With the major conference tournaments getting all of the attention, I'm going to look back and look forward at some of the small conference tournaments across the nation. It's hard to pay attention to everything. Think of this post as your little catch all so you can seem like you know what you are talking about when you say Mercer can hang in the first round. The easiest way to do that is by winners and losers.
Tournament Champions
Mercer – Atlantic Sun
Coastal Carolina – Big South
Delaware – Colonial
Manhattan – MAAC
Wichita State – Missouri Valley
Wofford – Southern
Eastern Kentucky – Ohio Valley
Harvard – Ivy League Regular Season Champion
Congratulations to those teams. Not all of the best teams won the league. Here are all the top seeds that lost their conference tournaments and are relegated to the NIT.
One Seeds To Lose
Vermont – America East
Florida Gulf Coast – Atlantic Sun
High Point – Big South
Green Bay – Horizon
Iona – MAAC
Belmont – Ohio Valley
Davidson – Southern
The last 4 of those teams had a shot to win a game in the tournament. The brutality of small conference tournaments.
Just for kicks, here's how my predictions on the 1 bid tournaments I previewed last week.
Correct: Mercer, Coastal Carolina, Wichita St,
Incorrect: Green Bay, Belmont, Iona, Towson, Davidson, Vermont
Dark Horse winners: Eastern Kentucky
Going mainly chalk heavy was not the best of moves. Some bids are still up for grabs. In fact, some are up for grabs tonight. Let's take a look at tonight's schedule of championship games.
NORTHEAST FINAL
(4) Mount St Mary's vs (1) Robert Morris – 7 PM – ESPN2
Robert Morris -5.5
HORIZON FINAL
(5) Milwaukee vs (3) Wright State – 7 PM – ESPN
Wright State -6.5
WEST COAST FINAL
(2) BYU vs (1) Gonzaga – 9 PM – ESPN
Gonzaga -4.5
SUMMIT FINAL
(2) IPFW vs (1) North Dakota State – 9 PM – ESPN2
North Dakota State -8
With those tournaments wrapping up, some of the other small leagues are kick starting. Using the same format as the first set of previews, here are the previews for those leagues. I'm not including Conference USA because while that's a 1 bid league, that league is very interesting.
BIG WEST – Bracket
Start: March 13
Venue: Anaheim, California
1 Seed: UC Irvine
2 Seed: UC Santa Barbara
Top Offense: 1.14 PPP – Hawaii
Top Defense: 0.93 PPP – UC Irvine
Top Scorer: 20.2 – Alan Williams, UCSB
Top Rebounder: 12.1 – Alan Williams, UCSB
Top Passer: 5.8 – Keith Shamburger, Hawaii
Prediction: UC Irvine
Dark Horse: Long Beach State
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE – Bracket
Resumes: March 12
Venue: Cleveland, Ohio
1 Seed: Western Michigan
2 Seed: Toledo
Top Offense: 1.11 PPP – Buffalo (111.2 efficiency to 110.9 for Toledo)
Top Defense: 0.90 PPP – Eastern Michigan
Top Scorer: 19.6 – Javon McCrea, Buffalo
Top Rebounder: 9.8 – Javon McCrea, Buffalo
Top Passer: 5.7 – Julius Brown, Toledo
Prediction: Toledo
Dark Horse: Akron
MEAC – Bracket
Start: March 10-11
Venue: Norfolk, Virginia
1 Seed: NC Central
2 Seed: Hampton
Top Offense: 1.13 PPP – NC Central
Top Defense: 0.87 PPP – NC Central
Top Scorer: 22.3 – James Daniel, Howard
Top Rebounder: 9.2 – Jyles Smith, Savannah State
Top Passer: 6.6 – Emanuel Chapman, NC Central
Prediction: NC Central
Dark Horse: Hampton
SOUTHLAND – Bracket
Start: March 12
Venue: Katy, Texas
1 Seed: Stephen F. Austin
2 Seed: Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
Top Offense: 1.19 PPP – Stephen F. Austin
Top Defense: 0.95 PPP – Stephen F. Austin
Top Scorer: 22.5 – Shawn Glover, Oral Roberts
Top Rebounder: 8.4 – Desharick Guidry, McNeese St
Top Passer: 7.1 -Jalan West, Northwestern St
Prediction:Stephen F. Austin
Dark Horse: Sam Houston St
SWAC – Bracket
The SWAC tournament is odd because (1) Southern, (4) UAPB, (9) Mississippi Valley St and (10) Grambling State are all not eligible to participate in the NCAA tournament. If any of them win the conference tournament, the highest seeded team that goes the furthest will get the bid.
Start: March 11
Venue: Houston, Texas
1 Seed: Southern
2 Seed: Texas Southern
Top Offense: 1.1 PPP – Texas Southern
Top Defense: 0.88 PPP – Southern
Top Scorer: 19.4 – Aaric Murray, Texas Southern
Top Rebounder: 9.1 – Calvin Godfrey, Southern
Top Passer: 5.4 – Jamel Waters, Alabama St
Prediction: Southern
Dark Horse: Alabama State
NCAA Bid: Texas Southern
SUN BELT – Bracket
Start: March 13
Venue: New Orleans, Louisiana
1 Seed: Georgia State
2 Seed: Western Kentucky
Top Offense: 1.17 PPP – Georgia State
Top Defense: 0.98 PPP – Georgia State
Top Scorer: 19.3 – RJ Hunter, Georgia State
Top Rebounder: 9.6 – Shawn Long, UL Lafayette
Top Passer: 6.2 – Elfrid Payton, UL Lafayette
Prediction: Georgia State
Dark Horse: Western Kentucky
WAC
Start:
Venue: Las Vegas, Nevada
1 Seed: Utah Valley
2 Seed: New Mexico State
Top Offense: 1.17 PPP – New Mexico State
Top Defense: 0.98 PPP – New Mexico State
Top Scorer: 21.9 – Stephen Madison, Idaho
Top Rebounder: 9.5 – Ben Arid, Utah Valley
Top Passer: 4.3 – Issiah Grayson, Cal State Bakersfield
Prediction: New Mexico State
Dark Horse: Idaho
