The Southland got with the mid-major times and updated their tournamet to the double-bye format, as well.  They excluded Texas A&M – Corpus Christie for poor academic performance and Lamar for poor basketball performance, leaving an eight-team field that is still top-heavy.  The league lost a slew of teams to the WAC, leaving a vacuum at the top that cannot immediately be filled by their new addition, Oral Roberts, alone.  Stephen F. Austin and ORU are now clearly the best programs in the conference, though Northwestern St. is possibly experiencing a program-building year right now – we will see what the SL tournament has in store for NW State.  Sam Houston St. is always decent, but never great – this year is the same.  SE Louisiana is always tantalizing on paper, but bad on the court – and, this year is the same.  I am intrigued by where Central Arkansas is heading because they have been steadily improving each year, making a jump this year under a first-time head coach who many Arkansasans may have heard of.  I’ll give you a hint:  he used to go by the name Big Nasty (one of the greatest nicknames ever, by the way), but now he is probably just called Mr. Williamson, Coach Williamson, or just plain Corliss.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 16 – 18 points)

#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #2 Northwestern St.
Here we go!  Not sure why this excited me so much, but it does.  The nation’s #1 defense takes on the nation’s #1 offense.  These clashes of style are always fun.  Steve took care of SELa in the semis on Friday, while NW State survived a real scare from a feisty Sam Houston team.  Watch for tempo in this one…obviously.

J, Mac, PapaCim, and Stumpf all have NW State in this one, while everyone else except Cheryl and GrossSr have SFA.  A Stephen F. Austin championship will give the 2013 SL title to Dave.  A NW State win, will allow J and PapaCim to split the crown.

SEMIFINALS (March 15th – 12 points each)

#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #4 SE Louisiana
The Lumberjacks of Stephen F*king Austin were really f*king good this year.  No, seriously.  If I were a team in the 3- or 4-seed range for the NCAA Tournament, I would be paying serious attention to the Southland Tournament, hoping that someone knocks these guys off because they are going to be a nightmare for someone next week, if not.  You heard it here first.  The best defensive team in the country can also score, when needed.  They are legit.  SELa is trying to make something of what seems to be another lost season, but they did pound a decent McNeese St. team in the quarters, so who knows.

All 24 people have Steve here, with 17 people taking them to win this tournament.

#2 Northwestern St. vs #6 Sam Houston St.
This was supposed to be a showdown of the SFA bridesmaids here with NW State versus Oral Roberts, but ORU was welcomed rudely to the Southland by being ousted by Sam Houston in the quarters on Thursday.  Now, the Houstons will get the highest-scoring team in the country, Northwestern St.  The Demons are averaging over 82 points per game (in a season where they played the best defensive team in the country twice).  And, it’s not one of two guys, as this is a well-balanced, potent, uptempo offense.  Personally, I am really hoping for the best offense in the country (NW State) to face the best defense in the country (SFA) in the championship.

Nobody has Sam Houston here, but nine people (Alex, Cheryl, Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lynch, Primm, Scoot, and Waters) had Oral Roberts here, so they’ve already lost it.  The other 15 have NW State, with J, Mac, PapaCim, and Stumpf taking the Demons to win this tournament.

QUARTERFINALS (March 14th – 6 points each)

#4 SE Louisiana vs #8 McNeese St.
SELa had another interesting season where their results just didn’t really live up to their talent.  But, they did finish 4th, and no one would say that they are as good as the top 3, so I guess they are where they are supposed to be.  They will open their SL sleeper run Thursday night against a McNeese team that slipped past Nicholls St. on Wednesday.  The winner of this game will move on to a semifinal against #1 Stephen F*king Austin.

Ten people (Alex, Bry, Doogan, Lynch, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, and Scoot) have McNeese in another upset Thursday.  Everyone else has SELa, though no one has either of these teams beating SFA on Friday.

#3 Oral Roberts vs #6 Sam Houston St.
SHSU beat a feisty C.Ark team on Wednesday night and now gets the SL newcomer, Oral Roberts, in their first ever SL tournament game.  ORU finished 13-5 in their first SL season, but were 2 games behind NW State and 3 behind SFA.  They were clearly the 3rd-best team in this conference – a spot in which they are not used to being.  The winner of this game will take a shot at #2 Northwestern St. in the semis.

Dave, J, PapaCim, RDoc, and Teddy all have Sam Houston in a nice upset pick here.  Cheryl and GrossSr both have ORU winning this tournament.

OPENING ROUND (March 13th – 3 points each)

#5 Nicholls St. vs #8 McNeese St.
Nicholls had an absolutely dreadful non-conference slate, but seemed to find something in conference play, nearly reaching the .500 mark.  It has been a night-and-day difference between the product put out there prior to conference play and the one out there during conference play.  Maybe they had someone get eligible between semesters, I don’t know.  McNeese actually had a pretty promising non-con slate, but then went on to lose 11 conference games.  The two games between these teams in the regular season were epic (a 1-point win for McNeese on the road followed by a double-OT win for Nicholls in the return game).  This one has a recipe for Madness with the winner to take on 4th-seeded SE Louisiana in the quarters.

McNeese St. is a very popular upset pick here, as only seven people (Alexi, GrossSr, LohseJr, RDoc, Stumpf, Teddy, and Waters) took favored Nicholls here.  And, making this a bigger CTC game is the lack of faith in 4th-seeded SELa in the quarters.  RDoc has Nicholls going to the semis, while ten people (Alex, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, and Scoot) have McNeese beating SELa and going to the semis.  No one has either of these teams going to the finals.

McNeese St. 62 – Nicholls St. 59
Nicholls was in control of this game for most of the way, but McNeese rallied to take the lead in the final minute and hold on.

Seven people hit this upset pick; RDoc lost a semifinalist here.

#6 Sam Houston St. vs #7 Central Arkansas
It was a pretty encouraging first season for Coach Corliss Williamson at CAU.  They had a couple of wins early, gained some confidence, hit a rough patch, but fought through it, winning four straight to end the season.  And, this is a pretty young team, so the meter is pointing in the right direction for Big Nasty.  Sam Houston St. is one of the more steady programs in the Southland.  They are always solid, but rarely spectactular.  This year was no different, going 8-10 in conference play, beating the teams below them and losing to the teams ahead of them.  Ho-hum.  The winner of this game will take on SL newcomer Oral Roberts in the quarters.

Seven people took the mild upset pick here with Central Ark, with Alexi, Caleb, and Lazarow believing enough in them to have them beating Oral Roberts in the quarters.  Dave, J, PapaCim, RDoc, and Teddy all have SHSU beating Oral in the quarters.  Nobody has either of these teams reaching the finals.

Sam Houston St. 69 – Central Arkansas 63
Central Arkansas led by a point at halftime, but SHSU turned it on out of the locker room to cruise to the opening round victory, advancing to take on ORU in the quarters.

Seven people missed this upset pick, including Alexi, Caleb, and Lazarow, who lost semifinalists.  Dave, J, PapaCim, RDoc, and Teddy keep alive semifinalists themselves.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Stephen F. Austin (17)
• #2 Northwestern St. (5)
• #3 Oral Roberts (2)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #8 McNeese St. (many)
• QF – #8 McNeese St. (many)
• SF – #3 Oral Roberts (many)
• Champ – #3 Oral Roberts (Cheryl & GrossSr)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Bry
• 2009 – Waters
• 2010 – Alexi, Lynch, Stri & Teddy
• 2011 – Dave
• 2012 – Lohse & Scoot

2013 Scores

1).