This version of the CAA is a far cry from its recent ancestor that featured great rivalries between VCU, Old Dominion, George Mason, and others. Though gutted, the CAA did have a bit of a rejuvenation this year on the backs of two great redemption stories at Delaware and Towson. And, then there is that old story of William & Mary – the oldest college in North America – that has never played in an NCAA Tournament. Well, this could be the year, as the Tribe is among the contenders for this crown. And, the possibly the most talented team finished in 4th-place and that is the Dragons of Drexel.
#2 Towson got the majority of CTC championship picks (14), while #1 Delaware picked up 8. #4 Drexel got the other 3, so no one thinks #3 William & Mary will FINALLY make the tournament. College of Charleston is really the only possible sleeper that the CTC has identified. Interestingly, not a single person took defending tournament champion, James Madison, to win a single game in this year’s tourney. Gersh and Primm shared the 2013 CAA crown. Bry won back-to-back CAA titles in ’10 and ’11 and is the only person to win this league more than once.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 10th – 30 points)
#1 Delaware vs #3 William & Mary
This could be it! There are currently five original Division-I basketball programs that have never made it to the NCAA Tournament. William & Mary is one of them. That could end here if they are to somehow upset the top-seeded and favored Fightin’ Blue Hens. W&M got here through an incredible come-from-behind win over College of Charleston in the quarters and then a really impressive semifinal win over an outstanding Towson team. Now, they have one step to go for history. But, this will be the toughest step yet, as UDel has been running on all cylinders pretty much all year with an incredible group of experienced guys, who play so well together. This is a tall order for the Tribe, but changing history is never easy.
No one has W&M completing this task, so anyone that doesn’t have UDel is rooting for the Tribe to zero out this championship game. 8 people (Colton, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Teddy, and WaTers) all have the Blue Hens here and are looking for a quick 30 points. WaTers, who was the only one to pick W&M to reach the finals and has Delaware winning it, has clinched the 2014 CAA CTC title no matter what happens in the title game. This is his first conference crown of 2014 and the first CAA title of his career.
Delaware 75 – William & Mary 74
Can it get any more heart-breaking? The William & Mary Tribe are one of 5 original D-I teams to never make the NCAA Tournament and they missed this one in the closing seconds. Wow! A big run late in the second half put the Tribe up, but Delaware kept fighting and fighting, leaning heavily on former St. Joe’s Hawk, Carl Baptiste, who eventually bucketed the game-winner on a perfectly designed play, sending the Blue Hens Dancing for the first time since before Lynch was a student there. W&M is still among the heart-wrenching five along with Northwestern, Army, The Citadel, and Saint Francis (NY).
8 people (Colton, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers) all picked up the 30 points for the UDel title here. WaTers just enhances his 2014 CAA title with the win here.
SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 20 points)
#1 Delaware vs #5 Northeastern
Delaware had to fend off a really feisty Hofstra team in the opener on Saturday, while Northeastern dropped 90 points on a defensive-minded Drexel team. Northeastern, who won the regular season last year, but got upended in the conference tournament is trying to flip the script here in 2014. They have that shot against the regular season champs here in Charm City.
No one has Northeastern here, but 8 people (Becks, Bry, Chris, Doogan, GrossSr, Lazarow, PapaCim, Stritts) have already lost it with Drexel. The other 17 people have UDel winning this game and going to the finals; 8 of them (Colton, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers) have the Blue Hens winning this tournament.
Delaware 87 – Northeastern 74
A close first half turned into a comfortable victory for the Blue Hens, who continue to roll through a very impressive season. The five UDel players that have been together forever all go for double-figures: Usher 21, Threatt 19, Saddler 16, Baptiste 14, Anderson 10. And, that fivesome is one game from Dancing.
17 people hit this one for 20 points. 8 people keep alive their CAA champion.
#2 Towson vs #3 William & Mary
Towson handled James Madison in the quarters on Saturday, while W&M needed a big comeback to avoid being upset by the College of Charleston. Now, the two will meet for the chance to play for tournament bid. Towson – playing only about 10 miles from their campus – has to be considered the favorite here, but W&M is playing for history as they have never made an NCAA tournament.
WaTers is the only one with William & Mary winning this game. Everyone else except Colton and RDoc (who had CofC) has Towson winning here, including 14 people who have them winning the whole thing.
William & Mary 75 – Towson 71
I’m gonna let Stri (in a typically violent email to me after this game ended) take the recap of this one (the opinions expressed in this rant do not necessarily reflect those of the author or website through which it is distributed): “It was Towson’s absolutely atrocious coaching that lost this game. I was amazed by the infuriating incompetence. Pat Skerry appears to know as much about basketball as I know about being an astronaut. I’m serious. The totality of his basketball knowledge appears to be that it involves a ball of some kind and a hoop, in much the same way as I know that being an astronaut involves a space shuttle and the moon. I haven’t watched a lot of WM basketball this year, but after about 3 minutes it seemed pretty clear that the game plan needed to be take away Thorton and don’t give up wide open 3s. Thorton scores 21 and controls the ENTIRE game and nearly half of WMs shots are wide open 3s (all while Towson sits back in a conservative zone). Nice job coach! You have the more athletic team by far – four of WMs players can’t beat anyone to the rim (but they have a ton of knock down shooters) so yeah, sitting well off them in soft zone definitely seems like the right defense. Also, your two most important possessions of the game? It’s FINE to run them through your all conference power forward. But he’s 6’8, 245. Maybe starting him 40 feet from the basket and having him try to drive through 4 defenders isn’t the right play to run TWICE in a row. Predictable results: travel, ugly turnover. In other news, I have decided to write a letter to Towson’s AD: ‘I fully support your efforts to promote diversity and am impressed with the results achieved by your men’s basketball program. I hope your program will inspire other schools to consider hiring a mentally handicapped coach to lead their team.”
WaTers is the only one to have W&M here, so he picks up a free 28 points on the entire field. Colton and RDoc are probably happy about it, too, as they would probably rather lose 28 points to WaTers than 20 points to everyone else. The Towson loss takes out the CAA champion for 14 people.
QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 10 points each)
#1 Delaware vs #8 Hofstra
Talk about a quick turnaround. After a Friday night victory, Hofstra has to turn around and play a quarterfinal game at noon on Saturday against the top-seeded Blue Hens. UDel had one of the best regular seasons this program has had in a long while, led by an experienced and talented group of players that have been playing together for years. Senior Devon Saddler and Juniors Jarvis Threatt and Kyle Anderson have been playing together now for three years and seem to know where each other are on the floor at all times. Adding in St. Joe’s transfer, JR Carl Baptiste, and MVSU transfer, SR Davon Usher, and this team is one of the most experienced teams in the nation. In a league that was all focused on Drexel and Towson, the Blue Hens looked like the best team in the league from the very beginning. This is not a team that anyone wants to see in the next tournament, either, if they can get there. It starts on Saturday at noon with a quarterfinal matchup against Hofstra.
All 25 people have Delaware here. 17 people (everyone except Becks, Bry, Chris, Doogan, GrossSr, Lazarow, PapaCim, Stritts) have the Blue Hens reaching the finals, with 8 of them (Colton, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers) picking UDel to win the whole thing.
Delaware 87 – Hofstra 76
Delaware actually trailed for most of this game, but rallied and pulled away from Hofstra. Davon Usher dropped 28 for the top-seeded Blue Hens. Jarvis Threatt added 22, Devon Saddler 15, and Kyle Anderson 12.
Everyone got this right, including 17 that keep alive a finalist and 8 that keep alive a champ.
#4 Drexel vs #5 Northeastern
Not again… Last year, the Dragons were the most talented team in CAA – by a mile – but a disappointing regular season ended with a disappointing loss in the 4/5 game to the now-departed George Mason. A down year in the CAA, a talented Dragon team, and not even a sniff of the NCAAs. This year, the league is better, but so were the Dragons and, yet, they are one 4/5 loss away from a repeat performance. A team with Chris Fouch, Frantz Massenat, Damion Lee, Dartaye Ruffin, and Tavon Allen should be the heavy favorite to win any mid-major league, let alone a crumbling CAA, but those guys are all coached by Bruiser Flint – there, I said it. Bruiser stinks. Now, they take on a Northeastern team that they had two battles with in the regular season. Drexel won at home in double-OT in January, and Northeastern returned the favor on Saturday with a 2-point win in Boston. The Huskies were okay this year, but their 5th-place finish speaks more to the lack of any depth or consistency in the CAA than it does about anything good about NE.
Only 6 people (Colton, GrossJr, J, Mac, Scoot, Stri) went with the minor upset here. There is a lot of support for Drexel, though. Lazarow, PapaCim, and Stritts have the Dragons winning this whole tournament. 5 others (Becks, Bry, Chris, Doogan, GrossSr) have them reaching the finals, but losing.
Northeastern 90 – Drexel 81
Here we go again. Bruiser completely underachieves with a talented roster and then abruptly leaves the conference tournament with barely a whimper. It is rather frustrating to see so much talent come through University City and have basically nothing to show for it. Chris Fouch scored 30 in this game, as he nears 1,750 for his career. Frantz Massenat adds 19, as he nears 1,650 and 550 assists for his career. I hate to say it because he’s a real Philadelphian through and through, but Bruiser needs to be replaced. Northeastern gets a nice win and will take on top-seeded Delaware in the semis.
Only 6 people hit this game. Lazarow, PapaCim, and Stritts all lost their CAA champ, while 5 others lost a finalist.
#2 Towson vs #7 James Madison
This was the year for the Tigers. Can you believe that just two years ago, this Towson team was 1-31? But, Coach Pat Skerry stayed the course and built this program well. And, it doesn’t hurt that they’ve got Jerrelle Benimon. I have an absolute basketball man-crush on Benimon. The Georgetown transfer is absolutely amazing to watch – he can literally do it all. And, he can win this tournament all by himself – if he has to. They probably won’t need a superman performance in the quarterfinals because JMU isn’t very good. The defending CAA tournament champs are – barring a national championship – going to finish a 20-loss season this month. Chances are it will be Saturday.
Not a single CTC entry picked JMU to win this game. So, 25 people have the Tigers in the semis, 21 people (everyone except Colton, RDoc, Stri, and WaTers) have them in the championship. And, 14 (everyone except the four above plus J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, Stritts, and Teddy) have them winning it all.
Towson 80 – James Madison 71
A game that was closer than it should have been goes to the Tigers here. Jerrell Benimon – my basketball crush – goes for 18 & 10 here.
All 25 people got this right, including 21 that keep alive a finalist, and 14 that keep alive a champion.
#3 William & Mary vs #6 College of Charleston
A surprising, out-of-nowhere season for W&M has put the Tribe in legitimate position to win this tournament and FINALLY make their first-ever NCAA tournament. But, it won’t be easy. They open the quarterfinals with a solid newcomer to the CAA, College of Charleston. The Cougars, a solid program, are rebuilding, but talented. Both of these teams will be a tough out and can reach up and beat anyone.
10 people (Bry, Chris, Colton, Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, PapaCim, Primm. RDoc, Stritts) went with CofC in the upset here. Colton and RDoc both have the Cougars going to the finals. The other 15 took the Tribe, with WaTers taking W&M to reach the finals. No one has either of these teams winning this tournament.
William & Mary 70 – College of Charleston 59
Down pretty big most of the way, William & Mary makes a furious second-half comeback to beat CofC in the Cougars first ever CAA tournament game. W&M moves on to the semis to take on Towson.
10 people missed the upset here, including Colton and RDoc, who lost a finalist. WaTers keeps alive a finalist that no one else has.
OPENING ROUND (March 7th – 5 points)
#8 Hofstra vs #9 UNC-Wilmington
The ponytail game in the CAA is one of legends. Oh wait, no, it’s just Hofstra-Wilmington. Joe Mihalich, who came from Niagara (along with a bunch of his very talented players) is just waiting for his Hofstra team to explode next year when all his Niagara guys become eligible. He did show his wares this year, though, as the Flyin’ Dutchmen were much-improved, despite their lack of eligible talent. As for Wilmington, they were winless in the conference until the second week of February, but they have won 3 games since, so I guess they’re playing well. The winner of this game will move on to face top-seeded Delaware in the quarters.
More people like the slight ‘dog, UNC-Wilmington here, as only 10 people (Alexi, Chris, Colton, Doogan, Gersh, Lohse, Mac, Stritts, Teddy, WaTers) took the Flyin’ Dutchmen. No one has either of these teams beating Delaware in the quarters.
Hofstra 78 – UNC-Wilmington 70
Hofstra, who has been playing undermanned all year because of all of the incoming transfers that new coach Mihalich brought with him, rode their 7-man rotation to an opening round win over UNC-Wilmington on Friday night. The Flyin’ Dutchmen (I know it’s the Pride, but I refuse to change the greatest nickname ever) utterly dominated UNCW in all facets of the game and probably should have won by more than 8. They move on to the quarterfinals to take on regular season champ, Delaware, on Saturday.
10 people picked up a quick 5 points here with Hofstra.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 Delaware (8) – Colton, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers
- #2 Towson (14)
- #3 William & Mary (0)
- #4 Drexel (3) – Lazarow, PapaCim, Stritts
Biggest Upsets
- QF – #6 College of Charleston (Bry, Chris, Colton, Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, PapaCim, Primm, RDoc, Stritts)
- SF – #6 College of Charleston (Colton, RDoc)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – Alexi
- 2009 – Ina
- 2010 – Bry
- 2011 – Bry
- 2012 – GrossJr
- 2013 – Gersh, Primm
Final 2014 Scores
- WaTers – 113 (’14)
- Mac – 100
- J – 95
- Colton – 90
- Lohse – 85
- Teddy – 85
- Lynch – 80
- RDoc – 70
- Scoot – 65
- Stri – 65
- Alexi – 55 (’08)
- Gersh – 55 (’13)
- GrossJr – 55 (’12)
- Caleb – 50
- Dave – 50
- Stumpf – 50
- Primm – 40 (’13)
- Becks – 30
- GrossSr – 30
- Chris – 25
- Doogan – 25
- Stritts – 25
- Bry – 20 (’10, ’11)
- Lazarow – 20
- PapaCim – 20
