The Horizon League – long considered one of the better mid-major conferences in the country – will kick off its conference tournament without one of its flagship programs, Butler, for, literally, the first time in my lifetime.  After 33 seasons in the Horizon League, the Bulldogs took a one-year detour to the A-10 this year before they join the Catholic-7 or Big Priest or whatever they are going to call it (I am in denial that they are stealing the “Big East” name before Temple ever even gets there…).

So, the Horizon took a bit of a step backwards this year with the loss of Butler and an uncharacteristically down season for Cleveland St., but there was still a nice battle up top between Valpo and Detroit and a decent middle of the conference bolstered by surprisingly not-terrible years from UIC and Loyola (IL) and the emergence of a Youngstown St. program that is on the rise.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 30 points)

#1 Valparaiso vs #3 Wright St.
After two incredibly thrilling, maddening semifinals, the whole Horizon community had a couple days to take a breath before Tuesday’s championship.  The venue remains the same, as the regular season champ, Crusaders, will host Wright St. tonight for a spot in the Dance.  Does Broekhoff have any more Valpo magic in him?  We will see.  Either way, it is a pretty incredible finals matchup.  Valpo was picked in the preseason to win this league, but Wright St. was picked DEAD-LAST.  Now, they are 40 minutes from a ticket to the Dance.

Eleven people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) have Valpo here, while the other 13 all had Detroit, so they are hoping for a Wright St. upset here to zero out the final.  Regardless of the result tonight, Caleb will win his first ever CTC conference title.

Valparaiso 62 – Wright St. 54
It wasn’t exactly how Coach Drew drew it up, but a win is a win is a win – especially in March.  That being said, it’s hard to imagine Valpo playing a worse game than this one.  They committed a season-high 25 turnovers and one of the better FT shooting teams in the country missed a ton of key FTs down the stretch.  But, still Ryan Broekhoff and company were too good on this night, and avoided a second straight season of blowing a big second half lead at home in the conference championship.  For people around my age, they were the first real “Cinderella,” so it’s nice to have them back in the Dance.

Eleven people hit this champion.  Caleb wins the 2013 Horizon League CTC title.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 20 points each)

#2 Detroit vs #3 Wright St.
In the Horizon semifinal opener, the Detroit Titans begin their postseason against a Wright St. team that handled Youngstown St. on Friday in the quarters.  If you’ve never seen Ray McCallum play – tune in – and not just because he looks like Michael from The Wire, but because he’s got serious game.  The dude turned down a scholarship offer from Michigan St. (among others) to play for his dad in the Horizon League.  He’s the real deal.  He almost single-handedly took Temple’s at-large hopes away last week at the Liacouras, but the Owls survived.

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters have the minor Wright St. upset here.  Everyone else has Detroit, including a baker’s dozen of people with the Titans winning this tournament (everyone who doesn’t have Valpo).

Wright St. 64 – Detroit 62
MADNESS!!!  A baseline jumper by Mike Dixon at the buzzer sent Wright St. to the upset win over Detroit and into the Horizon championship on Tuesday.  Detroit’s star, Ray McCallum was incredibly held to 1-for-7 from the floor with 4 turnovers.  The two teams played the whole game within 5 points of each other, with 14 ties and 9 lead changes.  What a crazy, crazy, March-like game.  The Titans, who had high hopes for McCallum’s junior season, are relegated to hoping for an invite to the NIT.  Wow!

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters are the only four that got this game.  13 people (Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lohse, LohseJr, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stumpf, and Teddy) had Detroit winning this tournament.  Nobody has Wright St. cutting down the nets. 

#1 Valparaiso vs #4 Green Bay
Keifer Sykes’s shot still echoes in the Valpo gym, as the Phoenix will try and use that magic to get through the league’s best team on its home floor.  As good as Ray McCallum is for Detroit, he might not win the Horizon POY this year because Ryan Broekhoff of Valpo had a phenomenal year for the team that won the league.  Now, Broekhoff will try and cement this status by carrying his team to the Dance.

All 24 people have Valpo here, including 11 people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) with Valpo winning this tournament.

Valparaiso 70 – Green Bay 69
Bryce Who?  MORE MADNESS!!!  What an amazing double-header the Valparaiso fans got to see on Saturday night.  First, they see Wright St. upset the Crusaders biggest threat, Detroit, on a buzzer-beater, and now they get to see one of the most amazing buzzer-beaters you will ever see – in any month (but, of course, it happened in March).  Horizon Player of the Year, Ryan Broekhoff hit an off-balance, desperation three as time expired to SHOCK Green Bay and send the Crusaders to the Horizon championship against Wright St. on Tuesday night.  Broekhoff had 25 in the game, while Keifer Sykes dropped 31 in a losing effort for the Phoenix.  Holy S&$*!!!

All 24 people got this one right, but the 11 people who had the Crusaders winning this tournament are pretty happy with this result, especially as the other 13 people all lost their champions in the early game.

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 10 points each)

#3 Wright St. vs #6 Youngstown St.
The YSU Penguins survived a tough opening round game at home on Tuesday against Loyola (IL) and now get to join the weekend fun here at Valpo with a quarterfinal date with Wright St.  These two teams played on the last day of the regular season last Saturday at Wright St. and the Raiders crushed YSU by 27.  Now, the Penguins can either get revenge and move on to face #2 Detroit in Saturday’s semifinal or their season will end here.  Wright St. – whose win on Saturday, coupled with a Green Bay loss to Valpo, earned them the 3-seed and the first-round bye – has put together a surprisingly good season after being picked in the preseason to finish dead-last in the Horizon.  They will get the chance this weekend to validate their 3rd-place conference finish and it starts Friday.

GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have YSU in a pretty nice upset pick here, though none of them have the Penguins beating Detroit in the semis, so it’s not a whole lot to lose.  Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all have Wright St. winning this game and then again Saturday over Detroit, so this is an important one for them.  Alexi and Lohse have already lost this game with Loyola (IL).

Wright St. 66 – Youngstown St. 59
For 30 minutes or so, this game looked like it might be a total blowout, but Youngstown St. made a furious comeback to cut it to 3 with less than three minutes to play, but Wright St. held on and will advance to Saturday’s semifinals against 2nd-seeded Detroit.  Junior forward Jerran Young filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.

17 people got this one right with Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all keeping a finalist alive here.

#4 Green Bay vs #5 Illinois-Chicago
The first quarterfinal of the night at Valpo pits two teams coming off relatively easy opening round wins on their home floors Tuesday night.  Green Bay ended a bad season for UW-Milwaukee, while UIC disproved the doubters a bit by manhandling Cleveland St.  The Valpo fans in attendence will be closely tuned into this one, as their team awaits the winner of this one in the semifinal on Saturday.

Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC in this minor upset, while J and Lazarow have already lost it thanks to their Cleveland St. pick.  All 24 entries have Valparaiso going to the finals, so no one is putting even a finalist at risk here in Friday’s nightcap.

Green Bay 64 – Illinois-Chicago 63
MADNESS!  What an ending to a great season for the UIC Flames (though, they will probably be invited to some postseason tournament).  UIC’s Gary Talton hit two clutch free throws with the game tied and :07 seconds to go.  Green Bay inbounds the ball and, with his coach SCREAMING for a timeout, Keifer Sykes decides to make a stutter-step and put up a contested three, which he nails – Green Bay wins!  Bring on Valpo!  God, I love this month.

15 people got this one right and picked up the 10 points.

OPENING ROUND (March 5th – 5 points each)

#4 Green Bay vs #9 UW-Milwaukee
Two bitter rivals will face off in spots that are rather disappointing for each.  UWM was the biggest surprise in the league this year with just how bad they were, and GB has too much talent to have missed out on a bye, but a 19-point home loss to Valpo on Saturday pushed them into the opening round.  The good news for the Phoenix is that they will host the Panthers in this opening round on individual campuses.

Surprisingly, PapaCim is the only one who took the shot at a nice upset pick here in the rivalry game with UW-Milwaukee.  He does not have them going any further, and most people who picked Green Bay here also picked them in the quarters.  No one has Green Bay beating Valparaison in the semis, so unless PapaCim can grab the big upset points, this game won’t have much affect on the CTC.

Green Bay 62 – UW-Milwaukee 46
The Phoenix takes care of their in-state rivals, ending an incredibly disappointing season for UWM.

PapaCim misses on the upset pick.

#5 Illinois-Chicago vs #8 Cleveland St.
UIC versus Cleveland St. in the 5-8 would not have been that far out of the question in the preseason, but the location of the game would be.  Cleveland St. was supposed to be rebuilding this year, but they were even worse than expected.  UIC was picked for dead-last in the conference and, without a late-season slide, may have contended for a top 3 finish.  But, they did earn a home game against the Vikings.  The winner will face the winner of the GB-UWM game in the quarters for the right to take on #1 Valpo in the semis.

Eight people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, J, Lohse, LohseJr, and Waters) went for the road team, CSU, here in an upset.  J has the most at stake, though, as he has the Vikings winning again in the quarters.  Gersh, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC advancing to the semis, though none of them have the Flames beating Valpo to reach the finals.

Illinois-Chicago 82 – Cleveland St. 59
The surprisingly solid season for UIC will at least last until the weekend, as they pretty much dominated Cleveland St. from the opening tip.  They are now set up to meet 4th-seeded Green Bay in the quartefinals in Valparaiso on Friday.

J took the biggest hit here, as he loses a semifinalist.  Five others have UIC in the semis, which looks like a decent pick if you judge by tonight’s performance.

#6 Youngstown St. vs #7 Loyola (IL)
Youngstown St. has been building their D-I program for a couple years now and, after a promising 2011-12, they took that momentum into this season and acquitted themselves rather well, despite falling to a 6th place finish in the end.  Loyola (IL) was supposed to beat out only UIC (maybe), but they actually looked solid for most of the season, including giving Michigan St. a run in the non-conference.  The winner of this game will take on #3 Wright St.in the quarters.

Seven people (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Lohse, RDoc, Stumpf, and Waters) went for the minor upset pick of Loyola here, with Alexi and Lohse picking the Ramblers to beat Wright St. in the quarters, as well.  GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have Youngstown St. beating Wright St. in the quarters.  No one has either of these teams reaching the finals.

Youngstown St. 62 – Loyola (IL) 60
A back-and-forth game that was played within 2 possessions almost the entire way ends with a game-winning jumper by Youngstown’s sophomore point guard D.J. Cole, pushing the Penguins into the quarters against Wright St.

Alexi and Lohse took the biggest hit here, while 5 people kept alive their semifinalist in YSU.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Valparaiso (11)
• #2 Detroit (13)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #9 UW-Milwaukee – PapaCim
• QF – #8 Cleveland St. – J
• SF – #3 Wright St. – Caleb, Dave & Waters
• Champ – #2 Detroit – many

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Waters
• 2009 – Bry
• 2010 – Doogan & Teddy (perfect)
• 2011 – Bry (perfect)
• 2012 – Lohse

2013 Scores

1. Caleb (’13) – 108
2. Waters (’08) – 103
3. Dave – 98
4. GrossSr – 93
5. RDoc – 85
6. Bry (’09, ’11*) – 75
7. Lynch – 75
8. Scoot – 73
9. Lazarow – 70
10. Alexi – 65
11. Primm – 65
12. Alex – 55
13. Doogan (’10*) – 55
14. Mac – 55
15. Cheryl – 50
16. LohseJr – 50
17. Rikey – 50
18. Gersh – 45
19. GrossJr – 45
20. Stumpf – 40
21. Teddy (’10*) – 40
22. Lohse (’12) – 35
23. J – 30
24. PapaCim – 30