Previewing Saturday's Conference Tournament Games
Going to break up today’s previews a little bit different than normal. We’ll take a look at conference tournament games across the country and then do a breakdown for regular season games. I’ll be talking about the games all day @barstoolreags, so join me there and let’s get right into it.
America East
Quarterfinals
America East gets under way today and I’ll be honest. The America East title game is my favorite conference championship game every single year. It’s always the early game on the best Saturday in college basketball. It kicks off the day with Big 12 Finals, SEC Semis, ACC Finals, Big East finals, AAC/A-10 semis. Just an awesome day. Either way, Vermont is the heavy favorite to win this for the second straight year. Vermont has Anthony Lamb back after missing a good chunk of the year and honestly the toughest challenge could come in the semis against Albany.
Big 10
Semifinals
The Big 10 Tournament has held mostly as the odds predicted it, with the exception being Penn State in the semis over Ohio State. We almost got Rutgers in the semis after an awesome game against Purdue, but ultimately Purdue’s offense was just too much for Rutgers. Either way, that was an awesome 3-day run for Steve Pikiell’s group. Today we have Michigan State in a rivalry game against Michigan. This is going to be one of the more entertaining games today. Michigan has beat Sparty each of the last two years, including this year in East Lansing. Michigan’s defense this year has been the actual story for the Wolverines as this is one of Beilein’s better defensive teams. Offensively, it’s starting to figure itself out and Duncan Robinson looks to have found his shot again this tournament. For Michigan State, look for them to attack with Miles Bridges. There’s going to be a mismatch there or with Jaren Jackson as both scored 19 in the earlier game. In the other game, it’s a big time shame that Penn State won’t have Michael Watkins. Watkins is a great interior defender and would allow Penn State to play Haas 1v1 in the post without having to help. Now, that’s not necessarily there, but Penn State does have arguably the best defender in the country in Josh Reaves. He did an excellent job on Keita Bates-Diop again last night and will likely draw Vince Edwards or possibly Carsen Edwards tonight.
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CAA Tournament
1st Round
The CAA Tournament gets underway today with the opening round, featuring Drexel/JMU and Delaware/Elon. This is a fairly open tournament as KenPom gives Charleston, Towson, Northeastern and Hofstra all over 122% chance to win the tournament. Charleston is the favorite at about 30%. Today though we just get two opening round games as the quarterfinals will pick up tomorrow. Look for this to get a little wild in the semifinals. Don’t be surprised to see a 5/3 matchup or something like that in the finals. That said Charleston is a good team and Joe Chealey is a name to know.
Horizon League
Quarterfinals
A little weird set up here in the Horizon League in just how the bracket looks. We have the quarterfinals today and tomorrow with the top two seeds (NKU and Wright State) playing today against teams that played last night. From there they’ll have a day off while the other quarterfinals play tomorrow. NKU is the favorite here after making the NCAA Tournament last year in its first year eligible for the postseason. Oakland has struggled this year to expectations, but if it beats IUPUI, it could be dangerous. Oakland has Kendrick Nunn, one of the most electric scorers in the country. On the bottom half of the bracket, Wright State should make the finals. I’m going to go with NKU here as I think they have the right balance with Holland and McDonald to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
MAAC Tournament
Quarterfinals
The MAAC Tournament got a little loose last night with the top 2 seeds losing to St. Peter’s and Quinnipiac. Today keep an eye on that Iona/Manhattan game at 9:30. It’s a rivalry game and Iona actually had a decent chance to win this thing according to KenPom’s predictions. Iona has a guy in Rickey McGill to keep an eye on as well as EJ Crawford. Look for Iona and Fairfield to advance here and keep some sort of chalk in the semifinals.
Missouri Valley Conference
Semifinals
A bunch of close games yesterday at Arch Madness, but it held pretty much close to seeds. Loyola is the clear favorite here, however Clayston Custer is battling an injury. Custer was named MVC Player of the Year recently despite missing some time earlier this year with injury. Loyola lost to Bradley by two earlier in the year at Bradley, so keep an eye on how that games goes. In the other game, Malik Yarbrough is good enough to get Illinois State to the finals. Arch Madness is always one of the best mid-major conference tournaments and I expect two close games today. Look for Illinois State/Southern Illinois to try and slow the game down.
Northeast Tournament
Semifinals
If you want to see a mid-major coach that should be making his way up the ranks soon, keep an eye on the Wagner’s Bashir Mason. Mason is one of the youngest head coaches in America at 34 years old and has Wagner as the favorite again in the NEC. Mason should be a name that a higher level mid-major conference should look at this offeseason during the coaching carousel. As for the NEC Tournament, Wagner draws Robert Morris in the semifinals and gets the game at home. LIU-Brooklyn and Fairleigh Dickinson split the season series this year, so I actually think FDU will be the pick to get to the finals.
Ohio Valley Conference
CHAMPIONSHIP
We have our first bid being handed out today as the Ohio Valley Conference will crown a champion at 8:00. Everything held up here as we have the two top seeds between Murray State/Belmont. The two teams met just once this season – a 79-72 win by Belmont at home. In that game, Austin Luke and Dylan Windler both scored 21 points as Windler put up a 20/5/5 stat line that game. Belmont has continued the same way under Rick Byrd. Effective scoring, a bunch of motion on offense and looking for an easy shot. There’s a reason Belmont is leading the country in 2-point percentage. Murray will try to let Jonathan Stark cook tonight. Stark is Murray’s best player and scored 19 in the first game. Belmont doesn’t really have rim protection or force turnovers defensively, but they do an excellent job of contesting shots and grabbing defensive rebounds. I’ve been on Belmont all season to win this, so I’ll stick with them here.
Southern Conference
Quarterfinals
This is actually going to be one of the most fun and wide open mid-major conference tournaments out there. UNC-Greensboro beat NC State, Wofford beat UNC, ETSU led Xavier by about 20 points. There’s a ton of talent out there and you can talk me into any of the top-5 teams winning this thing. I love what ETSU can do and Steve Forbes is a guy that’s going to coach a big school next year. Furman is actually the second-favorite to win according to KenPom’s projections. Again, I highly recommend tuning into this tournament as it’s going to be all sorts of fun. Last year’s title game with ETSU/UNC-Greenboro was all sorts of electric.
Summit League
Quarterfinals
I mean this tournament is about one thing and one thing only. Mike Daum. He’s one of the, if not the, best mid-major player out there for South Dakota State. Daum is the type of guy who can give a 2 seed trouble by himself because of how talented he is. He’s a legit NBA prospect at 6’9″, 250 pounds. The junior is shooting 42% from three while putting up 23.6/10.1 per game. Bryson Scott from IPFW is another name to know, which could make for an absolutely awesome semifinal game tomorrow. I’m going to roll with South Dakota State to win this event.
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West Coast Conference
Quarterfinals
This is Gonzaga’s tournament to lose. I know it lost to St. Mary’s earlier in the year, but that seems more like a fluke game than anything else. Gonzaga has so many options to attack, especially with guys like Jonathan Williams, Silas Melson, Josh Perkins, Killian Tillie and Rui Hachimura. Teams on the bubble should be paying attention to this tournament, because BYU is someone who could steal a bid. If that happens, it could be stealing St. Mary’s bid. Jock Landale obviously is good enough to win this event as he typically plays well against Gonzaga. If St. Mary’s gets past BYU, it’s going to be another must-watch game between the two best teams in the WCC.