And, so it begins. The great second week of the CTC begins today, with a couple holdovers from Week One.
BIG EAST OPENING ROUND:
In this new, awesome Big East tournament structure, there is a first round and a second round before the quarterfinals. There are THREE STRAIGHT DAYS with quadruple-headers, then the semifinals and finals. Awesome; madness; awesome! Doogan is trying to defend his 2008 CTC Big East crown (170 points), while J will try for a better showing this year than his 40 points of a year ago. There are a TON of points up for grabs with all of these high seeds and extra rounds, so this year’s Big East could go a long way in crowning the overall champion. Not to mention all the great basketball. There are three teams with a chance at a #1 seed in the Big Dance. There are several bubble teams, including three playing in this first day. Awesome.
- #9 Cincinnati (8-10) vs. #16 DePaul (0-18). The Blue Demons lost all 18 conference games this year and open against a bubblicious team in Cincinnati. The winner moves on the second round against #8 Providence. No one has Cincinnati losing this game, and a couple (J and Alexi) have the Bearcats winning tomorrow against Friars.
- #10 Notre Dame (8-10) vs. #15 Rutgers (2-16). Another bubble team, the Fightin’ Irish, take on Rutgers tonight in the late game at MSG. Rutgers struggled all year, but are a dangerous team. ND still has an outside shot at an at-large, but it will take at least two wins in this tournament–maybe more. The winner gets #7 West Virginia in the second round. Waters was the only one (Jersey pride, maybe?) to take the Scarlet Knights in this one. Bry and Lynch both have Notre Dame winning again over the Mountaineers.
- #11 Seton Hall (7-11) vs. #14 South Florida (4-14). Not a bad rebuilding season for the Pirates in ridiculously tough conference, but they still finished 11th in the conference. USF just has not been able to make a good transition, basketball-wise, to the Big East, and finished 14th this season. The winner of this game moves on to face #6 Syracuse Wednesday night. Bry and Lynch both have USF in the upset. Everyone else has Seton Hall. No one has either team beating the ‘Cuse in the second round.
- #12 Georgetown (7-11) vs. #13 St. John’s (6-12). Another team that is on the very outside of the bubble is the 12th-place team in the great Big East. In the beginning of the season, it looked like the Hoyas might not even be playing on the second day of the tournament, let alone the first, but now they are in a lot of trouble, with one last chance. The Johnnies, on the other hand, are happy to be here, after missing the Big East tournament completely the past couple of years. But, they are here, and just as alive as anyone else. Doogan and Lynch are the only two to take St. John’s. Bry and Alexi believe in Georgetown, as they have the Hoyas knocking off #5 Marquette in the second round.
HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:
After an opening round on campus sites and the quarter- and semifinal rounds on Butler’s campus, the championship is tonight, again, at Butler. Bubble teams all over the country are rooting hard for Butler tonight, so that they don’t fall into the at-large field.
- #3 Cleveland State at #1 Butler. The Bulldogs, the class of this conference year in and year out, are a lock for the NCAA tournament, but they can save a bubble team by making it official tonight at home against Cleveland St. All 8 of us have Butler winning this tournament, so there are no points up for grabs here, and Bry is going to win his 3rd conference of the year.
SUMMIT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:
After two interesting and exciting rounds in the Summit League, the finals are tonight.
- #1 North Dakota State vs. #3 Oakland. N.D. State is the top seed and regular season champ, but they have looked a lot impressive than #3 Oakland through the first two rounds of this tournament. No matter what happens tonight, there is going to be a tie for the SL title this year. If Oakland wins, J and Alexi will share the title. If N.D. State wins, Ina, Doogan and Stri will all share the crown. The other three (Bry, Lynch, and Waters) have someone who is already been eliminated winning the title tonight.
MAC OPENING ROUND:
An interesting MAC season’s climax begins tonight with the opening round of the conference tournament. The seedings are interesting because of the divisional breakdown in the MAC, but the tournament should be exciting. Doogan is the defending CTC MAC champion, having a perfect bracket except one opening round game–collecting 116 points. Bry only had 44 from the MAC last year, losing this conference.
- #5 Akron (10-6) vs. #12 Toledo (5-11). The Zips take on the Rockets tonight in the MAC opening round. The Rockets struggled, while the Zips probably earned a bye, but did not get it. Only Lynch took the shot at a 14 point (times 3) upset pick today with Toledo. Everyone else has Akron. Bry, Ina, and Alexi have Akron winning again tomorrow against #4 Miami (OH).
- #6 Kent State (10-6) vs. #11 Northern Illinois (5-11). The Golden Flashes of Kent St. is another team that could have gotten a bye, but instead have to play on opening day. N. Illinois (who has a whatifsports national championship banner hanging from the rafters) struggled in actual basketball this year. Only Doogan took UNI in the big upset. Interestingly, both Bry and Alexi have Kent St. going all the way to the finals–Alexi has them winning it.
- #7 Central Michigan (7-9) vs. #10 Eastern Michigan (6-10). The battle of directional Michigans tonight, where the winner will be rewarded with a quarterfinal date against #2 Ball St. Half of us (J, Doogan, Alexi, and Waters) all have E. Michigan in the upset. Alexi and Doogan both have them going all the way to the semis. Ina and Bry both have C. Michigan going to the semis, so this is a pretty important 7-10 game.
- #8 Western Michigan (7-9) vs. #9 Ohio (7-9). In a battle of two very different 7-9 teams, having played different schedules. Bry, J, Doogan, Waters, and Lynch all took Ohio in the mild upset. J even has them knocking off #1 Bowling Green in a huge upset in the quarters.
BIG SKY SEMIFINALS:
The Big Sky played their two quarterfinal games on Saturday and now they have the semis tonight and the finals tomorrow on the campus of the top seed, Webert St. The tournament finally welcomes the top two seeds to the fray.
- #4 Idaho State at #1 Weber State (15-1). The top seed in the Big Sky gets to host the semis and finals, so Weber St., who only lost one conference game all year, gets Idaho St., who is coming off a 7-point win over N. Colorado on Saturday. Everyone has Weber St. winning this game, and everyone except J and Waters (who is out with Montana) have them winning this title.
- #2 Portland State (11-5) vs. #6 Montana State. Montana St. is coming off a thrilling two-point win over their arch rivals and now they get rewarded with a semifinal game against #2 Portland St. Stri and Waters both had eliminated Montana winning this game. Everyone else has Portland St. J is the only one with the Seawolves winning this tournament.
WAC OPENING ROUND:
One game in the WAC tonight tips off this conference’s tournament. Unfortunately, it is scheduled to start at 10:30 tonight, not midnight, for old time’s sake. I miss the “Midnight Snack in the WAC.”
- #8 Hawaii (5-11) vs. #9 Fresno State (3-13). A game between the worst two teams in the conference tonight, to see who gets to play #1 Utah St. tomorrow. Bry, Ina, and Alexi all picked Fresno St. in the mild upset. No one has either of these teams beating Utah St. tomorrow.
MEAC OPENING ROUND:
The MEAC splits up both the opening round and the quarterfinals, as two of the three opening round games take place tonight in Winston-Salem. Last year Alexi (38 points) edged Bry (34 points) for the MEAC title. J and Doogan both struggled, scoring 16 each.
- #7 Hampton (8-8) vs. #10 Delaware State (6-10). The winner of this opener will get #2 S.C. State on Thursday night in the quarters. Doogan, Waters, and Lynch all took Delaware St. in the upset. Alexi and J both have Hampton beating S.C. State and going to the semis. Alexi even has them in the finals.
- #8 Florida A&M (6-10) vs. #9 Howard (6-10). The 8-9 game will determine the quarterfinal opponent of top-seeded Morgan St. Bry, Doogan, Alexi, Waters, and Lynch all have Howard in the mild upset. No one has either of them beating Morgan on Thursday.
