Just when you think you’ve seen it all in a conference tournament setting, these tournaments throw something at you that you’ve never seen before. And, this is one of them. I have never seen a quintuple-header, in succession in the same gym. But, the MEAC never fails to deliver, and they do it again, starting the first game at 11:00 and expecting the fifth game to tip around 9:00 pm. Nice work, MEAC, nice work.
As for the CTC, this is phenomenal. As of writing this, we have 19 of the 20 entries in. 6 people took Savannah St. to win it all; 6 people took Norfolk St.; and, 7 people took Delaware St. Should be exciting…
Championship Picks
6 for #1 Savannah St. (Bry, Doogan, KA, Rikey, RSmith, Scoot)
6 for #2 Norfolk St. (Dave, Gross, J, Lynch, Primm, Teddy)
7 for #3 Delaware St.
Biggest Upsets
R1 – #13 S.C. State (Bry, J, KA, Waters)
QF – #11 Florida A&M (Doogan)
SF – #9 Morgan St. (Alexi, Teddy)
Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Doogan
2010 – Bry
2009 – Lynch
2008 – Alexi
#8 Hampton vs. #9 Morgan St.
When you hear about a MEAC tournament game between Morgan St. and Hampton, you probably think that it has to be at least a semifinal, and more likely a championship. But, no, both teams are WAY down this year and are meeting in the 8-9 game for the right to face #1 Savannah St. in the quarters. Nearly half the field went with the mild upset of Morgan St. here (Alexi, Bry, Gross, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Teddy, Waters). Alexi and Teddy went real big on Morgan St., as they both have them going to the finals. Dave has the most on the line with Hampton, as he has them in the semis.
#7 N.C. A&T vs. #10 Howard
These two teams started conference play in complete opposite ways. Howard won their first two games and were thought possibly contend. N.C. A&T started very slowly, yet got hot late and ended up in 7th place. #2 Norfolk State awaits the winner of this game in the quarters. 10 people went with the upset pick of Howard here (Bry, Dave, Gersh, J, Lil Lohse, Lynch, RDoc, RSmith, Scoot, Waters). Gersh has the Bison going to the semis. No one that picked N.C. A&T has them going any further.
#5 N.C. Central vs. #12 MD-Eastern Shore
The MEAC got a lot better with their two additions this year, as Savannah State actually won the league, and NC Central was a really solid squad all year. They will play their first ever MEAC tournament game today against long-time MEAC doormat, UMES. RDoc is the lone believer in UMES, as everyone else has N.C. Central here. Gross, Lohse, and Primm have the most faith in NCC, taking them to reach the finals. A slew of other people have NCC winning again tomorrow.
#4 Bethune-Cookman vs. #13 S.C. State
S.C. State was terrible for most of the season, but did look a little better late in the year. Bethune-Cookman, alma mater of the great John Chaney, put together another really nice season, but fell just short of the third bye and has to take part of this crazy quintuple-header. This is only CTC game all year that is guaranteed to pit to two teams this far apart in seedings. So, the upset points were too tempting for Bry, J, KA, and Waters to pass up, regardless of the fact that S.C. State was 0-16 in the MEAC this year. Waters even has them winning again next round. Dave and RDoc have the most at stake here with BC, as they have them going to the finals.
#6 Coppin St. #11 Florida A&M
Coppin St. is another team that looked like a contender for much of the season, but suffered some head-scratching losses along the way, culminating in a 6th-place finish for Coppin. FAMU was really bad for most of the season, but started to pick it up late. The winner of this game will get #3 Delaware St. in the quarters. Bry, Doogan, and Mac have this FAMU upset. Doogan even has them winning again, so this is big for him.
