A surprisingly interesting season in the Southland concludes with an 8-team tournament for a 14-team league. It is probably best that they limited it to 8 because no one really enjoys watching Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, or Lamar play basketball, and these three didn’t make it because of merit. Abilene Christian is also terrible, but didn’t make it because of D-I transition. The interesting part is that a couple teams in this tournament could be replaced by either New Orleans or Incarnate Word and the field would be improved – particularly IW, who was actually pretty good, despite playing a noncon slate consisting entirely of NAIA and D-II teams. But, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that at the top of this league, there is some real intrigue. Stephen F. Austin – picked for 3rd in the league – absolutely and completely dominated this league start to finish. The Lumberjacks finished 18-0 in league play and 29-2 overall (one of the 2 losses was a close loss at Texas) and received one of the two double-byes to the semis. The other one went to a shocking Texas A&M – Corpus Christi team. The Islanders were picked 11th in this league and finished 2nd, which relegated solid teams Sam Houston State and preseason favorite Northwestern State to the single bye 3- and 4- seeds. It also sent Oral Roberts (picked 2nd in the league) into the first round. So, there are 4 really solid teams in this league and one of them is in the first round, two of them have single-byes, and the other one is 18-0. It makes for an interesting tournament, though.
Considering they went undefeated in conference play and utterly dominated the season, it is a bit surprising that only 19 picked SFA to win this tournament. 3 had TxAM-CC, 2 had Sam Houston, 1 had Northwestern State, and 1 had McNeese State. J and PapaCim are coming off perfect Southland brackets a year ago, so they are trying to defend their titles. There are 11 different people (all competing again this year) that have won at least a share of a Southland title, but no one has won it twice.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 15th – 24 points)
#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #3 Sam Houston State
Since before the new year, it seemed as if these two teams were on a collision course for this very day. SFA dominated the conference all year and shook off some rust to take care of a very good NW State team in the semis. Sam Houston, who gave away the 2-seed late in the season, was forced to beat a good Oral Roberts team in the quarters and then 2-seed TxAM-CC in the semis. Now, it’s 40 minutes for the Southland title. Any team thinking they might be about a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament should be rooting hard for Sam Houston here because they do not want to see a 30-win Lumberjack team.
Lynch and Stumpf are the only two with Sam Houston here. Colton, GrossSr, Lohse, and Mac have already lost this game. The other 19 all have SFA. Alexi and Gersh are a SFA win away from a perfect SL bracket. Lynch will sneak up and steal the SL title if SHSU wins here.
SEMIFINALS (March 14th – 16 points)
#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #4 Northwestern State
The Lumberjacks of Stephen F*cking Austin were f*cking amazing this year. Let’s quickly look inside the numbers on this amazing season. They are 3rd in the nation in forcing turnovers. Not unrelated, they allow the 2nd shortest possessions in the country. And, they are the 10th best offensive rebounding team in the country. All of this combines for a ridiculous 29-2 with only losses at Texas and East Tennessee State.
Lohse is the only one with NW State here, as he has them winning the whole tournament. GrossSr has already lost this game with Nicholls State. The other 23 all have SFA, including 18 of them that have the Lumberjacks scaring the crap out of someone in the Big Dance.
Stephen F. Austin 85 – Northwestern State 78
#2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs #3 Sam Houston State
Sam Houston really wanted the 2-seed to get the bye, but TxAM-CC snuck up and stole it. But, now they get to play it all out on the court after Sam Houston’s win over Oral Roberts. Corpus Christi had a very bizarre season. They were absolutely dreadful in the noncon, going 2-10 against a schedule that was kind of tough, but not crazy tough. Then, as soon as they got into conference play, they started to play like gangbusters. They won 6 of their first 7 with the only loss a close loss at SFA. Then, they seemed to return to form, losing 3 out of 4. But, they then finished the season with 7 straight wins. Now, they enter the tournament with a bye to the semis and are two wins away from Dancing.
Only 9 people (Caleb, Colton, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, WaTers) have TxAA-CC, despite them having a bye to this point. Colton, GrossJr, and Mac all have the Islanders winning this tournament. Bry, Chris, and Lohse all had ORU here; GrossSr had McNeese. So, they have all already lost this one. The other 12 all have Sam Houston in the minor upset pick. Lynch and Stumpf have SHSU winning this tournament.
Sam Houston State 69 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 63
QUARTERFINALS (March 13th – 8 points each)
#4 Northwestern State vs #5 Nicholls State
Northwestern State – the FASTEST team in the nation – was picked to win the Southland Conference in the preseason, but they struggled to stop people, particularly on the defensive glass and were undone by some bad losses. Smoke and mirrors Nicholls State pulled off another trick on Wednesday, beating SELa to set up this quarterfinal. The show has to end here, right? The winner here gets undefeated Stephen F. Austin in the semis.
Dave, GrossSr, Lynch, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Nicholls here, including GrossSr, who has them winning the whole thing. Everyone else has NW State, including Lohse, who is the only one that has them in the finals – and he has them winning it all.
Northwestern State 88 – Nicholls State 72
#3 Sam Houston State vs #6 Oral Roberts
Sam Houston State was in position for a double-bye all year, but blew it down the stretch and gave it up to an upstart Texas A&M-CC team. Now, they have to play Oral just for the right to face Corpus Christi, who awaits the winner in the semis.
7 people (Bry, Caleb, Chris, Lazarow, Lohse, RDoc, WaTers) have Oral Roberts here, with Bry, Chris, and Lohse taking them to reach the finals. GrossSr has already lost with McNeese State. The other 17 all have SHSU here, including 12 that have them in the finals and 2 (Lynch and Stumpf) that have them winning it all.
Sam Houston State 70 – Oral Roberts 61
OPENING ROUND (March 12th – 4 points each)
#5 Nicholls State vs #8 SE Louisiana
Nicholls won 10 conference games through absolute smoke and mirrors. I have no idea how they did it, but they did. It is a very hollow 10-8 conference record and, therefore, a pretty hollow 5-seed. That being said, SELa isn’t that much, uh, unhollower (I have no idea what that word would be there). Always tantalizing on paper, the Lions never seem to live up to anything, and this year was no different. The winner of this game will take on preseason favorite and 4th-seeded Northwestern State.
11 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Chris, Doogan, Grossjr, J, RDoc, Stri, Stritts, Teddy) have SELa here in the upset. Dave, GrossSr, Lynch, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Nicholls winning on Wednesday and again on Thursday. GrossSr did them two better by taking Nicholls to win the whole thing. In fact, this one game on Wednesday is the only favorite that GrossSr picked all tournament.
Nicholls State 71 – SE Louisiana 64
Some guy named Dantrell Thomas scored 27, as Nicholls State’s smoke-and-mirrors season continues for at least one more game. SELa has – as usual – another disappointing season. Nicholls gets to play #4 Northwestern State in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
11 people miss the upset pick here, and brackets are kept from busting. Dave, Lynch, Scoot and Stumpf keep alive a semifinalist. GrossSr keeps alive his huge upset of a champion pick.
#6 Oral Roberts vs #7 McNeese State
Oral Roberts’ two-year foray into the Southland is over this year and they are returning to the Summit. They have the talent to make one final run here, but their regular season was so up and down, that they are hard to trust. They take on a very beatable McNeese State team that will sneak up and take someone out on occasion, so they better be careful. The winner here will take on #3 Sam Houston State in the quarters on Friday.
10 people (Colton, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, Stri, Stumpf, Teddy) have McNeese in the mild upset here. GrossSr did them two better, taking McNeese to go to the finals (before losing to Nicholls State). Bry, Chris, and Lohse have the most at stake with ORU, as they all have them going to the finals. Caleb, Lazarow, RDoc, and WaTers have a lot at stake also, as they have them in the semis.
Oral Roberts 66 – McNeese State 62
ORU had a much tougher time than they may have thought, but they survive and their stay in the Southland will last at least one more day. Oral gets a tough Sam Houston State team in a pretty interesting quarterfinal on Thursday.
10 people miss out on the upset pick here, including GrossSr, who lost a finalist. Bry, Chris, and Lohse keep alive a finalist. Caleb, Lazarow, RDoc, and WaTers keep alive a semifinalist.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 Stephen F. Austin (18)
- #2 Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (3) – Colton, GrossJr, Mac
- #3 Sam Houston State (2) – Lynch, Stumpf
- #4 Northwestern State (1) – Lohse
- #5 Nicholls State (1) – GrossSr
Biggest Upsets
- R1 – #8 SE Louisiana (many)
- QF – #7 McNeese State (GrossSr)
- SF – #7 McNeese State (GrossSr)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – Bry
- 2009 – Waters
- 2010 – Alexi, Lynch, Stri, Teddy
- 2011 – Dave
- 2012 – Lohse, Scoot
- 2013 – J, PapaCim (perfect)
2014 Scores
