Previewing Wednesday's Conference Tournament Games
Going to be doing this daily since we’re now in March and it’s just a cleaner look. We’ll take a look at conference tournament games going on each day and put conference championship games in their own blog. This will have updated brackets, what’s going on, etc. I’ll be talking about the games all day @barstoolreags, so join me there and let’s get right into it.
Atlantic-10
Opening Round
It’s been a down year for the A-10, there’s no question about that. But, this league is intriguing due to the fact that there can be a stolen bid. If you want to keep an eye on someone, keep an eye on Davidson down there at the No. 3 seed. URI is going to make the NCAA Tournament, barring a loss to Richmond or Duquesne, St. Bonaventure should feel okay about hearing its name called on Sunday. Davidson isn’t on the bubble, but did finish a week by going to triple OT with St. Bonaventure and beating Rhode Island. There’s some confidence there. Throw in the fact they have a guy like Peyton Aldrdige, Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson and you have three guys who can go off on any given night. Not to mention they also have arguably the best coach in the conference in Bob McKillop, who is an offensive genius. URI is clearly the best team, but coming into this tournament losing two in a row including a 30-point loss at home to St. Joe’s isn’t ideal. We get two opening round games tonight, but really start tuning in if the top-4 seeds advance to the semis. I actually think Davidson steals a bid here and beats URI in the title game.
ACC
Second Round
You can read the full breakdown on the ACC Tournament by clicking here. As for today there are four really good games and this to me kicks off championship week in full swing. The 8/9 ACC game always signaled to me that March was here. Well, today we have FSU/Louisville. A win for either team should make them feel comfortable to get to the NCAA Tournament. A loss by Louisville and they are more than likely in the NIT. A loss by Florida State and you’re getting worried. Then we have BC playing its second game of the tournament against NC State. Expect Kevin Keatts to throw a press at BC early in this one – don’t be surprised if it’s a 1-2-2 of sorts. BC struggled against Georgia Tech’s pressure late yesterday and can get careless with the ball. The bottom half of the bracket though is where most people will care. Syracuse needs another win over UNC to get to the right side of the bubble. These two teams played a low-scoring game a couple weeks ago, but Theo Pinson was huge in that one. With Syracuse having a short bench, playing back to back games, look for UNC to really push tempo. Then in the last one, Notre Dame. Everyone’s favorite bubble team who probably isn’t really close to the bubble in a must-win over Virginia Tech. They actually match up well against the Hokies in the sense they can go small the way Virginia Tech wants to play. If you’re a Notre Dame fan, a win over Virginia Tech isn’t enough though. You need to beat Duke too.
Big 12
Opening Round
I’ll have a full breakdown of the Big 12 Tournament later today. For now, here’s the bracket.
Big East
Opening Round
I’ll have a full breakdown of the Big East Tournament later today. For now, here’s the bracket.
Conference-USA
First Round
This is another mid-major tournament that I’m incredibly excited to watch. Middle Tennessee State should be a tournament team, no matter what happens here. WKU has the talent to compete with MTSU. Old Dominion is another really good mid-major flying under the radar. Marshall has a bunch of dudes that can score with anyone. This is also taking place at the Cowboys practice facility and it looks like an absolute cluster. It’s going to be magnificent. Today is just the opening round, but tomorrow is really when you want to tune in. I highly suggest watching Middle Tennessee play as they have a core in Nick King, Giddy Potts, Brandon Walters and Antwain Johnson that are good enough to win an NCAA Tournament game for the third year in a row. If the seeds hold serve, keep an eye on Marshall vs Middle Tennessee State. Marshall swept MTSU in the regular season, including the last game of the season.
MEAC
Quarterfinals
I expect the higher seeds all to win tonight, but if you actually want to watch some entertaining basketball, cheer for Bethune-Cookman vs Savannah State in the semifinals. Both teams play a ridiculous fast pace and really just want to get up and down the court and shoot a bunch. It’s hilarious and awesome to watch all at once. I still think the champion though will come from the top half of the bracket with Hampton as a heavy favorite or Norfolk State getting the homecourt advantage.
Mountain West
First Round
If UNLV wasn’t checked out right now, there would be more intrigue in these early games. That said, Wyoming as a 6 seed can be dangerous, especially if Hayden Dalton gets going. The Cowboys already have wins over the top-4 teams this season. However, Nevada is absolutely the team to watch here. I’ve been talking about them all year and rightfully so. This team is damn good and has high-major talent when you look at the Martin twins, Hallice Cooke and Kendall Stephens. A team to watch though is Boise State. After a couple of losses late in the year, it moved from the bubble to now likely having to win the MWC Tournament to get a berth. They have an NBA player in Chandler Hutchison, but I don’t know if that’s enough to beat Nevada even without Lindsey Drew. San Diego State is a team that can cause havoc as well. The Aztecs haven’t been at full strength much at all this year, but they seem to be now. They are coming off a win over Nevada in which Trey Kell, Malik Pope and Kameron Rooks all played.
Pac-12
First Round
I’ll have a full breakdown on the Pac-12 Tournament later today. For now, here’s a bracket.
SEC
First Round
I’ll have a full breakdown on the SEC later today. For now, here’s a bracket.
Southland Conference
First Round
A somewhat weird set up for the Southland as the top two seeds get byes to the semifinals despite it being just an 8-team tournament. I think this makes a little bit of sense as you want to reward teams for strong regular seasons. During this time of the year we hear quite a bit about what can these low to mid majors do in order to make sure it sends their best teams? This is a pretty solid idea to help get there. Sure, there still may be an upset, but you’re letting the 1/2 seeds just win two games to make the NCAA Tournament. That’s how you get Stephen F. Austin to the tournament and win a game. That’s why I think you see Nicholls State win this thing. It’s going to be tough to go 3 in a row if you’re a 3/4 seed vs a 1/2 seed.
Sun Belt
First Round
The Fun Belt isn’t just for football, folks. This league has sent teams to the tournament and have gotten wins in the NCAA Tournament. Little Rock beat Purdue. Georgia State beat Baylor. Louisiana can absolutely win a game in the NCAA Tournament this year. UT-Arlington has a guy in Kevin Hervey who can play for any team in the country. Georgia Southern has Tookie Brown, an absolute dynamic point guard.