-conference SOS leaves a lot to be desired but beating Texas and playing them close in the Big 12 tourney helps to make up for that. They are also 8-2 in their last 10 and have an average RPI of 43. They may be out if South Carolina wins though.

I don’t see Cincy and Seton Hall both getting in. It will be one or the other. Cincy has a better RPI and SOS as well as 3 more wins against the RPI Top 100. However a lot of that was with Armein Kirkland and they won’t have him. Seton Hall has a lot of great wins but an equal share of bad losses including losing to Rutgers in the first round of the Big East tourney. At least Cincy lost to Syracuse which won the tournament. The Pirates also beat the Bearcats at the end of the regular season and both are a very average 5-5 in their last 10. Cincinnati has one more win, but Seton Hall has one more Big East win. These teams along with Texas A&M have almost exact replicas. Right now Cincy feels like they have a better chance of getting in than Seton Hall.

There is then a gap until the next two or three teams which are the second to fourth teams out.

Creighton is average in almost every relevant category for a bubble team. Their RPI is 40, SOS is 52, record is 19-9, and they are 6-4 in their last ten. They are my second team out, but I don’t think they will get in.

Hofstra has a lot of wins and has a good RPI. However their SOS is 134 which leaves them out.

Colorado would be my fourth team out but they aren’t really close. They did get to 20 wins and they beat Oklahoma but got blown out by Texas and Kansas twice as well as Iowa St. and Nebraska.

No one else can make a case. Florida St. is done unless the committee decides their win against Duke is worthy of a bid which it isn’t. Air Force has a lot of wins but nothing that stands out. Maryland played like crap after losing Chris McCray.

Bracket Update

1 seeds
DUKE (ACC)
Uconn+
Villanova+
MEMPHIS (C-USA)

2 seeds
Ohio St.+
Texas+
Illinois+
GONZAGA (WCC)

3 seeds
UNC+
LSU+
IOWA (BIG TEN)
Pitt+

4 seeds
UCLA (PAC-10)
KANSAS (BIG 12)
FLORIDA (SEC)
Boston College+

5 seeds
Tennessee+
Michigan St.+
West Virginia+
GW+

6 seeds
Washington+
Oklahoma+
NC State+
Marquette+

7 seeds
SYRACUSE (BIG EAST)
NEVADA (WAC)
Georgetown+
Wisconsin+

8 seeds
Kentucky+
Wichita St.+
Arkansas+
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (MVC)

9 seeds
Arizona+
Indiana+
Northern Iowa+
Cal+

10 seeds
UAB+
Alabama+
UNC WILMINGTON (CAA)
Bradley

11 seeds
Missouri St.
Michigan
George Mason
Cincinnati

12 seeds
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE (HORIZON)
BUCKNELL (PATRIOT)
Texas A&M
SDSU (MT. WEST)

13 seeds
KENT ST. (MAC)
XAVIER (A-10)
IONA (MAAC)
WINTHROP (BIG SOUTH)

14 seeds
MURRAY ST. (OVC)
MONTANA (BIG SKY)
SOUTH ALABAMA (SUN BELT)
NORTHWESTERN ST. (SOUTHLAND)

15 seeds
PENN (IVY)
DAVIDSON (SOUTHERN)
PACIFIC (BIG WEST)
BELMONT (A-SUN)

16 seeds
ORAL ROBERTS (MCC)
ALBANY (AMERICA EAST)
MONMOUTH (NEC)
SOUTHERN (SWAC)*
HAMPTON (MEAC)*

*- play-in game
+- at-large locks
AUTO BID

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 8
Big Ten- 7
SEC- 6
MVC- 5
ACC- 4
Big 12- 4
Pac-10- 4
Atlantic 10- 2
CAA- 2
C-USA- 2

In
Cincinnati
Xavier
Hampton

Out
Seton Hall
St. Joe’s
Delaware St.

Also Considered
Seton Hall
Creighton
Hofstra

Bracket Update

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Uconn (Big East)
Villanova+
Ohio St. (Big Ten)

2 seeds
Memphis (C-USA)
Illinois+
Texas (Big 12)
GONZAGA (WCC)

3 seeds
UNC+
LSU (SEC)
Pitt+
Iowa+

4 seeds
Tennessee+
UCLA (Pac-10)
Kansas+
Michigan St.+

5 seeds
Florida+
BC+
West Virginia+
GW+

6 seeds
Washington+
Oklahoma+
NC State+
Marquette+

7 seeds
Nevada (WAC)
Kentucky+
Georgetown+
Wisconsin+

8 seeds
Wichita St.+
Arkansas+
Arizona+
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (MVC)

9 seeds
Indiana+
Syracuse+
Northern Iowa+
Alabama

10 seeds
Missouri St.
Cal
Bradley
UNC WILMINGTON (CAA)

11 seeds
UAB
Michigan
George Mason
Seton Hall

12 seeds
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE (HORIZON)
BUCKNELL (PATRIOT)
Texas A&M
St. Joe’s (A-10)

13 seeds
Kent St. (MAC)
San Diego St. (Mt. West)
SOUTH ALABAMA (SUN BELT)
IONA (MAAC)

14 seeds
MURRAY ST. (OVC)
WINTHROP (BIG SOUTH)
MONTANA (BIG SKY)
Northwestern St. (Southland)

15 seeds
PENN (IVY)
Pacific (Big West)
DAVIDSON (SOUTHERN)
ORAL ROBERTS (MCC)

16 seeds
BELMONT (A-SUN)
Albany (America East)
Delaware St. (MEAC)
MONMOUTH (nec)*
Southern (SWAC)*

*- play-in game
+- at-large locks
AUTO BID

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 8
Big Ten- 7
SEC- 6
MVC- 5
ACC- 4
Big 12- 4
Pac-10- 4
Atlantic 10- 2
CAA- 2
C-USA- 2

In
Syracuse
Texas A&M
St. Joe’s

Out
Florida St.
Air Force
Creighton

Also Considered
Cincinnati
Creighton
Hofstra
Florida St.
Air Force
Utah St.

Conference Tourney Preview Part. VI

Auto Bid Record: 17-10

Big Ten
The most wide open conference all year and with the inability of most of these teams to win on the road, it will be interesting to see what happens on a neutral floor. Maybe Indiana can make a run to solidify their at-large status since its being played in Indianapolis. Ohio St. will be looking to get a number 1 seed however. I don’t see Illinois getting by Michigan St., Iowa, and Ohio St. in three days to win the title.

Tourney winner- Ohio St.
At-large bids- Illinois, Iowa, Michigan St., Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana

ACC
A Duke-UNC rubber match in the finals? Probably too good to be true. However no other team in the ACC is close to their level right now and since this is the ACC tournament Duke and UNC should still play at a high level even after their emotional game last Saturday.

Tourney winner- Duke
At-large bids- UNC, NC State, BC, Florida St.

SEC
Tennessee has a pretty easy road to the championship game and with the tourney on their floor may be poised to take it all. They will have to go through regular season champ LSU in the finals though.

Tourney winner- Tennessee
At-large bids- LSU, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama

Big 12
The Big 12 has three tournament locks in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. If a fourth bid comes out of this conference, it will likely be the winner of Colorado-Texas A&M. The Aggies have the best shot after beating Texas last week, but need to beat Colorado to secure their status. A Colorado win may not even be enough.

Tourney winner- Texas
At-large bids- Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
Bubble burst- Colorado

WAC
Nevada won the regular season title by 2 games, has the conference tournament in its gym, and is playing really good basketball of late. The only other team with something resembling an at-large resume is Utah St. and with all the other bubble teams picking up huge wins recently; they need to win the automatic bid for the WAC to get 2 bids.

Tourney winner- Nevada
Bubble burst- Utah St.

Bracket Update

1 seeds
Duke (ACC)
Uconn (Big East)
Villanova+
Ohio St. (Big Ten)

2 seeds
Memphis (C-USA)
Illinois+
Texas (Big 12)
GONZAGA (WCC)

3 seeds
UNC+
Tennessee (SEC)
LSU+
Iowa+

4 seeds
George Washington (A-10)
UCLA (Pac-10)
Kansas+
Pitt+

5 seeds
Florida+
Washington+
West Virginia+
BC+

6 seeds
NC State+
Michigan St.+
Oklahoma+
Marquette+

7 seeds
Wisconsin+
Nevada (WAC)
Georgetown+
Arkansas+

8 seeds
Wichita St.+
Michigan+
Kentucky
Arizona

9 seeds
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (MVC)
Missouri St.
Northern Iowa+
Alabama

10 seeds
Bradley
UNC WILMINGTON (CAA)
UAB
Indiana

11 seeds
George Mason
Cal
Seton Hall
Florida St.

12 seeds
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE (HORIZON)
Bucknell (Patriot)
Air Force
Creighton

13 seeds
Kent St. (MAC)
San Diego St. (Mt. West)
SOUTH ALABAMA (SUN BELT)
IONA (MAAC)

14 seeds
MURRAY ST. (OVC)
WINTHROP (BIG SOUTH)
MONTANA (BIG SKY)
Northwestern St. (Southland)

15 seeds
PENN (IVY)
Pacific (Big West)
DAVIDSON (SOUTHERN)
ORAL ROBERTS (MCC)

16 seeds
BELMONT (A-SUN)
Albany (America East)
Delaware St. (MEAC)
MONMOUTH (nec)*
Southern (SWAC)*

*- play-in game
+- at-large locks
AUTO BID

Multi-Bid Conferences
Big East- 7
Big Ten- 7
MVC- 6
SEC- 6
ACC- 5
Pac-10- 4
Big 12- 3
CAA- 2
C-USA- 2
Mt. West- 2

In
South Alabama
Montana
Monmouth

Out
Western Kentucky
Northern Arizona
FDU

Also Considered
Syracuse
Cincinnati
Texas A&M
Hofstra
Utah St.
Colorado

Conference Tourney Preview Part. V

Auto Bid Record: 9-5

Big East
The best conference tournament kicks off with Cincinnati and Syracuse both of whom need to win this game to get into the field. It might very well be a play-in game for the Big Dance. Connecticut will likely meet Villanova in the final unless West Virginia has another run in them. Both Villanova and Uconn are near locks for one seeds at this point.

Tourney winner- Connecticut
At-large bids- Villanova, West Virginia, Pitt, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Syracuse
Bubble burst- Cincinnati

Pac-10
UCLA is probably the best team but no one in this conference is that dominate. But they are playing in their home city at the Staples Center. UCLA and Washington are locks and are just playing for seeding, but Arizona and Cal could both use a win or two. Arizona will be without Hassan Adams and may want to win a game after several other bubble teams have had huge wins in the past week or two. Cal should have their hands full with USC who is also in its home city in their first game and need to win at least one after losing 3 of 5 down the stretch. If they lose to USC, they will be sweating Selection Sunday.

Tourney winner- UCLA
At-large bids- Washington, Arizona
Bubble burst- Cal

C-USA
Memphis is easily the best team in C-USA but the question is how hard will they try for the automatic bid? UAB, UTEP, and Houston are all good teams who are either trying to prove they deserve an at-large bid or get the auto bid. UAB proved Memphis is beatable in recent days, but the tourney is on the floor of Memphis. Added to that fact will be Darius Washington trying to atone for last year’s missed FTs.

Tourney winner- Memphis
At-large bid- UAB

Big West
Pacific is easily the team to beat and they also got a bye to the semis because they won the regular season title. They will probably have a rubber match against erratic UC Irvine in the finals but should prevail.

Tourney winner- Pacific

SWAC
Southern won the regular season title by four games, losing three on the road in close games. Alabama St. should give them the most trouble in the second round if both teams advance. They beat Southern and lost by four in their other game. Alabama St. also is pretty close to home so they should have quite a few fans cheering them on. If Southern gets by them, then they won’t lose to anyone else.

Tourney winner- Southern

Conference Tourney Preview Part. IV

Mt. West
San Diego St. won’t have to face a team that has beaten them this year until the conference finals where they will likely meet BYU. Air Force is an interesting case because they play Wyoming in the first round whom they beat by 1 and lost to by 5. If they can get past them, they will have to face a red hot BYU team which has also beaten them this year.

Tourney winner- SDSU
Bubble burst- Air Force

A-10
George Washington is clearly the class of the A-10 but without Pops they are extremely beatable as they showed against Charlotte. There is just no way they are winning 3 games against pretty good teams to get the automatic bid without Pops. The thing is the other 11 teams are all pretty equal and could win. Dayton is home and has a pretty favorable draw as well. They went 3-0 against St. Joe’s and St. Louis who will be Dayton’s first two opponents. They would then get an injured GW team or Temple which beat them by 2 at Dayton. Can Dayton win four games in four days? Probably not. GW is still the best team in the league, but I’ve got a bad feeling about them

Tourney winner- Dayton
At-large bid- GW

MAC
Kent St. enters their conference tournament as the 1 seed, but lost their last game at Akron. The tournament is in Cleveland which will be packed with Akron fans and the final figures to be another Akron-Kent St. showdown.

Tourney winner- Akron

Southland
Northwestern St. won the regular season title by 4 games over Sam Houston State and their only lost came at Sam Houston St. However, they have home court advantage throughout where their only lost was by 4 points to Iowa St. Sam Houston St. will keep it reasonably close in the final but they won’t win.

Tourney winner- Northwestern St.

MEAC
Delaware St. is another team that won their regular season title by 4 games. They may draw NC A&T who is hosting the tournament for their first game where Delaware St. only won by 3. NC A&T has Howard who beat NC A&T at NC A&T as well in the first round. Anyway Delaware St. is the class of the league and will probably win 3 close games to get the automatic bid.

Tourney winner- Delaware St.

Conference Tourney Preview Part. III

WCC
Gonzaga is the obvious choice here even though they played so many close games against their conference foes. If the tournament was somewhere other Spokane maybe other team like Loyola Marymount, San Francisco, or San Diego would have a chance.

Tourney winner- Gonzaga

Sun Belt
Western Kentucky will have an easy road to the championship game. In the championship game they will likely play either South Alabama or Middle Tennessee St. who is the host of the tournament. If Western Kentucky faces Middle Tennessee St. then they may be in trouble since they have already lost at MTSU this season.

Tourney winner- W. Kentucky

Big Sky
Northern Arizona and Montana have byes until the semis where they should win easily. The final will be on Northern Arizona’s home floor where they beat Montana by 3 earlier this season. Montana beat Northern Arizona at Montana to end the regular season.

Tourney winner- Montana

Northeast
All games are played on the floor of the higher seed. FDU backs into the 1 seed but it still gives them home court advantage. However they play Quinnipiac in the first round whom they split with in the regular season. The final will come down to Central Connecticut St. and Mount St. Mary’s.

Tourney winner- Central Connecticut St.

MCC
Oral Roberts enters as the 1 seed and all games will be played on their home court. They went undefeated in conference play at home and won 6 of 8 by more than 10 points.

Tourney winner- Oral Roberts

Ivy
The Ivy doesn’t have a postseason tournament and the automatic bid will go to the regular season winner. Yet again it will be either Penn or Princeton representing the Ivy. Penn looks to be in control over the Ivy and needs either two wins, two losses from Princeton, or a combination of the two to clinch the bid. Both teams travel to Brown and Yale this weekend before meeting Tuesday at Princeton for the finale.

Conference winner- Penn

Conference Tourney Preview Part. II

MVC
This is easily the biggest mid-major conference tournament and maybe the biggest overall in terms of at-large bids. Only Wichita St. and possibly Creighton can feel 100% safe at this point so N. Iowa, S. Illinois, Missouri St., and Bradley all need at least 1 win to help themselves out. Ultimately I think the conference will get 5 bids. Southern Illinois plays host for the tourney so that should be could enough for a win or two. They play the winner of Evansville/Illinois St. and that is obviously a game that they have to have. If they can get by either Missouri St. or Northern Iowa in the semis it should be enough. The biggest matchup will probably be between Northern Iowa and Missouri St. The Panthers are in a huge slide, while the Bears are the hottest team in the MVC. Both teams will probably get in, but neither can feel secure.

Tourney winner- Southern Illinois over Wichita St.
At-large bids- Wichita St., Creighton, Northern Iowa, Missouri St.
Bubble burst- Bradley

CAA
This is another conference that figures to get multiple bids. There are 5 teams that can win this tournament. VCU is the host school, but doesn’t get a first round bye like the other 4 teams which should hurt them as they advance since there aren’t any off days. VCU will get by Hofstra but lose to George Mason in the semis. UNC Wilmington probably needs to get to the finals to have a good shot at an at-large and they probably will. The final will be Wilmington and George Mason.

Tourney winner- Wilmington
At-large bids- George Mason
Bubble burst- Hofstra

Patriot
Every bubble team will be rooting for Bucknell here as the Bison may take an at-large spot away from a bubble team in case of a loss. It will be a Bucknell-Holy Cross rematch in the finals where Bucknell beat Holy Cross at Holy Cross last year to get the auto bid. Holy Cross won’t be returning the favor.

Tourney winner- Bucknell

OVC
Murray St. dominated this conference by 3 games. Murray St. is going to the Big Dance.

Tourney winner- Murray St.

America East
Vermont and Boston U will likely be sitting on the sidelines this year as another team will be getting the automatic bid. Albany might have to face New Hampshire in the second round which swept the Great Danes in the regular season. Binghamton is the host of the tournament where they went 6-2 in conference play.

Tourney winner- Binghamton