One of the oldest, most stable leagues in the country joined the expansion train this year, when the old-school Patriot League added two new members. But, as usual, the PL acted prudently, as they didn’t just grab whoever was out there. They selected two like-minded schools with excellent, stable programs – Boston U and Loyola (Md). In fact, both schools came in expecting to compete right away, with the BU Terriers picked to win the league in the regular season. BU lived up to the hype and beat out an out-of-nowhere American team for the league title, but Loyola took their lumps in conference play. The real beauty of this year’s PL race, however, was that there were no real also-rans. 9th-place Lafayette is talented and playing some good ball, so this tournament is really a wide open affair. 4th-seeded Bucknell may be the hottest team in the league, entering the tournament on a 6-game winning streak. And, with this surprising amount of depth for a league of so few resources, that even the first round should give us some solid and interesting hoops. Great way to kick off the best three weeks on the sporting calendar.
The CTC sees this league as wide open, too, as each of the top 4 seeds have at least 3 people picking them to cut down the nets. #1 BU is the most supported with 11 of the 25. Lynch and Teddy went all-in on #7 Colgate, taking them to win 3 games before losing in the finals. While the league is bigger this year, it still might demonstrate a small margin for error, as each of the last 3 years at least one person went perfect in the PL. The incredible stat of the day is that GrossJr has only missed one PL game in the 3 years he has competed in the CTC.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 24 points)
#1 Boston U. vs #2 American
It seems like forever ago that this conference was playing its tournament, but it finishes up on Wednesday with their championship up in Boston. A conference that is seemingly always won by the higher seeds has another 1/2 championship game. These were the two best teams all year, start to finish, so fittingly the conference champion will be decided on the court between these two. BU erupted in the second half to beat Army in a semifinal game that was closer than the final score indicated. American won a really tight back-and-forth semifinal against Holy Cross, setting up this mammoth showdown.
7 people (Alexi, Dave, Grossjr, J, Mac, RDoc, Stumpf) have American taking this title. 11 people (Bry, Chris, Doogan, Gersh, GrossSr, Lohse, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, Stri, Stritts) have BU here. The 7 others are definitely going to lose ground to the winners here. If BU wins, Primm and Stri will split the 2014 Patriot League title. If American wins, RDoc will take the win outright.
American 55 – Boston U 36
First of all, what the hell is going on with #1 seeds and, even more so, #1 seeds at home, during these conference tournaments. It is uncanny how many top seeds are getting beaten in these one-bid leagues, which kind of sucks because then the best teams in these leagues are playing in the NIT, not the NCAA tournament. In fact, the NIT is getting rather full with these auto-bids for regular season champs that don’t win their tournament. Anyway, let’s focus on the positive here and give a TON of credit to Mike Brennan who has now led a team that was picked 9th in a 10-team conference to the Big Dance in his first year. Defense travels, so whichever 1- or 2-seed that draws the Eagles better come prepared for a war. I don’t think they’ll pull off an upset, but they are gonna make us overreact about how bad _____ looked in the first round.
Congrats to RDoc, who, as a real connoisseur of good small-school hoops, probably takes a lot of pride in winning in a great league like the Patriot. Alexi, Dave, GrossJr, J, Mac, and Stumpf also won this game and picked up a nice 32 points.
SEMIFINALS (March 8th – 16 points each)
#1 Boston U. vs #5 Army
Army came from behind for a miracle win at Bucknell on Wednesday to keep going one of their best seasons in decades. They are now two wins from representing the Nation in the National Tournament. Bucknell was tough, but BU is another step up. The Terriers pounded Lafayette on Wednesday and are the clear favorites to win their very first Patriot League tournament.
No one has Army winning this game, but an amazing 11 people (Alexi, Becks, Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, Teddy, WaTers) had Bucknell winning this game and are now just hoping that Army wins to zero it out for everyone. 11 others (Bry, Chris, Doogan, Gersh, GrossSr, Lohse, PapaCim, Primm. Scoot, Stri, Stritts) have BU winning this game and going on to win this tournament.
Boston U. 91 – Army 70
#2 American vs #3 Holy Cross
Both team had solid, hard-fought wins in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. HC knocked off a game Lehigh team, while American shut down Colgate. Now, these two meet up in what should be an outstanding semifinal. Holy Cross is playing as well as anyone in the league and would probably be favored right now if it were on a neutral court. But, it is not. American – who wasn’t expected to be competitive yet – started the conference season with 11 straight wins. They ended up losing out the regular season title to BU by a game, but as the #2-seed, they earned this game at home.
This is a pretty big CTC game here in the Patriot. 23 of the 25 people have a horse in the race here (Lynch and Teddy are out with Colgate). 9 (Becks, Bry, Chris, Colton, Doogan, Gersh, Lohse, Stritts, WaTers) have Holy Cross, while the other 14 have American. Becks, Colton, and WaTers put their PL champs on the line here with Holy Cross, while 7 people (Alexi, Dave, GrossJr, J, Mac, RDoc, Stumpf) risk the champ with American.
American 57 – Holy Cross 46
QUARTERFINALS (March 5th – 8 points each)
#1 Boston U. vs #9 Lafayette
The BU Terriers walked into the Patriot League this year and won the league, and it was no shock, as they are loaded this year. They are experienced, disciplined, and talented. And, now they will start their quest to win the PL’s auto-bid. Their first test is a home quarterfinal against a scary Lafayette team that went into Loyola on Monday night and ended the Greyhounds inaugural Patriot League season. They will try and end another newcomer’s first season in the league again here.
24 people have BU in this one. Alexi is the only one without the Terriers here, and he has Loyola, who is already out, so he’ll just be rooting for Lafayette to zero out this game for the whole field. A plurality of the field has BU winning this tournament.
Boston U. 91 – Lafayette 54
BU looked clearly championship-worthy in their first-ever Patriot League tournament game in routing Lafayette. This marked the end of a very disappointing season for the Leopards, who were picked 2nd in the PL in the preseason.
Alexi misses out on a solo upset pick here – the other 24 people picked up 8 points. The 11 people who have BU winning this tournament keep their champ alive.
#4 Bucknell vs #5 Army
The Black Knights of Army have had a very good season this year that resulted in an upper-division finish. They were in the race for league title for a while, but they hit a tough stretch and slipped to 5th, which puts them on the road here in the quarters. And, it isn’t just any road trip – it is a trip to the red-hot Bucknell. The Bison enter the tournament winners of 6 in a row, which started with a 12-point win over this Army team and ended with back-to-back road wins against the two best teams in the league. This young team has come together at the right time and is absolutely one of the real contenders to win this tournament.
24 of the 25 entries went with Bucknell here. Only Colton went with the mild upset pick of Army here, so this could be a huge win for him. Caleb, Lazarow, Lynch, and Teddy all have a lot to lose here, as they have Bucknell winning this tournament. 7 more (Alexi, Becks, Dave, GrossJr, Mac, and WaTers) have Bucknell going to the finals, but losing.
Army 72 – Bucknell 71
MADNESS! Bucknell was up 7 at home with 3 minutes left, but Kyle Wilson came up huge down the stretch, including the game-winner with :13 seconds left to send Army to Boston on Saturday for a semifinal against BU. A pretty great season for the Black Knights continues for at least one more game. The loss was a disappointing end to 2014 for the Bison, but their future is bright, as they had a really solid year and are the youngest team in the league. Bucknell should return to the top of the PL sooner rather than later.
Colton got the nice solo upset pick here and picked up 12 free points on the entire rest of the field. This was also a huge loss looking forward, as Caleb, Lazarow, Lynch, and Teddy all lost their PL champs, and 7 more lost a finalist. Brackets were busted in Lewisburg Wednesday night.
#3 Holy Cross vs #6 Lehigh
This wide open tournament could see any number of champs, including the Crusaders of Holy Cross, who have looked like one of the better teams in this league all year and now it’s time to prove it. They have a tough game to start the tournament against Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks are young and possibly not as talented as the Lehigh teams of the recent past. I know you are all missing the annual gushing over C.J. McCollum, but he’s now on the Portland Trailblazers, so I’ll leave it alone.
GrossSr, Lazarow, PapaCim, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Lehigh in a nice upset pick here. GrossSr and PapaCim have the Mountain Hawks going to the finals. Becks, Colton, and Waters have Holy Cross winning the whole thing. Bry, Chris, Doogan, Gersh, Lohse, and Strits all have HC going to the finals and losing.
Holy Cross 54 – Lehigh 48
The Crusaders flexed their defensive muscles holding the Mountain Hawks to just 32% shooting and only 3-21 from long range. The first half was a hard-fought back-and-forth war, but HC came out of the locker room and put it away with an 11-3 run that turned a 4-point halftime lead to an insurmountable 12-point lead. The rest of the league has to take note of the way HC is playing right now, and there is no doubt that they are legit contenders for this title. The Mountain Hawks season comes to a close, but they are young and gained some valuable experience this year.
5 people missed out on an upset pick here, including GrossSr and PapaCim, who had Lehigh in the finals. 6 others keep alive a finalist in Holy Cross.
#2 American vs #7 Colgate
What a season for American’s first-year head coach, Mike Brennan. Brennan has brought his Princeton-style offense, having played for Pete Carril and coached under John Thompson III. He was also the top assistant of the two best American teams of the past decade. Now, Brennan has a chance to be the head man for a special season. The Eagles – picked 9th out of 10 in the preseason – fell just short of winning the regular season title. In fact, they went through the first half of conference play perfect – beating every team the first time through. But, their second time through the league, they went just 4-5. Was the league caught off-guard by the Princeton offense? It is hard to say, but this tournament should be really interesting – and they do get at least the first two games at home. The first one is this quarterfinal matchup against 7th-seeded Colgate, who knocked off the Naval Academy on Monday night.
This could be a potentially huge game for a couple people. Bry, Doogan, Lynch, and Teddy all have Colgate in this upset pick that would be worth 28 points. Lynch and Teddy have even more at stake, as they have Colgate winning again in the semis. 7 people (Alexi, Dave, GrossJr, J, Mac, RDoc, and Stri) put their PL champs on the line in this one with American.
American 59 – Colgate 50
The Eagles of American drowned Colgate in the first half and built enough of a lead to withstand a slow, steady second-half comeback attempt by the Red Raiders. This was a season-low offensive output for Colgate, so credit the American defense – which has been the main reason they are in this position, despite a lack of on-paper talent. The Eagles host Holy Cross on Saturday in the semifinals.
Bry, Doogan, Lynch, and Teddy all missed what would have been a gigantic upset pick. The latter two both lost finalists in Colgate. 7 people kept alive their Patriot champion.
OPENING ROUND (March 3rd – 4 points each)
#7 Colgate vs. #10 Navy
Colgate had a pretty fantastic non-conference, by Colgate standards, at least. They had road wins at Tulane and Albany, along with solid close losses to Syracuse, Georgetown, and Wake Forest. So, there was some real optimism heading into conference play. But, conference play was marred with tough, close losses and they had yet another bottom-half finish in the league. They do open the tournament with a winnable home game against a Navy team that is – not surprisingly – at the bottom of the league, but who also had some nice wins throughout conference play – beating Bucknell at home and Army on the road. They also had a solid 8-point win over this very Colgate team. The winner of this game will travel to the Nation’s Capital to battle the surprising American Eagles in the quarters.
Only 3 people went for the upset with Navy here (Lazarow, PapaCim, and Waters) and none of them have the Midshipmen beating American in the quarters. But, Colgate has a some big-time supporters. Lynch and Teddy are trying to ride Colgate all the way to the finals. Bry and Doogan have them winning tonight and then beating American in the quarters.
Colgate 57 – Navy 51
Damon Sherman-Newsome dropped 28 off the bench in Colgate’s season-ending win over Lehigh, and now he followed that up with 16 off the bench in the CTC’s opening game – a win over Navy. The Midshipmen’s season wasn’t a disaster, but it does end here after a last-place regular season. With the win, the Red Raiders move on DC to face 2nd-seeded American in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Lazarow, PapaCim, and Waters all missed the upset pick here, though none of them had Navy any further. The other 22 all picked up their first 4 points of the 2014 CTC. Lynch and Teddy keep alive one of their PL finalists. Bry and Doogan keep alive a semifinalist here.
#8 Loyola (MD) vs. #9 Lafayette
Both of these teams had potential title-contending aspirations entering the season. In fact, both teams were picked to be in the top 3 in the league in the preseason. Their season derailed in different ways, though. Lafayette was terrible for about 3/4 of the season, but they started to play really well in February. Loyola, on the other hand, has been playing its worst ball of the year, but did hang on to the 8-seed, which means they will host the Leopards here in Round One. The winner here will travel to Boston for a quarterfinal date with top-seeded Boston U.
Most people went with the underdog here, as only 8 people (Alexi, Chris, Colton, Doogan, GrossSr, J, RDoc, Scoot, and Stumpf) went with Loyola here. Alexi actually has the Greyhounds beating #1 BU in the quarters. None of the 16 people taking Lafayette have them beating BU next round.
Lafayette 84 – Loyola (MD) 71
Lafayette’s junior backcourt of Seth Hinrichs and Joey Ptasinski combined for 40 of the Leopards 84 points in a solid road win to round out opening night in the Patriot League tournament. The Leopards, who started conference play an abysmal 1-9, have been playing very well as of late, but will need to beat the league’s best team (Boston U) on the road in order to prolong this season. Loyola’s inaugural Patriot League season was a disappointment and it comes to a close on the first night of conference tournament action.
Alexi took the biggest hit here, losing a semifinalist in Loyola. 17 people actually got this mild upset pick, though none of them have Lafayette beating BU.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 Boston U. (11)
- #2 American (7) – Alexi, Dave, GrossJr, J, Mac, RDoc, Stumpf
- #3 Holy Cross (3) – Becks, Colton, Waters
- #4 Bucknell (4) – Caleb, Lazarow, Lynch, Teddy
Biggest Upsets
- R1 – #10 Navy – Lazarow, PapaCim, Waters
- QF – #8 Loyola (MD) – Alexi
- SF – #7 Colgate – Lynch, Teddy
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – Doogan
- 2009 – Alexi
- 2010 – Teddy
- 2011 – GrossJr (perfect)
- 2012 – Mac (perfect)
- 2013 – GrossJr, J, Lohse, Rikey (perfect)
Final 2014 Scores
- RDoc – 92 (’14)
- Dave – 84
- GrossJr – 84 (’11*, ’13*)
- Mac – 84 (’12*)
- Stumpf – 84
- J – 80 (’13*)
- Alexi – 68 (’09)
- Primm – 68
- Stri – 68
- Colton – 56
- Caleb – 52
- Gersh – 52
- Lohse – 52 (’13*)
- Scoot – 52
- Stritts – 52
- Bry – 44
- Chris – 44
- GrossSr – 40
- Lazarow – 40
- PapaCim – 40
- Becks – 36
- Doogan – 36 (’08)
- WaTers – 32
- Lynch – 28
- Teddy – 28 (’10)
