I’m embarrassed to admit how actually sad I am to look at this bracket this year.  Throughout the CTC, this one conference tournament – 12 teams strong, great intrigue, fantastic basketball – has been above all others to me.  Even Arch Madness didn’t quite live up to the CAA.  But, now, we have to stare at a 7-team bracket of the ultimate of 2013 underachievers or never-wases.  I almost don’t even want to think about how this happened.  VCU was the first shoe to drop with their – totally understandable – defection to the A-10.  Then, Old Dominion was banned from the conference tournament because they are leaving for Conference USA next year (not a big loss, as ODU was one of the biggest disappoinments in the country this year).  Then, Georgia St. was banned from the tournament because they are leaving for the Sun Belt next year (they are a big loss because they were playing some good ball).  Then, Towson and UNC-Wilmington were banned from the tournament because of low academic performance (Towson is, actually, a HUGE loss this year because they were one of the nation’s big surprises).  Throw in the fact that Hofstra is uncharacteristically dreadful, George Mason was very disappointingly inconsistent, and William & Mary faded after a fast start.  Oh, and then there’s Drexel, who has probably had the most disappointing season of any D-I team in any conference.  Delaware had a pretty disappointing season and still backed into a second-place finish.  The only team in the tournament field that could say that they are happy with their season’s results is the top-seed Northeastern, but they aren’t really all that good.  Ugh…

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 12 points)

#1 Northeastern vs #3 James Madison
After the semifinal double-header on Sunday, how can the title game live up?  In fact, how are either of these two teams in this game, let alone both of them?  Both teams looked dead in the waters on Sunday and now one of them will be Dancing on Monday.

For a #1 vs #3 finals matchup to only have FOUR people who can get it right is amazing.  20 people have already had their champions eliminated.  No one has JMU here, and only Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey have NE.  Gersh and Primm will officially split the 2013 CTC CAA title, no matter what happens tonight, but they would like the extra 12 points that comes with a NE win.

James Madison 70 – Northeastern 57
This looked like it might be deja vu for a Northeastern opponent.  After an unbelievable comeback to beat George Mason on Sunday, the Huskies nearly made up a 40-18 halftime deficit on Monday in the finals.  But, this one was just too much to overcome, and JMU is going Dancing.  A.J. Davis led the way with 26 in an interesting year for JMU.  They have had some really good teams over the past decade that could never get over the hump.  Now, as almost an afterthought, they win the CAA and will be playing in front of the nation.

Despite being the 3-seed, no one picked Madison to win this tournament.  Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey miss out on the points here.  Gersh and Primm take the 2013 CAA crown.

SEMIFINALS (March 10th – 8 points each)

#1 Northeastern vs #4 George Mason
Mason survived Drexel in Saturday’s quarters and now get the surprising #1-seed, Northeastern.  The Huskies came out of nowhere to take advantage of a dreadful CAA and win a regular season title.  They also earned a bye in the conference tournament, which they enjoyed on Saturday.  Now, they get probably the most talented team in the conference as a semifinal opponent.

Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, and GrossSr have Mason here.  Dave, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, and Teddy have already lost with Drexel.  The other 13 all have Northeastern, though only Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey have them winning the tournament.

Northeastern 69 – George Mason 67
MADNESS!  Jonathan Lee hits a game-winner with :03 seconds left to complete a monumental comeback (from 24 points down) for the Huskies, keeping alive their hopes of capping a regular season title with a tournament title.  Mason was in complete control, including leading – get this – 28 to 4 (FOUR!) with less than 5 minutes left in the first half.  But, Northeastern woke up, stormed back and finished it off.  Stunning…

Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, and GrossSr must be sick after this one, while Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey somehow didn’t lose their champion here.

#2 Delaware vs #3 James Madison
Both teams barely survived their quartefinal matchups against the league’s two worst tournament qualifiers, but they are here and a win away from an ESPN title shot.

Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm have JMU here, while the other 21 people all have UDel, which includes 17 people who picked them as their CAA champions.

James Madison 58 – Delaware 57
MADNESS AGAIN!  What a crazy semifinal night that pretty much sums up the whole CAA season.  Two ugly games, two crazy finishes – I wonder what the final has in store for us.  While I didn’t see any of this game, reports have it (RDoc, specifically) that UDel got completely hosed in the entire final minute, and JMU stole one here.

Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm hit this mild upset – the other 21 all lost, including 17 people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, Teddy, and Waters) who lost their champion in this one.   

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th – 4 points each)

#4 George Mason vs #5 Drexel
This should be the championship game, not a really shaky 4/5 matchup.  These are probably the two most talented teams in the league, but neither put any results out there to show for it.  On paper, this is a great game.  In reality, it is far from it, despite the star power on the floor (Sherrod Wright, Damion Lee, Frantz Massenat…)  One of these two teams will end their disappointing season in a very disappointing way.  The other will try and save face against #1 Northeastern in the semis on Sunday.

Eight people (Bry, Caleb, Dave, J, Lohse, PapaCim, and RDoc) have the Dragons in the mild upset here.  J, Lohse, and PapaCim have them going to the finals and losing, while Dave has them winning the whole tournament.  If not Dave, two others – Alex and GrossSr – are going to lose their CAA champion in this game.  Cheryl and Doogan have Mason reaching the finals, as well, so this game has some decent CTC implications to it.

George Mason 60 – Drexel 54
And, there it is.  The end of one of the more disappointing seasons in Drexel Dragon history.  The Patriots – led by Sherrod Wright – were in control for most of this game and will advance to take on the top seed, Northeastern in the semis on Friday.

Dave loses his CAA champion here, while J, Lohse, and PapaCim all lose a finalist.  Alex and GrossSr keep alive their champs, while Cheryl and Doogan are one game away from correctly picking Mason in the finals.

#2 Delaware vs #7 Hofstra
The Blue Hens were hoping for a second-place finish (at least) this year because they have a very good team (and a great player in Devon Saddler), but they didn’t play nearly as well as they had hoped.  They just kind of tread water as the rest of the league imploded.  One of the biggest implosions came from Lon Gisland.  The Flyin’ Dutchmen of Hofstra (they will never be the “Pride” to me) were really, really bad and are, most likely, counting down the hours until they can close the book on 2012-13.

One person – GrossSr – took the Flyin’ Dutchmen in the upset, which would give him 34 points free and clear on the rest of the field.  Well more than half of the field has Delaware winning this tournament, so a Hofstra upset would be shockwaves through many CTC brackets.

Delaware 62 – Hofstra 57
It wasn’t the walk in the park that the Blue Hens had envisioned when the drew a really bad Hofstra team, but they managed to survive and advance to the CAA semis on Sunday.  First-team all-CAA performer, Devon Saddler, dropped 22 in a game that was still in doubt in the final seconds.  The season to forget for Hofstra mercifully comes to a close, and Delaware continues their pursuit at a tournament berth.

GrossSr missed on a big solo upset pick, while the most popular CAA champ stays alive.

#3 James Madison vs #6 William & Mary
James Madison is another sort of mediocre team that finished 3rd in the CAA simply because someone had to.  There is nothing special about this Duke team at all, unless you count that they’re not terrible.  William & Mary looked like they might do what Northeastern did and take advantage of this season to hang a banner, but they completely collapsed down the stretch and ended up as the 6-seed.  The Tribe still have some potential to put things together, which would be great for a program that has never played an NCAA tournament game.  But, it will have to start here Saturday against JMU.

Seven people (Alex, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, L, Lohse, and Waters) have the W&M upset here, though none of them have the Tribe going to the finals.  Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm are the only three that have JMU reaching the finals, and none have the Dukes winning it.

James Madison 72 – William & Mary 67
W&M had a 7-point lead with 9:30 to go when JMU went on a 17-2 run to turn the tables and put the game away.  A tough ending to a tough season for the Tribe, as they will go another year without a NCAA tournament appearance.  JMU moves on to face Delaware in the semis on Sunday and are as good of a pick as any to take this tournament.

17 people got this one right, including Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm, who keep alive a finalist.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Northeastern (4)
• #2 Delaware (17)
• #3 James Madison (0)
• #4 George Mason (2)
• #5 Drexel (1)

Biggest Upsets

• QF – #7 Hofstra (GrossSr)
• SF – #5 Drexel (Dave, J, Lohse & PapaCim)
• Champ – #5 Drexel (Dave)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Alexi
• 2009 – Ina
• 2010 – Bry
• 2011 – Bry
• 2012 – GrossJr

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Gersh (’13) – 34
2. Primm (’13) – 34
3. GrossSr – 22
4. Alexi (’08) – 20
5. LohseJr – 20
6. Mac – 20
7. Rikey – 20
8. Scoot – 20
9. Stumpf – 20
10. Caleb – 16
11. GrossJr (’12) – 16
12. RDoc – 16
13. Waters – 16
14. Bry (’10, ’11) – 12
15. Cheryl – 12
16. Alex – 8
17. Dave – 8
18. Doogan – 8
19. Lynch – 8
20. PapaCim – 8
21. J – 4
22. Lazarow – 4
23. Lohse – 4
24. Teddy – 4