The biggest day of the first week of the CTC is a phenomenal day. If you like basketball, you LOVE this day. With all the games to preview, let’s get right to it.
BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
This game was supposed to give us the first tournament team, but Cornell ruined the party last night by clinching the Ivy League’s auto-bid. Either way, one of these teams will be dancing. We are also guaranteed three perfect Big South brackets, we’re just not sure which three contestants will get it.
#3 Winthrop at #1 Coastal Carolina. Winthrop is coming off a big win over Radford in the semis and now they get to play the host Chanticleers with a trip to the Big Dance on the line. If C. Carolina wins, Bry will be a repeat Big South champion, but will have to share the title (and perfect bracket) with Doogan and Lohse. J and Stri also have UCC, so though they won’t get the title, 16 points would be nice. If Winthrop wins, then the ’10 Big South title (and perfect bracket) will go to Alexi, Lil Lohse, and KA.
OHIO VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
The second auto-bid of the day will be given to MSU…we just don’t know which one. Murray St. has dominated the OVC all season, but Morehead St. is the defending champion and has almost the whole team back. This should be a fantastic game. Lohse wins the OVC (with a perfect bracket) if Morehead St. pulls off the minor upset. If Murray St. wins, J will take the ’10 OVC title.
#2 Morehead St. vs. #1 Murray St. Morehead has dominated the first two rounds of this tournament, winning by 33 and 29, respectively. Murray St., who hammered Tennessee St. in the quarters, struggled with E. Illinois in the semis. KA is the only one that cannot score points with this game, as she had Austin Peay. Lohse and Stri have Morehead, the other nine entries have Murray St.
ATLANTIC SUN CHAMPIONSHIP (16 points):
If I told you to predict the A-Sun championship (which 12 of us tried to do), I bet you’d get it wrong (which all 12 of us did). Only slightly more than half of the 12 CTC’ers even had one of the two teams right playing in today’s title game. With all of the scoring over, Bry is going to take the A-Sun title away from two-time champ, J.
#5 E. Tennessee St. at #6 Mercer. With none of the four co-champs from the regular season in the final game, it should be interesting. ETSU only finished a game behind the leaders, so they are in the same class, but Mercer was 4 games back. However, Mercer is on their home floor and that has led them to wins over Belmont and Jacksonville in the past two nights. ETSU struggled with the Cinderella of the tourney, Kennessaw St., in the semis, but they are here and one game from the Dance.
MISSOURI VALLEY SEMIFINALS (24 points each):
Two big games for CTC purposes, as a 3x conference goes into the semifinals, where the games start to be worth a lot of points.
#5 Bradley vs. #1 N. Iowa. Bradley looked very impressive yesterday in their quarterfinal win over #4 Creighton, but now they have a much bigger test, as the top-seeded Panthers of UNI come calling in the first of the semifinal double-header. Only Teddy is out of the running for points here, as he had Creighton winning this game. Lynch and Alexi both have Bradley winning here, which would be really impressive if they can get that one. The other nine have UNI.
#3 Illinois St. vs. #2 Wichita St. Two really solid teams that pulled off good, tough wins last night meet today in the second semifinal of Arch Madness 2010. This game also has major CTC implications other than just the straightforward 24 points. Teddy is the only one that cannot win points in this one, as he had Missouri St. winning this game. Both Lohses, Bry, and Doogan have Illinois St. in the minor upset. The other seven have Wichita St. But, there’s more. Lohse has Illinois St. winning this whole tournament. And, six (Ina, Alexi, Waters, Lynch, J, and KA) have Wichita St. winning it all.
HORIZON LEAGUE SEMIFINALS (16 points each):
The Horizon League finally welcomes its best two teams to the party, as, with six teams already eliminated, #1 Butler and #2 Wright St. play their first tournament action.
#7 Detroit vs. #2 Wright St. (12-6). Detroit won a tough game on the road at Valpo and then knocked off the 3-seed Green Bay last night to get a shot to go at Wright St. Lohse, who not only has Detroit getting here, but he has them beating Wright St., which would be an incredible call. Bry, J, Doogan, Alexi, Lynch, Lil Lohse, and Teddy all have Wright St. The rest of the field has already lost this game by picking either Green Bay or Valpo in this spot.
#4 Milwaukee at #1 Butler (18-0). Undefeated in conference play and nationally-ranked, Butler got a double-bye to the semis AND they get to play the rest of the tournament on their home floor. The Horizon takes care of its best. Lynch has already last this game (Cleveland St.). KA has Milwaukee in this game. The other 10 contestants have Butler not only in this game, but winning this tournament.
COLONIAL QUARTERFINALS (12 points each):
One of my favorite days of the year is the CAA quarterfinal quadruple-header. It is great basketball by solid teams, usually led by good seniors who have played together for four years (something that is becoming more and more rare in the big conferences). Also, as far as the CTC goes, there are a lot of points at stake out there.
#8 Towson vs. #1 Old Dominion (15-3). The first game pits the conference’s best team in the regular season, ODU, against a relatively hot Towson team that beat UNC-Wilmington pretty handily yesterday. KA is the only one that went for this big upset pick, as she has Towson. Everyone else has ODU. Bry, Ina, J, Stri, and Lil Lohse all have more at stake, as they have the Monarchs winning this tournament.
#5 VCU vs. #4 George Mason (12-6). While everyone will talk about Duke-UNC and Villanova-West Virginia, the game that I’m probably most looking forward to on this first Saturday in March is VCU-George Mason. Two excellent programs with solid teams, playing with their seasons on the line–winner moves on, loser goes home. Stri, Waters, KA, and Lil Lohse have the favored Mason squad. The other eight all have VCU winning this game. Lohse and Teddy have the most at stake here with VCU, as they have them winning the tourney. Doogan and Lynch have VCU in the finals. Waters has that equal investment in George Mason.
#7 Hofstra vs. #2 Northeastern (14-4). The CTC’ers favorite, Hofstra, barely squeeked by Georgia St. last night, but they did survive. Now, they get to play Northeastern in the first game of tonight’s double-header. Only Stri, Alexi, and Teddy have Northeastern. The other nine have the big underdog, Hofstra. Stri is the only one in the whole Challenge that has Northeastern, the #2 seed, making the finals, so this is a big game for him because he can pick up a lot of free points by NU just surviving against lower-seeded teams.
#11 James Madison vs. #3 William & Mary (12-6). The one big surprise of the opening round in the CAA was the same big surprise as last year’s opening round. The JMU Dukes knocked off Drexel and now get the Tribe of W&M. Everyone has William & Mary in this game, except J (who had Drexel). But, some have more invested in W&M than others. Alexi (because they beat Maryland, undoubtably), KA, Lynch, and Doogan have the Tribe winning this tournament.
SoCON QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
After a relatively interesting opening round, the SoCon gets more interesting as the best four teams join the fray in Charlotte.
#6N Elon vs. #2N W. Carolina (11-7). The opening game was supposed to feature Davidson, but they got upset by Elon yesterday, so it is Elon versus W. Carolina. Doogan, Alexi, Lohse, and Teddy all had Davidson winning this game. The other eight entries have W. Carolina. Lynch has WCU winning this tournament; Waters and KA have them reaching the finals.
#4N UNC-Greensboro vs. #1S Wofford (15-3). The conference’s best team in the regular season, Wofford, opens their postseason with UNC-Greensboro, who edged Furman by a single point yesterday. Waters could pull off a huge upset here, as he has UNC-Greensboro winning this game. KA had Furman winning this game, so she’s out of this one. Everyone else has Wofford here. Teddy, both Lohses, Stri, Doogan, Ina, and Bry all have Wofford winning this tournament.
#4S The Citadel vs. #1N Appalachian St. (13-5). Yesterday, The Citadel only scored 55 points against a bad Samford team, but won on their defense. Now, they get the northern division champs, Appalachian St. Bry, Ina, J, and Lynch all have The Citadel in the big upset. Lynch went a step further and took them to go to the finals. Doogan and Lil Lohse have the most invested in App St., as they both have them making the finals (no one has them winning it).
#3N Chattanooga vs. #2S College of Charleston (14-4). The Mocs of Chattanooga crushed Georgia-Southern last night. They will try and carry that momentum into today’s quarterfinal matchup with the College of Charleston. CofC had a nice regular season, including a win over UNC (which started the Tar Heels demise), but they fell a game back of Wofford and had to settle for the 2-seed from the south. KA is the only one that has Chattanooga in this one. In fact, she has them winning this whole tournament, so she could pick up some major points, if they keep winning. Waters, Alexi, and J have CofC winning this whole tournament. Bry, Ina, Stri, Lohse, and Teddy all have them going to the finals, but not winning it.
MAAC QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
After the opening round double-header last night, the MAAC is ready to really get going with its quarterfinal quadruple-header in Albany.
#5 Rider (9-9) vs. #4 St. Peter’s (11-7). The opening game of the day is Rider against the Peacocks of St. Peter’s. This is a big toss-up game in the CTC, but mainly only for these four points. Everyone has Siena in the finals, so no one has either of these teams winning more than this game. Nine entries have the minor upset pick with Rider, only Doogan, Waters, and Lynch have the favored Peacocks.
#9 Manhattan at #1 Siena (17-1). Manhattan surprised everyone with a win over Loyola last night, but now they have to come back a day later and take on the conference powerhouse, Siena. Everyone has Siena winning this game and the next. In fact, only Alexi does not have Siena winning this whole tournament, so any loss by the Saints would be good for him, even if he has them winning that particular game.
#7 Canisius vs. #2 Fairfield (13-5). Canisius beat up on the lowly Marist Red Foxes last night, and now they get #2 Fairfield in the quarters. Stri and Waters both had Marist winning this game, so they’ve already lost it. Lynch, KA, and Teddy all have Canisius in this pretty major upset. Bry is the biggest Fairfield fan, as he is the only one with FU reaching the finals.
#6 Niagara (9-9) vs. #3 Iona (12-6). The Iona Gaels had a really nice season, while the Purple Eagles of Niagara must have been disappointed with their .500 record in-conference. This is a shot at glory and/or redemption for these two programs. Bry, Doogan, Alexi, Lohse, and KA all have Niagara in this upset. KA, Lohse, and Doogan have them going all the way to the finals. Alexi has them winning it all. Everyone who has Iona winning this game also has Iona winning the next game and reaching the finals.
AMERICA EAST QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
(NOTE: because of the mix up with the America East bracket, there are still a couple entries that have not been made in the A-East, so this is subject to change.)
The crazy America East gets going today without Binghamton, who is on probation (shocking) from last year’s transfer debacle. So, the 9-team tournament because a much more streamlined 8-team tournament. The quarters and semis will be in Hartford this weekend, then the championship will be next Saturday on the home court of the higher seed. Bry, riding his alma mater UMBC, is the defending America East champ, while Alexi won it back in ’08.
#8 Albany (2-14) vs. #1 Stony Brook (13-3). Stony Brook won their first ever America East regular season title, and now they start their attempt at their first Am East tournament title. They start with the Great Danes of Albany. Only Bry picked Albany in this upset. Currently, only Teddy has Stony Brook winning this tournament.
#4 Boston U. (11-5) at #5 Hartford (6-10). The Terriers of Boston U take on the host school, Hartford in the quarterfinals. We saw with Mercer how much the home fans can help a middling conference team in the tournament, so BU should be careful. Despite that, though, only KA took the Hawks with this upset. She did have Hartford going to the finals. Bry and Doogan actually have BU winning the whole thing; J has them going to the finals, but losing.
#7 UMBC (3-13) vs. #2 Vermont (12-4). The Retriever Believers were tested this year, as UMBC had a very difficult season. They get one reprieve, though, as they start the Am East conference tournament tonight against UVM. The Catamounts had yet another solid season and are a real contender to win another Am East title. Bry and Waters still believe, as they have UMBC pulling off this big upset. Both Lohses have put their faith in UVM, picking them to win this tournament.
#6 New Hampshire (6-10) vs. #3 Maine (11-5). And, the nightcap of the Am East quadruple-header features the #3-seeded Maine Black Bears. They get UNH in the final quarterfinal. So far, only Doogan has picked New Hampshire to win this one. J, Alexi, Waters, and KA all have Maine winning this tournament, making Maine the most popular title pick in the America East this year.
WEST COAST QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
After two thrilling opening round games last night, the WCC welcomes two more teams to the tournament for a quarterfinal double-header.
#5 Loyola Marymount vs. #4 San Francisco (7-7). LMU avoided an upset against Pepperdine yesterday and now will take on the Dons from San Francisco. Ina, Stri, and Alexi all have LMU in this game. Waters had Pepperdine. Everyone else has San Fran. Lynch has a lot at stake here, as he has USF in the finals.
#6 San Diego vs. #3 Portland (10-4). USD edged Santa Clara late last night, and now they get a good Portland team today. Everyone has Portland winning this game, except KA, who has San Diego (which she has going to the finals). Ina, Stri, and Alexi all have Portland in the finals.
SUMMIT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
The Summit League has two quarterfinal double-headers this weekened before the semis on Monday and the final on Tuesday. Today starts with the 4-5 and 3-6 games. Ina and Waters both had this league perfect in ’08, then Ina defended her title last year, sharing the title with Doogan and Stri. She will go for a three-peat this year.
#8 UMKC (6-12) vs. #1 Oakland (17-1). Oakland dominated the Summit League and goes to cap off the season with a trip to The Dance. They open with the Roadrunners from UMKC. Everyone has Oakland in this game. Bry, Lil Lohse, Alexi, Ina, and J all have Oakland winning it all.
#7 W. Illinois (6-12) VS. #2 IUPUI (15-3). Another great season for Ron Hunter’s Jaguars of IUPUI. They open their postseason run tonight against W. Illinois. Everyone has IUPUI in this game. Teddy, Waters, Stri, and Doogan have IUPUI winning this tournament.
BIG SKY QUARTERFINALS (4 points each):
The Big Sky kicks off with a pair of first round games on the home courts of the Montana schools. Bry and Ina shared the ’08 Big Sky title, while J absolutely dominated last year’s. In fact, J’s 30 points last year were 18 more than second place and 30 more than Stri, Waters, and Lynch who completely struck out in this conference.
#5 N. Arizona (8-8) at #4 Montana (10-6). The Grizzlies of Montana host the Lumberjacks tonight in the Big Sky quarterfinals. Montana had a real shot at the #2-seed and, therefore, the bye, but they did hang on to the #4-seed, which means they get to play this first game on campus. Someone is going to lose their Big Sky champion in this one, as Lohse has Montana winning the tournament, and KA has N. Arizona winning it all. KA is the only one who picked N. Arizona in this game. Lil Lohse is the only one other than Big Lohse that has Montana reaching the finals.
#6 Portland St. (7-9) at #3 Montana St. (10-6). The other Montana school actually finished ahead of the Grizzlies grabbing the #3-seed, which means they get to host Portland St. tonight in the quarters before a date with N. Colorado in the semis. The 3-seed means they get to avoid #1 Weber St. until the finals. A lot of people picked against Montana St. In fact, only J, Stri, Alexi, Waters, and KA took the home favorites tonight. J and Stri have them going to the finals. Lohse has Portland St. in the finals, so he’s looking for an upset tonight and another one on Tuesday.
SUN BELT OPENING ROUND (2 points each):
My absolute favorite 1x conference tournament is the Sun Belt. It’s probably just because they are the only conference in the country to have 5 conference tournament games on the same day. And, that got even better this year, as they moved the entire tournament to the neutral site in Hot Springs, AR. So, there are ten teams in action in one place today and then 8 more tomorrow in the quarters. Phenomenal! Ina took down the Sun Belt title a year ago; Alexi won it in ’08.
#9 S. Alabama (8-10) vs. #8 Florida-Atlantic (10-8). FL-Atlantic had a shot at the conference title until they lost a couple down the stretch, dropping them to the #8 seed. S. Alabama has been in the national spotlight with a solid program, but they are in a down year, finishing 9th in the Sun Belt. The two will play in the opening round for the right to play the top-seeded Troy Trojans. Lil Lohse, J, Bry, and Stri all have USA in the upset. Lil Lohse actually has the Jags going all the way to the semis. Lynch and Lohse are the biggest FL-Atlantic fans, as they have FAU beating Troy in the next round.
#12 Arkansas-Little Rock (4-14) vs. #5 Arkansas St. (11-7). The battle of the Natural State pits Arkansas St. against a disappointing Arkansas-Little Rock team. Surprisingly, half of the field (Bry, Ina, J, KA, and both Lohses) took the bait of the big upset points and took UALR in this one. None of them have Little Rock moving on next round. And, somewhat of a surprise is that no one has Arkansas St. even making the semis.
#13 New Orleans (3-15) vs. #4 W. Kentucky (12-6). One of the headlines of the best nicknamed conference in the country is the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky. They open their postseason against the New Orleans Privateers. Everyone except KA has WKU winning this game…and then some. All 11 people that picked WKU in the first round also picked them in the quarterfinals. Then 10 of those 11 (with Waters being the only exception) have WKU reaching the finals. Then, in the finals, the bandwagon loses a little steam, as only Teddy, Lynch, J, and Bry have the Hilltoppers finishing the job and winning this tournament. KA will be trying to ride the #13-seeded Privateers all the way to the Sun Belt title (and an ABSOLUTE TON of points).
#11 Florida-International (4-14) vs. #6 Denver (10-8). “I would pick against FIU if they were playing the Ugandan women’s pre-pubescent retarded intramural softball league for midgets.” A direct quote from Stri (a die-hard Knicks fan) on how hard his decision was to pick for or against the Isiah Thomas-coached FIU Panthers. Needless to say, Stri has Denver in this one moving on to face Middle Tennessee in quarterfinals. But, Bry and Lynch apparently did not pay any attention to the Isiah Era in New York, as they both have FIU pulling off this upset. Lynch actually think that Isiah can take his Panthers to the semifinals. KA, Waters, and J all have Denver making the semis.
#10 LA-Monroe (6-12) vs. #7 LA-Lafayette (10-8). As good as a nickname as the Hilltoppers is, the Ragin’ Cajuns might be the best in the country. They take on LA-Monroe in the first round before a date with the #2 N. Texas Mean Green. J, Lohse, and KA all went against Lafayette in this one, though none of them have Monroe over N. Texas next round. Teddy, Alexi, and Bry all have LA-Lafayette beating Monroe tonight and then N. Texas tomorrow to reach the semis.
