This was supposed to be the year where the big two in the OVC became a big three. Both Belmont and Murray State were in rebuild mode, and Eastern Kentucky was ready to jump in there and compete with the kings of the OVC. But, Belmont and Murray kept their thrones and seemed just a step better than even EKU (and Morehead, who had a good year, as well) all year. This league leaves 4 teams out of their tournament, so you won’t see the terrible UT-Martin program or a Jacksonville State that finished their season on an 8-game losing streak or a Tennessee State team that didn’t beat a D-1 team until February or an underachieving Austin Peay team was edged out by two weak teams in SIU-Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. None of them will exactly be missed.
It is not surprising that the most supported champion pick here is #1 Belmont – with 17 championship picks, but it is a little surprising that all 25 have the top-seeded Bruins reaching the finals. #2 Murray State got 6 title picks, and #3 EKU got a pair of supporters. The lowest seed – SIU-Edwardsville – is actually a rather popular sleeper pick with 8 people taking them to pull off one upset and two people thinking they’ll pull of a pair of upsets. 5 people went with 6th-seeded SEMO to make the finals. Gersh is coming off a perfect OVC bracket and is trying to defend his title. J is the only one to win this conference multiple times (man, he has really dominated these small conferences over the years).
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 8th – 24 points)
#1 Belmont vs #3 Eastern Kentucky
Harvard clinched the first bid to the tournament Friday night, and the second bid will be handed out here. Belmont got here after blowing out Morehead on Friday night, while EKU won a hard fought game against Murray, and now the Colonels take all that experience here to try and run with the Bruins on ESPN2.
Dave and Doogan are the only two with EKU here. 6 people (Colton, Gersh, GrossSr, Mac, Primm, WaTers) have already lost with Murray. The other 17 all have Belmont and are looking for the 24 points. If Belmont does win, then J (who has already won the OVC twice in the past) and Stritts will both finish the 2014 OVC with a perfect bracket. If EKU wins, Doogan will take the 2014 OVC title outright.
Eastern Kentucky 78 – Belmont 73
And, they have done it! Seniors win in mid- and low-major conferences this time of year, and EKU showed it yet again. The sharp-shooting Bruins only hit 8 of 24 three-pointers, while the Colonels hit 11 of their 22. EKU was led by three guys, who combined for 66 of the Colonels 78 points, and now they are no their way to the Big Dance.
And, the first conference title of the 2014 CTC goes to…DOOGAN. Congrats to one of the founding fathers on winning his first OVC title of the “modern era.” Dave was the only other one to hit this champion, as he continues to climb the overall leaderboard. 17 people miss out on a 24-pointer here, including J and Stritts, who missed out on a perfect OVC bracket. J would have won his 3rd OVC title, and Stritts would have been champion in his very first CTC conference.
SEMIFINALS (March 7th – 16 points each)
#1 Belmont vs #4 Morehead State
The OVC semifinal double-header tonight is as good as this conference can offer. The best four teams all year are all present and ready to play a quick, 2-day tournament to decide the OVC auto-bid (which could make some noise with a favorable matchup). Morehead had to play their way here, but did so somewhat impressively on Thursday night, cruising past a decent Tennessee Tech team by 15. Their reward? A semifinal date with king. Belmont, despite losing an insane amount of talent off of last year’s roster, again reigned supreme in the OVC as new stars emerged in Nashville under the incredible tutelage of Coach Rick Byrd. Byrd – possibly the most underrated coach in America – has his team running on all cylinders at the right time of the year, yet again. The Bruins won their final 6 games of the regular season, finishing off a 14-2 OVC season one game ahead of Murray State. Now, we are two Belmont wins away from having to endure incredibly ANNOYING comments like “dude, you want a sleeper? try Belmont – they’re good and nobody’s gonna pick them” –some guy who has never heard of anyone who has ever been on a Belmont roster, let alone this one. I love the NCAA tournament talk around the office. Smile and nod, smile and nod.
It is hard to get 25 people to agree on anything, but apparently Belmont basketball is a galvanizing force. All 25 CTC entries took Belmont to win this semi and go to the finals. 17 of them have the Bruins winning again on Saturday to take the OVC title.
Belmont 86 – Morehead State 63
This game was never in doubt, as Belmont came to play here in the OVC. They were up 31 with under 2 minutes to play. A good season for Morehead ends in ugly fashion, and Belmont is one game away from taking on “national sleeper” role yet again.
All 25 people get this one right, including 17 people who kept alive their champ.
#2 Murray State vs #3 Eastern Kentucky
This is weekend that Eastern Kentucky has been building for for several seasons now. In the rebuild of a once-proud program, they eyed this season, when their best players were experienced and the Belmonts and Murrays of the world were rebuilding. Well, the regular season didn’t bring the riches they had hoped for, as they still finished behind the two big boys, but redemption could come this weekend and it starts Friday night against Murray. If experience counts for anything this time of year, bet on the Colonels, as they are the 10th more experienced team in Division-I. As for Murray, they are the 251st most experienced team (which is very low for an OVC team, considering the high-major teams are, in the era of early entries, always the least experienced) and have done a fantastic job rebuilding after the departure of Isaiah Cannon. This is going to be a great matchup of a hungry group of veterans taking their last shot against a talented group of youngsters trying to make an OVC name for themselves.
8 people (Caleb, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Scoot, Stritts, Stumpf) went with EKU here. Dave and Doogan trust the Colonels enough to have them fulfilling their plans and winning this tournament. Alexi, Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Teddy have already lost this game with SEMO. The other 12 people all have Murray here, with 6 of them (Colton, Gersh, GrossSr, Mac, Primm, WaTers) taking the Racers to win the OVC title.
Eastern Kentucky 86 – Murray State 83
It looks like experience beat out the youth on this day, as EKU builds a big lead and holds on down the stretch. As exciting as 169 points may be, there was essentially no defense played in this one, particularly by the Racers, who held EKU just under 60% shooting. The Colonels now move on to try and complete the big back-to-back on Saturday night against Belmont.
8 people hit this one, including J and Stritts, who stay perfect heading to the championship game. 6 people lose their OVC championship pick with the Murray State loss.
QUARTERFINALS (March 6th – 8 points each)
#4 Morehead State vs #5 Tennessee Tech
Morehead State enters the OVC tournament on the second day for the quarterfinals. While overshadowed by the excellence of the top three in this league, Morehead has actually had an excellent year, going 10-6 in conference including a nice road win at EKU. Now, they enter as the 4-seed who enjoyed a bye into the quarters. Their quarterfinal opponent is another team that had a really solid year, Tennessee Tech, but finished a game behind and had to play Wednesday night in the opening round. The Techsters took care of a game SIU-Edwardsville team and now take their shot at Morehead. The winner of this game will take on top-seeded Belmont in the semis on Friday.
Caleb, Chris, Dave, and Doogan have a solid T.Tech upset pick here. GrossJr and Teddy have already lost this game with SIU-Edwardsville. The other 19 people all have Morehead winning this one. Since all 25 entries have Belmont making the finals, no one can lose more than one game here today.
Morehead State 76 – Tennessee Tech 61
Morehead looked really strong in dismissing a decent Tech team. The Eagles had control of this game from the start, forcing 22 Tech turnovers in the win. They will now move on to Friday’s semifinal against the top-seeded Bruins of Belmont. This Morehead team is underrated and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
19 people got this one right, while Caleb, Chris, Dave, and Doogan all missed a mild upset pick.
#3 Eastern Kentucky vs #6 SE Missouri State
This was supposed to be the year that Eastern Kentucky challenged the top 2 teams in this league. They were experienced and good, while Belmont and Murray were both rebuilding. But, the two dominant programs proved why they stay dominant every year – they just flat-out win. EKU was still definitely the 3rd-best team in this league, but they are close and are a real threat in this tournament. They got the bye to the quarters, but now have a really tough test against a SEMO team that expected to be a lot better than their 6th-place finish. In the tournament – their second chance – they cruised past Eastern Illinois in the opening round and now take a shot at EKU. This should be a really good game with a semifinal shot at #2 Murray State on the line.
8 people (Alexi, Bry, Chris, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, Teddy) have SEMO in a nice upset here. Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Teddy all have them winning here and then again over Murray State. Dave and Doogan have the most at stake with EKU here, as they both picked them to win this tournament.
Eastern Kentucky 84 – SE Missouri State 76
The nightcap in the OVC was like the opener in that it really wasn’t all that competitive, despite only an 8-point final margin. EKU led most of the way by significant margins. SEMO hit some threes down the stretch, but their somewhat disappointing season came to a close with a whimper. Eastern Kentucky, who was hoping to really compete with the big boys in the OVC this year has a shot to do just that on the biggest of OVC stages, as they take on #2 Murray State in the semifinals on Friday night.
8 people missed this decent upset pick, including Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Teddy, who all lost a finalist here. Dave and Doogan have to be pleased with how good the Colonels looked, as they have them winning this tournament.
OPENING ROUND (March 5th – 4 points each)
#5 Tennessee Tech vs #8 SUI-Edwardsville
The Techsters have had a pretty good year and are capable of knocking off anyone (they beat Belmont, Morehead, and EKU this year), but can also throw in a clunker here and there. SIU-Edwardsville is usually on that list above of teams that didn’t even make the conference tournament, but they might have the best team in their fledgling D-1 program’s history. This should actually be a pretty decent game for the right to play to play 4th-seeded Morehead State in the quarterfinals.
SIUE is a popular upset pick here, as 8 people (Becks, Bry, Colton, GrossJr, Lynch, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers) went with SIUE here. GrossJr and Teddy have them beating Morehead in the quarters. Caleb, Chris, Dave, and Doogan have the most to lose with Tech here, as those 4 all have Tech beating Morehead before losing to Belmont.
Tennessee Tech 74 – SIU-Edwardsville 67
How do you turn the ball over 19 times and still win a conference tournament game? Well shooting 58% from the field is one way to do that, and that is exactly what TT did on Wednesday in a hard-fought win over SIUE. Edwardsville really has some stuff to build on from 2014, but they will be watching the rest of the OVC tournament from their dorm rooms. TT moves on to the quarters to face 4th-seeded Morehead State.
8 people missed a nice upset pick here, including GrossJr and Teddy, who lost a semifinalist in this game. Caleb, Chris, Dave, and Doogan keep alive a semifinalist here.
#6 SE Missouri State vs #7 Eastern Illinois
It took a 4-game winning streak, including a thrilling 118-115 double-OT win over Murray State on Saturday for SEMO to even make this tournament. For most of the season, they were on the outside looking in, which is exactly where everyone wanted them because this team is scary. Picked 3rd in the preseason, SEMO is experienced and talented and had a solid noncon season. But, they lost some tough games early in conference play and, along with a few head-scratchers, found themselves just fighting for a spot in this first round. Well, they got here and now they get a very beatable Eastern Illinois team for the right to face #3 Eastern Kentucky in what could be a fantastic quarterfinal matchup.
Caleb, Colton, Dave, Scoot, Stumpf, and WaTers went with the mild EIU upset, though none of them took them over EKU. SEMO has a nice contigent of strong supporters, so a loss for them here could bust some brackets. Bry, Chris, and Lynch have SEMO winning here and then upsetting EKU in the quarters. Alexi, Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Teddy went a step further and all have the Bears rolling all the way to the finals before falling to Belmont.
SE Missouri State 79 – Eastern Illinois 61
Though a tight game early, SEMO pulled away late in the first half and never looked back, knocking off an overmatched EIU team and ending the second season of Young Coach Spoonhour. SEMO – a very dangerous team in this tournament – moves on to face 3rd-seeded Eastern Kentucky in the quarters on Thursday.
6 people missed a small upset pick here, while 8 people keep alive their shot at SEMO upsetting EKU in the quarters. 5 of those (Alexi, Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Teddy) have SEMO in the finals, so this easy victory tonight is very encouraging.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 Belmont (17)
- #2 Murray State (6) – Colton, Gersh, GrossSr, Mac, Primm, WaTers
- #3 Eastern Kentucky (2) – Dave, Doogan
Biggest Upsets
- R1 – #8 SIU-Edwardsville (Becks, Bry, Colton, GrossJr, Lynch, RDoc, Teddy, WaTers)
- QF – #8 SIU-Edwardsville (GrossJr, Teddy)
- SF – #6 SE Missouri State (Alexi, Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, Teddy)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – WaTers
- 2009 – Alexi
- 2010 – J
- 2011 – J
- 2012 – Alexi, Dave, Lohse, Rikey, Stri
- 2013 – Gersh (perfect)
Final 2014 Scores
- Doogan – 94 (’14)
- Dave – 90 (’12)
- J – 62 (’10, ’11)
- Stritts – 62
- Scoot – 58
- Stumpf – 58
- Caleb – 50
- GrossJr – 50
- Gersh – 40 (’13*)
- GrossSr – 40
- Mac – 40
- Primm – 40
- Stri – 40 (’12)
- Becks – 36
- RDoc – 36
- Alexi – 32 (’09, ’12)
- Colton – 32
- Lazarow – 32
- Lohse – 32 (’12)
- PapaCim – 32
- WaTers – 32 (’08)
- Bry – 28
- Lynch – 28
- Chris – 24
- Teddy – 20
