A HUGE day for Colton – winning the day by more than 50 points over 2nd-place RDoc – has catapuled him from 7th at the start of the day all the way to the top of the leaderboard entering Day Nine.  Bry slips to 2nd.  Mac and Stri flip-flop positions in 3rd and 4th, and Stritts makes a big move to enter the top 5 overall.  The top 3 are all separated by fewer than 20 points, and 13 people are within 100 of the lead, so it’s still WIDE OPEN.  Remember how many points are awarded in the big conferences coming up.

Aside from Colton, Caleb and RDoc also jumped 6 spots in the overall standings to 6th and 12th, respectively.  Stritts jumped from 10th to 5th, and Teddy climbed from the basement up 4 spots to 21st.  Becks picked up 3 spots.

The biggest fall of the day belonged to Gersh, whose last-place finish on the day dropped him from a comfortable 2nd to 10th.  PapaCim also took a tumble, dropping from the top 5 to outside the top 10.  Stumpf also fell 6 spots.  WaTers slipped form 16th to 19th.

There were 3 conference titles handed out on Monday, so 3 new CTC crowns were given out, as well.  PapaCim was the first to win multiple 2014 conference titles when he secured the SoCon title to add to his MVC crown.  WaTers completed a very impressive Colonial tournament with the title, and Mac (appropriately) won the MAAC.

Tuesday is a very calm day with only a dozen games on the CTC slate, including some simply atrocious basketball in the opening rounds of the MEAC and the SWAC.  But, Conference USA kicks off today, which is kind of interesting.  The best part of today is (a) getting ready for the next 5 AMAZING days and (b) focusing on four pretty interesting championship games.  Take a breath, do some errands, and get ready for 5 days of wall-to-wall hoops starting in about 24 hours.  Here is what’s on Tuesday’s slate:

• WCC championship
• Horizon championship
• Summit championship
• NEC championship
• Conference USA opening round
• MEAC opening round (con’t)
• SWAC opening round

DAY EIGHT SCORES (days won):

1. Colton – 206 (1)
2. RDoc – 160
3. Teddy – 150
4. Stritts – 149
5. Mac – 147 (1)
6. Caleb – 142 (1)
7. J – 132
8. Doogan – 131
9. Becks – 130
10. Bry – 128 (1)
11. Lohse – 120
12. Primm – 117
13. Dave – 109 (1)
14. GrossJr – 107
15. Alexi – 101
16. Chris 101
17. Lazarow – 93
18. Stri – 93 (1)
19. Lynch – 91
20. PapaCim – 91
21. WaTers – 86
22. GrossSr – 77
23. Scoot – 77
24. Stumpf – 64
25. Gersh – 61

OVERALL STANDINGS (conf titles):

1. Colton – 907.5
2. *Bry – 901 (A-Sun)
3. Mac – 889 (MAAC)
4. Stri – 856 (BigSouth)
5. *Stritts – 846.5
6. Caleb – 834.5
7. *Chris – 833.5
8. *J – 823.5 (A-Sun)
9. *Doogan – 830.5 (OVC)
10. *Gersh – 827.5
11. PapaCim – 824 (MVC, SoCon)
12. *RDoc – 822
13. *Primm – 807.5
14. *Becks – 794.5 (A-Sun)
15. Alexi – 789
16. Dave – 785.5
17. *Stumpf – 761
18. Lohse – 760
19. WaTers – 750.5 (CAA)
20. *GrossJr – 735.5
21. Teddy – 732.5
22. Scoot – 700 (A-Sun)
23. Lynch – 696.5
24. *GrossSr – 688
25. Lazarow – 678.5

Anyone who has been in the CTC for a couple years know of my past worship of mid-major leagues such as the old Colonial and the Missouri Valley.  But, with the destruction of the CAA and the relative staleness of the MVC, there is a hole there ready to be filled.  I thought for a while it would be the Horizon, but it just never did it for me.  I also flirted with the NEC and the A-Sun, but the basketball just isn’t good enough top to bottom.  But, I think I have found my home.  I LOVE THE MAAC, and I am ready to announce that it is officially my favorite mid-major league.  The basketball is very good top to bottom with a fascinating variety of styles of play from run-and-gun Iona to physically defensive Manhattan to well-coached motion offense and long-range shooting of Canisius to the athletic ball-screen offense of newcomer Quinnipiac.  It was another great season in the MAAC, and I am as excited for this wide open tournament as any tournament all week.

Surprisingly, this wide open field actually produced a majority opinion on its champion – and it isn’t the top seed.  The Manhattan Jaspers were the MAAC title pick of 14 of the 25 entries.  Top-seeded Iona got 6, and the wide-openness was shown in the other 5 as two went to #4 Canisius, two went to #5 Siena, and one even went for #6 Marist to win four games in four days.  No one took #3 Quinnipiac (and, my CBC future might depend on us all being wrong about that).  The 11th-seeded Purple Eagles of Niagara actually had two people pick them to reach the semis.  Lohse is the current MAAC title holder and will try to defend his title this year to join Bry as the only two-time MAAC champion.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 10th – 30 points)

#1 Iona vs #2 Manhattan
And, my favorite conference comes through with a fantastic tournament that should conclude with one of the best championship games you will see in either week.  The athletic, run-and-gun Iona Gaels take on the deep, physical, talented roster of Manhattan in what could be a classic.  If you like quality basketball that pits contrasting styles of play between two teams that really get after each other, then this is must-see hoop.  Iona crushed Rider in the quarters and then snuck by a really good Canisius team in the semis.  Manhattan had two comfortable wins over Saint Peter’s and Quinnipiac to get here.  These two teams met just last week in Draddy Gymnasium on the Manhattan campus, and the Jaspers prevailed 80-77 in overtime in one of the better games I have seen all year.  Anything close to a repeat of that here with everything on the line will be fantastic.

2nd-seeded Manhattan is the more highly-supported team here, as 14 people (Alexi, Becks, Bry, Caleb, Chris, Colton, Doogan, J, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Stritts, Stumpf, Teddy) took the Jaspers as their MAAC champion and only 6 (Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Scoot, Stri) took the Gaels.  Dave, Lazarow, Lynch, PapaCim, and WaTers have nothing to gain here, as their MAAC champs didn’t make it.  An Iona win will give Lohse back-to-back MAAC championships.  If Manhattan wins, Mac will complete a perfect 2014 MAAC bracket.

Manhattan 71 – Iona 68
For the first time since Bobby Gonzalez, the Jaspers are going Dancing!  Manhattan’s defense was stellar, holding one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation to just 68 points on 44% from the floor.  Depth, depth, and more depth were the biggest reasons for this title for Manhattan, as they go 10-deep and just outlasted Iona, who only goes 6-deep and had foul trouble to boot.  It should be interesting to see how the Committee seeds Manhattan (I’d say in the 13 range) because this is going to be a live ‘dog in the next tournament.

14 people (Alexi, Becks, Bry, Caleb, Chris, Colton, Doogan, J, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Stritts, Stumpf, Teddy) got this championship pick correct.  6 missed out on Iona.  Mac completes the second ever perfect MAAC bracket and takes the crown.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 20 points each)

#1 Iona vs #4 Canisius
Well, we got the semifinal double-header I was hoping for.  The top 4 teams in the MAAC all survived their quarterfinal matchups, including #1 Iona, who hammered Rider in the second half, and #4 Canisius, who survived a hard-fought battle with Siena.  Now, the two get to face off for the right to play for the MAAC championship on Monday night.  Sean Armand and Billy Baron are two guys that are worth tuning in for.

6 people (Colton, Dave, Doogan, PapaCim, Primm, Teddy) have Canisius in the upset here, with Dave and PapaCim taking the Goldem Griffins to win this tournament.  Lynch and WaTers have already lost this game with Siena.  The other 17 all have Iona, with 6 of them (Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Scoot, Stri) taking the Gaels to win the whole thing.

Iona 75 – Canisius 72
A great first game in the MAAC semifinal double-header goes to the top-seeded Gaels in a very hard-fought affair.  The start shined on this day as both Billy Baron and Sean Armand went for 20+.  A tight game throughout was won by Iona’s 3-point defense, holding a very good outside-shooting team to just 7-26 from behind the arc, including a Baron miss at the buzzer that would have tied it.  Canisius now will sit and wait hoping their 21 wins gets them an invite to a minor postseason tournament.

17 people got this right, while 6 missed a nice upset pick.  Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Scoot, and Stri keep alive their MAAC champ.

#2 Manhattan vs #3 Quinnipiac
Manhattan and Qunnipiac round out the great foursome on display in Springfield on Sunday.  The Jaspers put away Saint Peter’s in the quarters, while QU edged a pesky Niagara squad.  Now, the stage is set for two teams that both play very good team basketball with very physical styles.  This should be a war.

GrossJr, Lohse, and Scoot are the only 3 with QU here.  GrossSr, Lazarow, and WaTers have aleady lost this game with Saint Peter’s, Marist, and Marist, respectively.  The other 19 all have Manhattan, with 14 of them picking the Jaspers to win this tournament.

Manhattan 87 – Quinnipiac 68
The Jaspers did their part in the nightcap to set up a fantastic MAAC championship on Monday night by pounding QU.  The game was won on the boards, as the Jaspers actually outrebounded the 2nd-best rebounding team in the nation.  They also shot 50% from the floor, 47% (9-19) from three, and 80% (16-20) from the line.  Manhattan is playing their best ball at just the right time and may even be a slight favorite in Monday’s title game.

3 people missed a minor upset pick here, while 19 got this one right.  14 people keep alive their MAAC tournament champ.

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 10 points each)

#1 Iona vs #8 Rider
The Gaels, after losing Mike Glover, Mo-Mo Jones, and Scotty Machado to graduation over the past couple of years, it is hard to imagine that this team could just keep it going in a conference as tough as the MAAC.  And, maybe the loss of Sean Armand next year will be the last straw, but you have to hand it to coach Tim Cluess (who should be in line for a power conference job very shortly – and Iona doesn’t have the resources of a Wichita or VCU to compete financially with the big boys).  Cluess has done it again with this Iona team, as they finished 17-3 in the MAAC, winning the league by 2 full games over Manhattan.  Next step is going back to the NCAA’s for the fourth straight year.  As the 1-seed, you would think that they would get a break, and, while Rider is not exactly a powerhouse, they are a really, really tough 8th-place team in a mid-major league.  The Broncos took care of a pesky Monmouth team on Thursday to set up this quarterfinal matchup with the regular season champs.

All 25 people have Iona winning this game.  Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Scoot, and Stri are the only 6, though, that have the top-seeded Gaels winning the tournament.

Iona 94 – Rider 70
The Gaels pushed out a close game in the first half into a rout in the second half.  Iona just has so many different ways to beat you, as today it was Penn State transfer, Tre Bowman, who dominated the Broncos, scoring 28 points in the victory.  The excellent careers of Daniel Stewart and Anthony Myles come to a close for Rider, but they do have a future star in freshman Jimmie Taylor.

All 25 people got this one, including 6 who keep alive their champ.

#4 Canisius vs #5 Siena
Man, that Canisius coach is really, really good.  Anyone who can turn around a program like Canisius in just three seasons has to be heading for bigger and better things, right?  I mean a bigger conference has to come calling soon, no?  Wait, what?  It is Jim Baron?  The coach that lowly Rhode Island let go three years ago who then was hired in about 27 seconds?  Good choice, URI, good choice.  And, the kicker is that Coach Baron brought his best player over from URI to Canisius maybe out of loyalty…it is his son, Billy.  Billy Baron has been so incredible at Canisius that he has single-handedly turned this program into a program that may stay competitive in the MAAC.  Baron has expanded his game to become more than just a dead-eye shooter and would be my pick for MAAC Player of the Year and can win this tournament himself if he is on top of his game.  The first test, though, is a tough Siena team.  The Saints are still mired in mediocrity since the glory days under Fran McCaffery, but they won 4 straight games to close out the season and grab the highly-important 5th-seed to give them a first-round bye.  And, again, look what that did, as the 6-seed Marist was sent packing on Thursday night.

4/5 games are usually toss-up games for the CTC.  Not this one.  Only 6 people (J, Lazarow, Lynch, Scoot, Stumpf, WaTers) have Siena here.  Lynch and WaTers went all-in on the Saints, though, as they both have them winning the whole thing.  As for Canisius, Dave and PapaCim both have the Golden Griffins taking the MAAC championship.  Colton, Doogan, Primm, and Teddy all have them going to the finals and losing, so they need this one to save the top of their bracket.

Canisius 71 – Siena 65
Billy Baron had 17 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals to lead Canisius past a tough Siena team that is only going to be better next year.  The Golden Griffins now get a shot at #1 Iona in the semis.

19 people had Canisius here, including Dave and PapaCim, who kept alive their champ.  Lynch and WaTers both lost their MAAC champ here.

#2 Manhattan vs #7 Saint Peter’s
While Iona has an incredibly fast, offensive style of play, the second-place team in the MAAC is the exact opposite.  The Manhattan Jaspers will bump you and rub you and pick you and irritate you into turnovers, bad shots, and uneven play.  In fact, they force turnovers on 22% of defensive possessions (19th out of 351 D1 teams) and they rarely press.  They are a terrific defensive team and defense plays very well in the month of March.  They also may have the best rebounding guard in mid-major basketball in George Beamon.  Manhattan will be a tough out in any tournament they play this month, and they are hoping that includes the big one.  Their first MAAC test is a Saint Peter’s team that survived an overtime war with Fairfield on Thursday night.

GrossSr is the only one with Saint Peter’s winning this game, and he actually has them winning again to get to Monday’s championship.  GrossJr has already lost this game with Fairfield, but the other 23 people all have Manhattan here, including more than half the field (14) picking them to cut down the nets and go to the Dance.

Manhattan 72 – Saint Peter’s 58
Manhattan’s depth was way too much for the Peacocks here in the first game of the evening session.  Saint Peter’s stayed close for a lot of this game, but just didn’t have the horses.  The Jaspers shot 42 free throws and forced 19 StP turnovers en route to victory.  And, they only got 6 points from their star guard, George Beamon.

GrossSr misses a nice upset pick here and actually loses a finalist in the process.  23 other people got it right, including 14, who keep alive their champ.

#3 Quinnipiac vs #11 Niagara
While #2 Manhattan is one of the best in the nation at forcing turnovers, MAAC newcomer, Quinnipiac, is – literally – the worst.  The Bobcats force a turnover on only 12% of defensive possessions, which is 351st – or dead last – in the nation.  And, yet they are a win away from a 20-win season and finished 14-6 in a really good league.  How?  Rebounding, rebounding, and more rebounding.  They are the 2nd-best offensive rebounding team in the country, and they give up the 24th fewest rebounds on the defensive end.  And, while they don’t shoot the ball well, they hold teams to low FG%’s and limit them to single-shot possessions.  This team has a shot – if they can get jumpers to fall – to win this tournament.  Their first step will be to slow down Antoine Mason, who scored 38 points in a late-night Niagara upset of 6th-seeded Marist on Thursday.  If Mason has anything left, this Niagara team could be a tough out.  But, even if he does, QU should have enough to get by the Purple Eagles and into the semifinals in their first ever MAAC tournament.

Gersh and GrossSr are one Niagara win away from an historic call of the 11-seed getting to the semis.  8 people (Alexi, Dave, J, Lazarow, Lynch, RDoc, Stri, WaTers) have already lost this game with Marist.  And, while the other 15 all have QU, they don’t see all that bullish on the Bobcats.  Only GrossJr, Lohse, and Scoot have them reaching the finals, and none of them have them winning it.

Qunnipiac 89 – Niagara 80
Antoine Mason’s Kemba Walker impression was looking good for most of the first half, but Quinnipiac’s roster is just much better and deeper than the Purple Eagles.  Mason did go for 28, but it wasn’t enough, as QU wins the way the always win – on the boards.  The Bobcats outrebounded Niagara 42-29.  QU gets a shot at Manhattan in Sunday’s semifinal.

Gersh and GrossSr miss another huge Niagara upset.  15 people got this right, including 3 who keep alive a finalist.

OPENING ROUND (March 6th – 5 points each)

#8 Rider vs #9 Monmouth
All year long, Rider was in perfect position to finish in the coveted 5th spot and earn that final bye in the conference tournament.  They looked like the 5th-best team and were in that spot.  But, a season-destroying 4-game losing streak to close out conference play dropped them all the way to #8, which means they have to play an opening round game against Monmouth for the right to play top-seeded Iona in the quarters.  Monmouth, along with Quinnipiac, came to the MAAC this year from the NEC, but didn’t fare as well.  But, they actually did better than I expected considering they are short on talent and it’s hard to take on a new league.  Iona awaits the winner.

6 people (Colton, Dave, GrossJr, Lynch, Stumpf, Teddy) have Monmouth in a mild upset.  No one has either of these teams beating Iona on Saturday.

Rider 71 – Monmouth 60
The Broncos of Rider, who were in the top five of the conference all year and then slipped to the 8-seed, take care of business against Monmouth in the opening game of what could be a fantastic MAAC tournament.  Led by their two star seniors (Daniel Stewart, who was great, and Anthony Myles, who struggled), Rider just simply outmanned Monmouth, who put in a valiant effort but just didn’t have the horses down the stretch.  Monmouth fans should be excited, though, as they actually had a decent season, despite being the 15th youngest team in the nation.  The Hawks started a JR, a SO, and 3 FR this year, and didn’t have a single SR in their regular rotation.  Rider will now get a shot at #1 Iona and really could give the Gaels a run for their money.

19 people got this one right.  Everyone has Iona in the quarters, so there were no future implications in a pretty insignificant CTC game.

#7 Saint Peter’s vs #10 Fairfield
This opening round game is a battle between two programs going in opposite directions – or maybe this season is just an anomaly.  Fairfield is hoping that is the case, as they are used to being near the top of the MAAC standings, not at the bottom, like they were most of the year.  It took a 10-game losing streak for Niagara to get them up to 10th, but it has been a very disappointing year for the Stags to say the least.  They will try and salvage something against a Peacocks team that enters the tournament playing their best ball of the year and probably the best ball this program has played since their shocking MAAC tournament title a couple seasons back.  The winner of this game will have the unenviable task of trying to make baskets against Manhattan on Friday.

This is actually a somewhat interesting CTC game.  10 people (Bry, Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, Lohse, RDoc, Scoot, Stri, Stumpf, Teddy) have Fairfield in a solid upset pick.  GrossJr has them beating Manhattan in the quarters.  GrossSr is all-in on the Peacocks, as he has them going to the finals – which is two rounds further than anyone else has them going.

Saint Peter’s 65 – Fairfield 62 (OT)
MADNESS!  Fairfield had a chance to win this back-and-forth game in regulation, but Marcus Gilbert missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer, setting up a thrilling ending to a an otherwise pedestrian overtime.  Up 62-60, StP had the ball with just under 2 minutes left.  They got 2 offensive rebounds, creating a possession of almost a minute and a half, but they couldn’t score, and Fairfield got the ball back with :38 seconds left.  K.J. Rose missed a potential game-tying shot, but Maurice Barrow got the rebound and put it back (and may have been fouled) to tie the game with :07 seconds left.  But, that big play only set up the heroics by Desi Washington, who drained a three at the buzzer to send the Peacocks to the quarterfinals and ended one of the worst seasons in recent Fairfield history.  St. Peter’s lackluster offense will take on the suffocating Manhattan defense in what might be a somewhat unwatchable quarterfinal.

10 people missed this upset pick, including GrossJr, who lost a semifinalist here.  GrossSr was the biggest beneficiary of the Peacocks drama-filled victory, as he keeps alive his out-on-a-limb finalist here.

#6 Marist vs #11 Niagara
It is one thing for a Niagara program to try and replace a highly-successful head coach, Joe Mihalich, who bolted for Hofstra late into the offseason a year ago, but it’s another thing entirely when he takes most of the talent with him.  I am pretty upset about the desolution of the Purple Eagles because Antoine Mason and Juan’ya Green were one of my favorite backcourts to watch, and I thought I was going to get two more years of them.  But, Mihalich took Green (and two budding stars) with him to Hofstra.  He tried to bring Mason as well, but he decided to stick it out in Niagara.  So, he will try – almost single-handedly – to get Niagara past an overlooked, but talented Marist team.  The Red Foxes are tough and can score with anyone.  #3 Quinnipiac awaits the winner here.

This, like the 7/10 game is another somewhat intriguing CTC game.  6 people (Bry, Gersh, GrossSr, Lohse, Mac, PapaCim) went for a pretty big upset with Niagara.  Gersh and GrossSr went a step further and has the Purple Eagles beating Marist here and then Quinnipiac in the quarters, which would net them a cool 80 points if they get it.  And, if Niagara does win this game, it will be quite the bracket-buster all around the CTC.  Lazarow has the most at stake, as he has the Red Foxes winning this whole tournament.  WaTers has them going to the finals, and 6 others (Alexi, Dave, J, Lynch, RDoc, and Stri) have them going to the semis.  This could be – interestingly, enough – the biggest CTC game of the night.

Niagara 78 – Marist 76
Antoine Mason was going to leave with his coach (and all the other Niagara players) for Hofstra in the offseason, but changed his mind and decided to stay at Niagara and try to lead them to continued prominence under the new regime.  Well, the regular season proved that you need more than one man to compete in a league like the MAAC, but Thursday night may have scared the rest of the league in reminding them that one man can do a whole lot in a one-and-done format.  Mason, one of the best players in the league who is now mired on a last-place team, poured in 38 points leading his Purple Eagles to a big upset of 6th-seeded Marist in the opening round.  This game actually looked like it was going to be a total blowout, as Niagara jumped out to a 16-3 lead to start the game and actually led by 24 points just over 13 minutes left.  But, Marist – who had been playing some of the best ball in the league down the stretch – went on a furious 30-10 run to close the gap to just 2 with 1:21 left.  But, it was just too much Mason down the stretch as a desperation three by Khallid Hart missed and Marist’s season ended abruptly.  It’s hard to say if it was just one good night or a potential Kemba Walker moment for Mason, but he will have to ice his shooting arm and come back for the quarterfinal nightcap against Quinnipiac on Saturday.

This game turned out huge in the CTC world, as 6 people picked up a nice 30-point upset here.  And, the big news is that Gersh and GrossSr are halfway to nailing their longshot Niagara to the semis prediction.  The other fallout from this game is that Lazarow lost his MAAC champion already.  WaTers also lost big, as he had Marist in the finals.  6 more people had them in the semis.  This did turn out to be the biggest CTC result of a pretty interesting night of upsets.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Iona (6) – Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, Lohse, Scoot, Stri
• #2 Manhattan (14)
• #3 Quinnipiac (0)
• #4 Canisius (2) – Dave, PapaCim
• #5 Siena (2) – Lynch, WaTers
• #6 Marist (1) – Lazarow

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #11 Niagara (Bry, Gersh, GrossSr, Lohse, Mac, PapaCim)
• QF – #11 Niagara (Gersh, GrossSr)
• SF – #7 Saint Peter’s (GrossSr)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – J
• 2009 – Bry
• 2010 – Bry (perfect)
• 2011 – Primm
• 2012 – Teddy
• 2013 – Lohse

Final 2014 Scores

1. Mac – 160*
2. Bry – 155
3. Becks – 130
4. Caleb – 130
5. Chris – 130
6. Stritts – 130
7. Alexi – 120
8. RDoc – 115
9. Doogan – 110
10. J – 110
11. Primm – 110
12. Stumpf – 110
13. Colton – 105
14. Gersh – 105
15. PapaCim – 100
16. Teddy – 100
17. Lohse – 95
18. GrossSr – 80
19. Stri – 75
20. Scoot – 55
21. Dave – 50
22. GrossJr – 50
23. Lazarow – 50
24. Lynch – 45
25. WaTers – 30

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

1. WaTers – 113 (’14)
2. Mac – 100
3. J – 95
4. Colton – 90
5. Lohse – 85
6. Teddy – 85
7. Lynch – 80
8. RDoc – 70
9. Scoot – 65
10. Stri – 65
11. Alexi – 55 (’08)
12. Gersh – 55 (’13)
13. GrossJr – 55 (’12)
14. Caleb – 50
15. Dave – 50
16. Stumpf – 50
17. Primm – 40 (’13)
18. Becks – 30
19. GrossSr – 30
20. Chris – 25
21. Doogan – 25
22. Stritts – 25
23. Bry – 20 (’10, ’11)
24. Lazarow – 20
25. PapaCim – 20

The days of Steph Curry are over, yet people, for some reason, still think this is a mid-major conference.  It is not.  It is not close.  This is low-major basketball, and this might be the season that most exemplifies that.  This was an incredibly shaky year up and down the SoCon as evidenced by the fact that an untalented Chattanooga team can go 12-4 and finish second place.  Just look at the tempo-free stats, which puts SIX SoCon teams that couldn’t crack the top 290 teams in the country.  Even Davidson, who won another regular season title, had a down year, winning just 3 of 13 noncon games against D-1 opponents.  When you see Davidson as a 16-seed (or another SoCon team in the First Four) on Selection Sunday, don’t fall into the trap of thinking they’re underseeded.

Davidson is the overwhelming championship choice in the CTC, as 20 of the 25 took the ‘Cats.  A couple people believed in The Citadel as the surprise of the opening round and GA-Southern as the surprise semifinalist.  #6 UNC-Greensboro is the lowest selected finalist.  Bry is trying to defend his 2013 SoCon championship.  He, Lynch, Stri, and GrossJr all have the chance to become the first multiple-time SoCon winner, as we have had 6 winners in 6 years in this league.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 10th – 18 points)

#3 Wofford vs #5 Western Carolina
Not exactly the SoCon championship people were expecting – at least the WCU part.  It is hard to believe that the SoCon title won’t have either Davidson or Elon.  Western Carolina has certainly earned this spot here, slipping past Elon in the quarters and then winning an OT thriller over Davidson in the semis.  Wofford, on the other hand, has had the one of the cushiest paths to a title that I can remember, as everything has broken their way.  That said, they are still a very good team, who should be considered the favorite here on Monday.

Only two people have anything to gain here in this one.  No one even had WCU reaching the finals, let alone winning it, so a Catamount title (which will be a very impressive run) will zero out the SoCon championship.  Colton and PapaCim are the only two with Wofford and stand to gain a quick 30 points on the rest of the field if the Terriers take care of business here.  With a Wofford win, PapaCim will win his second CTC conference title of 2014 (having already secured the MVC).  If WCU wins, the current standings will hold, which means Lazarow will back into the title based on an excellent performance in the earlier rounds.

Wofford 56 – Western Carolina 53
I guess the future is now for this incredibly young Wofford team.  Ranked 301st out of 351 D-I teams in experience, the young Terriers took advantage of a ton of breaks throughout this tournament and are going dancing.  The grizzled veteran, JR Karl Cochran led the team with 23 in an ugly game that felt just as sweet.  Former walkon and now WCU’s leading scorer, Trey Sumler, had an incredible tournament and led a big comeback in this game, but just rimmed-out a three that would have tied it at the end of regulation.  It is hard to believe that Wofford punches a Dance ticket after beating The Citadel, Georgia-Southern, and Western Carolina, but that’s exactly what happened.  You can only play who is in front of you.

Colton and PapaCim picked up a free 30 points on the rest of the field with this win.  It also clinched PapaCim’s second CTC conference title of the year.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 12 points)

#1 Davidson vs #5 Western Carolina
Both teams in the first SoCon semifinal are coming off impressive quarterfinal performances.  Davidson in a blowout win over Samford; Western Carolina in a nice win over a solid Elon team.  Now, they meet for the right to play in a game on national TV for all the SoCon marbles.

No one has WCU here.  Lazarow, Scoot, and Stumpf have already lost it.  The other 22 all have the Wildcats, including an incredible number of 20 that have them winning the tournament.

Western Carolina 99 – Davidson 97 (OT)
MADNESS!  First of all, I have to reference the preview I wrote for the Wofford game, where I predicted a WCU 7-overtime win.  I was only off by 6 overtimes, but still – what a break for Wofford!  But, this is all about the Catamounts here, as they snapped a 13-game winning streak by erasing a 15-point deficit.  Davidson – a huge favorite to win this tournament – went 15-1 in the SoCon this season and yet are NIT-bound, despite shooting 55% from the floor on this day.  There just wasn’t enough defense in this game.  The loss ends the great SoCon career of De’Mmon Brooks and is probably the biggest shock of the day on Sunday.

Not a single person got this one right, but Lazarow, Scoot, and Stumpf are thrilled to have this game completely zeroed out.  Also, PapaCim and Colton – who have Wofford winning this tournament – are now the only two left with any shot at getting the SoCon champ right.

#3 Wofford vs #7 Georgia-Southern
Could Wofford have caught any better breaks?  They finish in a three-way tie for 3rd and win the tiebreaker, which means the other two had to play each other in the 4/5 game on the same side if the bracket as Davidson.  Whereas, Wofford gets the 3-seed on the opposite side and gets 11th-seeded Citadel after an upset and now 7th-seeded GA-Southern after another upset.  Chances are WCU will beat Davidson in like 7 overtimes and have nothing left for the final.  But, I guess don’t sleep on GA-S, as they do have some talent, though they didn’t come within 10 points of Wofford in two regular season meetings.

8 people (Alexi, GrossSr, Lohse, Primm, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, WaTers) have already lost this game with either Chattanooga or Greensboro.  No one has GA-S winning this game, and the other 17 all have Wofford, including Colton and PapaCim, who have the Terriers winning this tourney.

Wofford 71 – Georgia-Southern 57
Like I said, this is working out incredibly well for Wofford, as they got the bye, then rolled over 11th-seeded Citadel and now they easily handle 7th-seeded GA-Southern playing their 3rd game in 3 nights.  And, the early game was an overtime win for WCU (it wasn’t 7 overtimes, like I predicted, but wow was I eerily close!).  Now, the Terriers are a win away from making the Dance with a good, but young team.

17 people got this right, including Colton and PapaCim, who now have the inside track towards a really nice championship pick.

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 6 points)

#1 Davidson vs #8 Samford
Bob McKillop just gets it done.  Many mid- and low-major programs bubble up on the backs of a stud that fell through the cracks or a perfect combination of seniors or an elite coach passing through on their way to a major conference.  But, very few are consistent winners.  Davidson didn’t just come up when they somehow got Steph Curry to go to a school of 1,200 kids.  Davidson has stayed relevant for a decade now.  In the era of Gonzaga, that might not seem all that impressive, but it is.  Butler and VCU are big schools with a lot of resources.  Wichita State and Creighton have long histories and a whole lot of money invested in athletics and play in stadiums 8 times the size of the entire student body of Davidson.  But, the Wildcats just keep getting it done.  Led this year by the stud, D’Mon Brooks, the ‘Cats went 15-1 in conference, with the only loss coming in overtime to an Elon team that was actually picked to finish ahead of them in the preseason by many prognosticators…not smart ones, obviously.  McKillop’s squad opens the quarterfinal quadruple-header against 8th-seeded Samford, who took care of App State on Friday.

All 25 people have Davidson winning here to go to the semis.  Everyone except Lazarow, Scoot, and Stumpf have the ‘Cats going to the finals.  And, everyone except those 3 plus Colton, PapaCim, and WaTers have them winning the championship.

Davidson 77 – Samford 54

#4 Elon vs #5 Western Carolina
As I mentioned above, a lot of preseason predictors picked Elon to win the SoCon over Davidson this year.  And, in their defense, it did look like “their year,” and Davidson was rebuilding – at least for that program.  But, I personally never bought into it even when Davidson was going 4-10 in the noncon, and Elon was beating the likes of Georgia State, Marist, and VMI.  In the end, Davidson won the SoCon handily and Elon was left picking up the scraps.  But, the Phoenix are almost certainly the second-best team in the league, but as the 4-seed in a conference that has 5 good teams, Elon is stuck playing a really tough quarterfinal before a probable semifinal date with #1.  Western Carolina is like the forgotten contender in the SoCon this year.  Davidson is the alpha; Elon is the runner-up; Wofford is the solid program coming back to contention; Chattanooga is the out-of-nowhere contender.  What is WCU?  They are a very talented team that is flying completely under the SoCon radar.  This should be easily the best SoCon quarterfinal with the winner probably on a collision course with Davidson in the semis.

7 people (Alexi, Caleb, Colton, Dave, GrossSr, Primm, Teddy) took the minor upset of WCU here, though none of them have the Catamounts going to the finals.  The other 18 all have Elon, with Lazarow, Scoot, and Stumpf all picking the Phoenix to make the finals.  Lazarow has them winning this tournament.

Western Carolina 66 – Elon 64

#2 Chattanooga vs #7 Georgia-Southern
The Moccasins of Chattanooga were picked towards the bottom of the league and, while their tempo-free numbers aren’t pretty, they just flat-out won games.  12-4 in the conference and 18-13 overall and the Mocs earned the 2nd-seed here in the tournament.  Their first hurdle is a GA-Southern team that hammered Furman in the opening round.

7 people (Bry, Chris, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stritts) went with a decent upset pick here with GA-S.  The other 18 all have Chattanooga here.  Only 6 (Alexi, Lohse, Primm, Scoot, Stumpf, WaTers) have the Mocs making the finals, with the latter 3 all picking them to win it all.

Georgia-Southern 62 – Chattanooga 55

#3 Wofford vs #11 The Citadel
The surprise of the opening round here in Asheville was the last-place Citadel taking out UNC-Greensboro with relative ease.  They now have a shot at a Wofford team that is a legit threat to anyone in this league right now.  And, there are few teams anywhere that have come as far as Wofford over the course of the season.  The Terriers are very young, and the future is very bright, but they are focused on the now, and, like most good, young teams, they are playing their best ball here in the later part of the season.  From January 20th to February 20th, the Terriers went 9-0.  Then, they lost a close one at Davidson before going on the road to beat Elon.  They finished the regular season with a head-scratching loss to UNC-Greensboro, but after back-to-back road games against the top 2 teams in the league, the young squad was due for a letdown and better then than now.  And, if it was matchup-based, Wofford dodged a huge bullet, as Greensboro was due to face them here in the quarters, but they were taken out by The Citadel, winners of just 2 conference games all year (though, they did take the Terriers to OT in one of their two meetings).  With Davidson and Elon both on the other side of the bracket, and Greensboro getting upset, it seems to be breaking right for a potential Wofford run here – or maybe they just have to wait a year for these young’ins to mature.  They will be very good.

Alexi, GrossSr, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, and WaTers have all already lost this game with Greensboro.  The other 19 people all have Wofford, including Colton and PapaCim, who have the Terriers winning this tournament outright.  15 people besides Colton and PapaCim have Wofford making the finals, but losing, so another Citadel upset would be a huge bracket-buster.

Wofford 68 – The Citadel 51

OPENING ROUND (March 7th – 3 points each)

#8 Samford vs #9 Appalachian State
Samford was one loss away from making this a matchup of 20-loss teams.  The sad part is that both of these teams were picked in the top 5 in preseason projections.  App State was actually picked 3rd behind Davidson and Elon, but they were just awful all year.  Samford wasn’t much better, and whoever gets through this should be no match for #1 Davidson in the quarters.

Only 10 people (Alexi, Caleb, Chris, Dave, Gersh, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Scoot, Teddy) went with favored Samford here.  No one has either of these teams beating Davidson on Saturday.

Samford 70 – Appalachian State 56
After a back-and-forth first half, Samford took control in the second half and sent App State off to the Sun Belt with a ho-hum 14-point victory.  They will now take a shot at #1 Davidson on Saturday.

10 people got this one for a whole 3 points.

#7 Georgia-Southern vs #10 Furman
GA-Southern actually looked semi-decent at times this year, but that might be because they got to play teams like Furman all through this pathetic season in the SoCon.  These two teams just played on Thursday, with GA-Southern going into Furman and beating the Paladins on their home floor.  The winner of this game will take on the 2nd-seeded Chattanooga Moccasins in the quarters.

Only Caleb, Dave, Gersh, and GrossJr went with Furman in an upset here, though none have them going any further.  GA-Southern could bust some brackets with a loss here, as 7 people (Bry, Chris, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, and Stritts) have them beating Chattanooga in the quarters.

Georgia-Southern 65 – Furman 50
GA-Southern dominated a really bad Paladin team in every way.  The Eagles shot 50% and held Furman to 36%.  They forced 16 TOs to only 12 of their own.  They outrebounded Furman 34-23.  This game was never in doubt.  GA-S now moves on to Saturday’s quarterfinals to take on 2nd-seeded Chattanooga.

4 people missed out on an upset pick here, while 7 others keep alive a nice upset in the next round.

#6 UNC-Greensboro vs #11 The Citadel
The worst of this bad league, The Citadel, actually showed some promise and had a really tough-luck season (not that that means they’re any good).  Of the 14 conference losses, 1o of them were by single-digit margins, and two were in overtime.  One of those OT losses was at UNC-Greensboro in the only matchup these two had in the regular season.  As crazy as it sounds, The Citadel might actually be a live underdog here.  If they can pull it off, they will face off with the other team they took to OT, 3rd-seeded Wofford.

Bry, Doogan, Lazarow, and Lynch all swung for the fences with The Citadel here.  None of them have them any further.  A Citadel upset would be most devastating to GrossSr’s and RDoc’s SoCon brackets, as they have Greensboro reaching the finals.  Scoot, Stumpf, and WaTers all have Greensboro beating Wofford in the quarters.

The Citadel 86 – UNC-Greensboro 76
In one of the more surprising results of the week, The Citadel moves on to the quarterfinals to face 3rd-seeded Wofford.  The winning side of this game wasn’t as much a surprise as the thorough domination that the Bulldogs put on the Spartans.  The last-place Citadel went up early and never relinquished the lead.

Bry, Doogan, Lazarow, and Lynch all hit a really nice upset pick here.  GrossSr and RDoc got hit hard with this result, as they lost a finalist.  Scoot, Stumpf, and WaTers also took a hit here, as they had Greensboro in the semis.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Davidson (20)
• #2 Chattanooga (3) – Scoot, Stump, WaTers
• #3 Wofford (2) – Colton, PapaCim
• #4 Elon (1) – Lazarow

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #11 The Citadel (Bry, Doogan, Lazarow, Lynch)
• QF – #7 Georgia-Southern (Bry, Chris, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stritts)
• SF – #6 UNC-Greensboro (GrossSr, RDoc)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Ina
• 2009 – Lynch
• 2010 – Stri
• 2011 – GrossJr
• 2012 – Lil Lohse
• 2013 – Bry

Final 2014 Scores

1. PapaCim – 83 (’14)
2. Lazarow – 74
3. Bry – 71 (’13)
4. Colton – 71
5. Chris – 56
6. Lynch – 53 (’09)
7. Mac – 53
8. Stritts – 53
9. Doogan – 50
10. Teddy – 44
11. Caleb – 41
12. Dave – 41
13. Becks – 32
14. Gersh – 32
15. J – 32
16. Stri – 32 (’10)
17. RDoc – 30
18. GrossJr – 29 (’11)
19. Primm – 27
20. Alexi – 21
21. GrossSr – 21
22. Lohse – 15
23. Scoot – 12
24. Stumpf – 9
25. Waters – 9

A huge day for Caleb, as he had 20 more points than anyone else on the day and almost 2.5 times more than last-place on the day.  Along with Caleb, Becks and Bry were the only other two to hit all three of the day’s championship games and finished tied for 2nd on the day.  Bry’s performance was good enough to bring him back up from 6th place to the #1 spot.  Gersh and Stri, who have both been rock-steady so far this year, finished tied for 4th on the day and climb up to 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the overall standings.  Other than Caleb’s 8-spot climb and Bry’s 5-spot climb to the top, the biggest upward movers were J (14th to 8th) and Becks (21st to 17th).

The pendulum swung back for Dave, who lost the most spots on the leaderboard, falling from 8th to 15th.  Scoot dropped 6 spots to 21st and GrossSr fell 5 spots to 22nd.  PapaCim and Colton entered the day 1-2 in the overall standings, but both slipped considerably, as PapaCim fell to 5th and Colton to 7th.  WaTers also had a big fall from 12th to 16th.

Three CTC titles were awarded on Sunday, including J winning an amazing FOURTH A-Sun title with a perfect bracket.  Becks, Bry, and Scoot also went perfect in the A-Sun.  Stri took home his second Big South title, while PapaCim completed a victorious MVC campaign that netted him 203 points.

We head into Monday and Tuesday, which was often referred to as the “eye of the storm,” though in recent years it has picked up with these massively huge second-week tournaments having to start very early in the second week.  Still, it will seem calm when compared to the absolute CHAOS that is only about 2-3 days away.  Here is what is on the docket for Monday (13 games):

• MAAC championship
• CAA championship
• SoCon championship
• WCC semifinals
• Summit League semifinals
• MEAC opening round
• Mid-American first round

DAY SEVEN SCORES:

1. Caleb – 194.5
2. Becks – 174.5
3. Bry – 174.5
4. Gersh – 162.5
5. Stri – 162.5
6. J – 158.5
7. Alexi – 154
8. RDoc – 154
9. Stumpf – 154
10. Chris – 150.5
11. GrossJr – 150.5
12. Stritts – 150.5
13. Teddy – 150.5
14. Lynch – 138.5
15. Mac – 138.5
16. Doogan – 130.5
17. Lohse – 126
18. Primm – 126
19. WaTers – 117.5
20. Dave – 100.5
21. Lazarow – 98.5
22. PapaCim – 94.5
23. GrossSr – 90
24. Colton – 84.5
25. Scoot – 84

OVERALL STANDINGS:

1. *Bry – 773
2. *Gersh – 766.5
3. Stri – 763
4. Mac – 742
5. PapaCim – 733
6. *Chris – 732.5
7. Colton – 701.5
8. *J – 700.5
9. *Doogan – 699.5
10. *Stritts – 697.5
11. *Stumpf – 697
12. Caleb – 692.5
13. Primm – 690.5
14. Alexi – 688
15. Dave – 676.5
16. WaTers – 664.5
17. *Becks – 664.5
18. *RDoc – 662
19. Lohse – 640
20. *GrossJr – 628.5
21. Scoot – 623
22. *GrossSr – 611
23. Lynch – 605.5
24. Lazarow – 585.5
25. Teddy – 582.5

Ahhh, Arch Madness!!!  Gotta love it!  Even without Creighton, this conference – and this conference tournament – is one of the jewels of college basketball.  There was extra attention on this league all year (most of it unfairly negative) because of the amazing 31-0 Wichita State run.  And, while it’s true that there aren’t any legitimate at-large contenders (other than Wichita, of course), it shouldn’t dampen the view of this league, as a whole.  It still remains one of the toughest leagues in America to win on the road (another reason to be impressed by Wichita’s season), and there is a TON of defense played every night in this league.  The depth is impressive and will be on display in the opening round, as there are few leagues in the country whose 7th-, 8th-, and 9th-place teams can rival Bradley, Drake, and Evansville.

If Wichita enters Selection Sunday undefeated, 22 people will have gotten their MVC championship pick correct.  If not, the MVC championship points will probably only go to one person, as #2 Indiana State, #3 Northern Iowa, and #4 Missouri State each have single supporters.  #7 Bradley is the most popular sleeper pick to make a deep run.  The last two years, this tournament was won with perfect brackets (which was AMAZING in 2012), with Mac holding the crown currently.  Stri is the only one to ever win this league more than once.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 9th – 42 points)

#1 Wichita State vs #2 Indiana State
The matchup that CBS was looking for going into this tournament.  One of the few conference championships carried by the network and it is an undefeated team against a team that they might not actually roll over.  Well, there’s a chance they don’t roll over them (I actually think they will, but whatever).  Either way, there’s a lot of intrigue, and it’s probably our last chance to see Jake Odum play…unless you’re a fan of the Russian professional league or something of that caliber.

Dave is the only one with IndSt taking this championship, so he could clear 56 points on the field if the Sycamores win here.  22 people have Wichita, so unless Colton or Scoot have something against Dave, they are rooting for IndSt because they are the other two that didn’t pick WSU.  If Wichita wins, PapaCim will take the MVC title outright.  And, despite the 56 free points, Dave can only hope for a tie with PapaCim, who has clinched at least a share of this title.

Wichita State 83 – Indiana State 69
Alright, let the Weed of Ridiculous Media Degradation of Wichita State begin, I can’t wait.  We can all now sit back and hear all the WRONG reasons why this team is overrated.  Their schedule sucks (131st overall, 96th non-conference…which isn’t atrocious).  They haven’t beaten anyone (a road win over Saint Louis).  The MVC isn’t that good (11th out of 31).  Their numbers aren’t really that good (8th most efficient offense via KenPom, 10th most efficient defense – the only team in the nation in the top 10 in both offense and defense – and that is weighted for your opponents).  And, ya know what?  F*k advanced metrics.  Let’s go to the most old-school stat there is – WINS AND LOSSES.  The Shockers are 34-0, people.  What would the Miami Heat’s record be against this schedule?  34-0.  Would they be “not that good” because they played this schedule.  They didn’t lose a SINGLE GAME.  Please, don’t get me wrong.  I know Ronny Baker as Dwyane Wade and Cleanthony Early as LeBron James is ridiculous, but my point is that even the ’92 US Olympic team couldn’t have done better than 34-0, so let’s give them a #1-seed and see what happens.  What a f*kin season that was capped off with a convincing win over a solid IndSt team.  Just close your ears when people start talking about Wichita for the next 7 days and trust the Committee to do the right thing.

22 people got this one right, so really this game was a big negative 42 for Colton, Dave, and Scoot.  PapaCim completes a VERY impressive MVC campaign and gets to brag about being the King of Arch Madness for the next 12 months.

SEMIFINALS (March 8th – 28 points each)

#1 Wichita State vs #4 Missouri State
The Shockers hammered Evansville in the quarters, while Mo State uglied up Illinois State for a 53-48 win.  Missouri State is the team that had Wichita on the ropes this year – up 19 in the second half before losing in overtime.  Now, the 32-0 Shockers are two wins away from entering the NCAA tournament unbeaten.

Dave and Scoot are the only two with Missouri State here.  Scoot has Mo State winning the whole thing.  The other 23 people all have Wichita here with 22 of them picking the Shockers to win it all.

Wichita State 67 – Missouri State 42
Wichita goes to 33-0 in a total rout of Mo State.  The Bears lack of offense got them pretty far this year (well, I guess you can say their defense got them there, but whatever), but when you run into a team that can score on anyone, you better get a couple buckets yourself.  Wichita’s defense held the Bears to 32% shooting and only committed 12 fouls.  This was complete domination.  Why is the fact that the Valley is down (actually, they’re just young – 9 of the top 10 scorers are non-seniors) make Wichita not good?  They are crushing these guys.

Everyone except Dave and Scoot picked up 28 points here.  22 people kept alive their Wheatshocker championship pick.

#2 Indiana State vs #6 Southern Illinois
The Sycamores took care of Loyola (IL) in the quarters on Friday, while SIU shocked 3rd-seeded Northern Iowa in the nightcap.  Now, they will battle for a trip to the MVC Finals and a national CBS game.

Alexi and Scoot have a nice upset pick available here.  (Scoot’s Missouri State-Southern Illinois championship prediction is two games from becoming reality.  If it does, that would be one for the CTC history books.)  Surprisingly, only 7 people (Chris, Dave, Gersh, PapaCim, Stritts, Stumpf, WaTers) have Indiana State here, as most people had UNI.  Dave is the only one with Indiana State winning this tournament.

Indiana State 62 – Southern Illinois 59
This game was nip and tuck the entire way, with the Sycamores coming through late to beat a game SIU team.  With sophomore sensation, Anthony Bean, among others, the future is still bright for the Salukis, as they (the team that put the Valley on the mid-major map) could return to Valley relevance.  IndSt now gets their shot at Wichita in the finals.

7 people took a nice 28 points here, including Dave, who still has a shot to steal the title with IndSt.

QUARTERFINALS (March 7th – 14 points each)

#1 Wichita State vs #9 Evansville
If you don’t think Wichita State is an elite team, you are either not paying attention at all or you are paying too much attention to the national “experts.”  Are they going to make the Final Four?  I have no idea because anything can happen in a one-and-done tournament, but I would say that, with the possible exceptions of Florida and Kansas, I would probably feel more comfortable saying that this team will be a Final Four team than any other team in the country.  Why do we always discredit the “little guy?”  That’s not rhetorical – that’s an actual question with an actual answer.  The reasons I think that sometimes the mid-majors just aren’t as well-equipped as the big programs for a variety of reasons.  One, they just don’t have elite, NBA-level talent like the big boys.  Two, if they have elite coaches, they can’t keep them very long, so the best coaches don’t ever get to “establish” their system/culture.  Three, they just don’t have the size.  Four, they don’t have all that much experience in the “big moments,” whereas the big boys have pressure-packed free throws on most nights during the season and probably have a couple guys on their rosters that have significant NCAA Tournament experience past the first weekend.  Well, Wichita has 2 (maybe 3) NBA players on their roster.  They have an elite coach (who also seems like a complete asshole, but whatever).  Wichita doesn’t have elite size, but they do rank right in the middle of the pack nationally, so they’re not incredibly small.  And, finally, in case you have selective small-school amnesia, this team was IN THE FINAL FOUR LAST YEAR – with most of that team back.  Just ask Rick Pitino if they were legit – he said that the semifinal against Wichita was their toughest game of the whole tournament.  This is a legitimate national title contender and don’t let any run-of-the-mill, big-boy-loving national “expert” convince you otherwise.  (Annual CTC rant on the underappreciation of the little guy?  Check.)  Anyway, the Wheatshockers are three games away from entering the NCAA Tournament undefeated.  Step One:  Evansville, who beat #8 Drake on Thursday night.  Not an easy game, but Wichita is too good to pull a Martelli and lose in the quarterfinals of your conference tournament after an undefeated regular season.

Not surprisingly, everyone has Wichita winning here, including 22 people, who have them taking this title.

Wichita State 80 – Evansville 58
Ho-hum, another easy victory for a Shockers team that never gets fazed.  Early and Baker had 11 points apiece and the Shockers set an Arch Madness team record with 11 blocked shots.  Super soph D.J. Balentine had his second 30-point game in as many nights, so Evansville is in good hands for the next two years.

All 25 people hit this one.

#4 Missouri State vs #5 Illinois State
The second game of the best quadruple-header of the first week pits two teams that were not supposed to be all that good this year.  Illinois State, particularly, was picked towards the bottom of the MVC in the preseason prognostications after losing a TON of talent off of last year’s team.  But, they rebounded from a lackluster noncon slate to play pretty well in conference and earn an upper-division finish.  Missouri State’s claim to fame this year is that they held a 19-point second half lead over Wichita State.  Well, they blew that lead, obviously, but played very well throughout conference play, especially at home, where they only lost that Wichita game and a 2-point game against Northern Iowa.  If MoSt can get their game to travel, they could be a tough out – and might not blow a 19-point lead if they get it against Wichita next round.  But, they better bring their A-game to this one because the Redbirds can play.

This 4/5 game is a toss-up by CTC standards as well.  13 went with the mild upset of IllSt here, and 12 have MoSt (Alexi, Caleb, Chris, Dave, Gersh, J, Lynch, PapaCim, Scoot, Stri, Stumpf, Teddy, WaTers).  And, while IllSt has slightly more support for this one game, MoSt is the more popular pick to do anything after this.  No one has IllSt beating Wichita in the semis, but Dave and Scoot both have MoSt doing it.  Scoot even has the Tigers winning the whole tournament.

Missouri State 53 – Illinois State 48
It doesn’t get much uglier, but MoState is moving on with a 5-point win over IllSt in the second quarterfinal of the day in St. Louis.  MoState shot 32% and still outshot the Redbirds, who were held to 31%.  Ugh.  The Bears better think about making a shot or two if they want to upset Wichita in the semis on Saturday.

A dozen people got this one right, including Scoot, who had the Bears winning this tournament.  Dave lost a finalist here.

#2 Indiana State vs #10 Loyola (IL)
Many people all year were touting the Sycamores as a potential bubble team, but I think that was just a weak attempt to actually help Wichita’s case for not being in a one-bid league.  As much as I like Jake Odum’s game (and, I do LOVE his game), this Sycamore team is flawed and just didn’t do nearly enough to make the case for at-large consideration.  But, they do have the talent to win this tournament, so don’t count them out of that.  They may have caught a break on Thursday night, when Loyola upset a talented Bradley team, setting up a more cushy quarterfinal for the Sycamores.  But, you can’t ever get comfortable in Arch Madness – we learn that every year.

No one has Loyola (IL) here, but GrossJr, GrossSr, and Lynch have already lost this game with Bradley.  The other 22 people all have Indiana State here.  Dave has the most at stake with the Sycamores, as he has them cutting down the nets on Sunday.  Surprisingly, only 6 others (Chris, Gersh, PapaCim, Stritts, Stumpf, WaTers) have IndSt even going to the finals.

Indiana State 75 – Loyola (IL) 62
It was a nice Arch Madness debut for Loyola (IL), but they are heading home after getting overmatched by the Sycamores in the first game of the evening session.  The great Jake Odum led IndSt with 18.  The Ramblers future star Milton Doyle had a rough ending to his incredible freshman season, scoring just 5 points on 1-7 from the floor.  We’ll be hearing his name in future CTC’s, though, for sure.

Everyone got this one right, including Dave, who kept alive his champion.

#3 Northern Iowa vs #6 Southern Illinois
My favorite line of the college basketball season is straight from the now-epic rant of SIU coach Barry Hinson.  There were several fantastic lines in this one press conference, but the best was when he went off about his starting bigs going a combined 2-11 from the field in a loss to Murray State in December saying “My wife…MY WIFE!…can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because I know that my wife will at least shot-fake ONE TIME!”  Simply amazing…that’s all I can say.  But, Hinson’s team really turned it around after that (though, the schedule and development of young players had WAY more to do with it than some weird and embarrassing motivational tactic) and SIU, who wasn’t supposed to even be relevant in the MVC race, finished in 6th place and earned a coveted first-round bye (you see what happened to Bradley by falling out of bye position).  The problem with the 6-seed is that the Salukis have to face #3 Northern Iowa, and the Panthers are one of the more underrated teams across the mid-major landscape.  I literally have not heard anything about this team and the danger they pose, but they are really solid and are going to be a really tough out in this tournament.  While, I love me some upsets, I am really rooting for Indiana State and UNI to both win on Friday because that semifinal will be great.

Normally, the 3/6 game is a tempting upset pick in the CTC, but this time only 6 people (Alexi, Chris, Dave, PapaCim, Scoot, Stumpf) were tempted enough to take it.  Alexi and Scoot have the Salukis going to the finals.  As for UNI, Colton is their biggest supporter, as he is the only one having them win this tournament.  14 people have the Panthers reaching the finals, though, so they are strongly supported in CTC-land.

Southern Illinois 63 – Northern Iowa 58
The Salukis pull off a pretty nice upset here to close out the Arch Madness quarterfinal day (one of the best days on the conference tournament schedule).  SIU jumped on UNI right off the bat, built an 18-point lead, gave it all back and then some, and yet somehow still came through in the end to win it.  Desmar Jackson went for 23 & 11 to end another season in disappointing fashion for the Panthers, who just can’t bring back the magic of Ali Farukmanesh…or whatever that guy’s name was.

Only 6 people hit this solid upset play, including Alexi and Scoot, who keep alive a finalist.  Colton lost his MVC champion here, while 14 others lost a finalist.

OPENING ROUND (March 6th – 7 points each)

#8 Drake vs #9 Evansville
A really interesting 8-9 matchup that will display surprisingly solid basketball considering it’s an Opening Round game in a first-week tournament.  Drake, despite not being highly-regarded in the preseason prognostications, had a very good noncon, but couldn’t put it together in the league.  The tempo-free numbers are very impressive for the Bulldogs, though.  They are taking on an Evansville team that spent all year trying – unsuccessfully – to replace the graduated superstar Colt Ryan (who actually had several workouts for NBA teams and will probably get a cup of coffee at some point).  The winner of this game will go out on Friday trying to shock the world by ending the undefeated Wichita dream.

This 8/9 game is, predictably, a total tossup in the CTC.  13 people have #8 Drake, while 12 took #9 Evansville (Becks, Bry, Chris, Colton, Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, Stri, Teddy, WaTers).  It won’t have any impact other than these points, though, as everyone has Wichita going to the semis.

Evansville 69 – Drake 61
Arch Madness got underway in Saint Louis on Thursday night with 9th-seeded Evansville taking out 8th-seeded Drake.  The season ends for a Drake team that was actually beloved by the “advanced metrics” community, but never really showed that in, ya know, wins and losses.  Evansville, who was led by a 30-point performance from their SUPER sophomore D.J. Balentine (remember that name), will be the first Arch Madness opponent of 31-0 Wichita State on Friday afternoon.

While no one had either of these teams beating Wichita, it was still a somewhat important game in this 3.5x conference.  A dozen people hit this minor upset worth 14 points.

#7 Bradley vs #10 Loyola (IL)
Bradley was picked 2nd behind the Shockers in the preseason polls, but got off to a terrible start to conference play (after a bad noncon) and couldn’t recover in time to save themselves from having to play in the Opening Round.  But, they did get up to the 7-seed and, therefore, will get to officially welcome the MVC’s newest member, Loyola (IL) to Arch Madness.  The Ramblers were a huge step down (and a questionable decision) as a replacement for the departed Creighton and lived up to the low expectations by a pretty safe last-place finish.  But, they can end the disappointing Bradley season here in St. Louis and, if so, they will get a shot at #2 Indiana State in the quarters on Friday.

6 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Lazarow, PapaCim, WaTers) took a shot at Loyola in an upset pick, though none of them have them going any further.  Lynch has the most at stake here, as he has Bradley going all the way to the MVC championship.  The two Grosses both have Bradley beating Indiana State in the quarters.

Loyola (IL) 74 – Bradley 72
MADNESS!!!  Loyola completes the upset sweep on the first night of Arch Madness, as they win their first ever MVC tournament game by upsetting Bradley in thrilling fashion.  The Ramblers, who finished last place in the regular season, actually led this game most of the way – and, at times, by considerable margins – but it looked like they were going to let it completely slip away when Walt Lemon hit two free throws with :05 seconds left to give Bradley a 72-71 lead.  But, Milton Doyle (who played all 40 minutes with an amazing stat line – 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) hit a 3 at the buzzer to send the Ramblers to the quarterfinals.  A very promising season for a Bradley team that was picked 2nd behind Wichita in the preseason was incredibly disappointing all year and now ends in devastating fashion.  Loyola moves on to face a beatable (just sayin’) Indiana State team.  Do we smell bracket-buster?

6 people hit this nice, 28-point upset pick.  Lynch’s bracket is already busted by Loyola, as he had Bradley in the finals.  Both Grosses needed a Bradley win here because they had them beating Indiana State on Friday.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Wichita State (22)
• #2 Indiana State (1) – Dave
• #3 Northern Iowa (1) – Colton
• #4 Missouri State (1) – Scoot

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #10 Loyola (IL) (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Lazarow, PapaCim, WaTers)
• QF – #7 Bradley (GrossJr, GrossSr, Lynch)
• SF – #7 Bradley (Lynch)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Ina
• 2009 – Stri
• 2010 – Stri
• 2011 – Alexi
• 2012 – RSmith (perfect)
• 2013 – Mac (perfect)

Final 2014 Scores

1. PapaCim – 203 (’14)
2. Chris – 189
3. Waters – 182
4. Stumpf – 175
5. Alexi – 147 (’11)
6. Becks – 140
7. Bry – 140
8. Caleb – 140
9. Gersh – 140
10. Lazarow – 140
11. Stri – 126 (’09, ’10)
12. Stritts – 126
13. Teddy – 126
14. Doogan – 112
15. J – 112
16. Lohse – 112
17. Mac – 112 (’13*)
18. Dave – 105
19. GrossJr – 98
20. Lynch – 98
21. Primm – 98
22. RDoc – 98
23. GrossSr – 84
24. Scoot – 77
25. Colton – 70

After Dunk City put this league on the map last March, the 2014 season was highly anticipated.  However, it’s unlikely that the A-Sun will be able to use the momentum because, well, the league just isn’t that good.  Oh, and their best program (no, it’s actually not Florida Gulf Coast), Mercer, is heading to the SoCon next year.  The future of the league depends on the rebuild of ETSU and the continued building of FGCU and USC-Upstate before they get scooped up by a better league.  But, at least we have one more season of some solid basketball at the top of this bottom-feeding league.

All 25 entries have either #1 FGCU or #2 Mercer winning this tournament, with a large majority (15) going with Mercer.  6th-seeded North Florida could be huge for GrossSr and PapaCim, as they have them in the finals.  Dave went huge on Stetson in the quarters.  While Lynch and PapaCim are coming off A-Sun perfection last year, J has historically dominated this league, having won it 3 times – no one else has even shared this title more than once.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 9th – 18 points)

#1 Florida Gulf Coast vs #2 Mercer
It seems as if the whole A-Sun season has been leading up to this one game with the regular season jockeying for position was to see who would host it.  But, the semifinal round didn’t have feel of predetermination, as both of these teams survived struggles on their home floors, including Mercer outlasting USC-Upstate in double-OT.  But, all that is moot now and it’s 40 minutes for all the marbles.  Last year, FGCU went into Macon, GA, and stole one from Mercer to qualify for the Big Dance, where they got a favorable 15-seed and the rest is, well, history…literally.  Now, Mercer will try to return the favor here (and, I wouldn’t want to see them lined up against me in the first round).

It is incredibly rare in the world of the CTC for everyone to have a shot in a conference championship game, but that is the case here.  15 people have the road Mercer team, while 10 have FGCU (Colton, Doogan, GrossSr, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf, WaTers).  No matter what happens here, the 2014 A-Sun will end in a four-way tie.  If FGCU wins, the crown will be shared by Colton, Doogan, Lazarow, and RDoc.  If Mercer wins, Becks, Bry, J, and Scoot will win the conference.

Mercer 68 – Florida Gulf Coast 60
Langston Hall finally gets it done, as Mercer wins their last ever A-Sun game, sending them Dancing for the first time in 29 years.  Hall – the conference POY – had 15 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists in leading his Bears to a big win over defending champs and last year’s tournament darlings, FGCU.  The Bears absolutely dominated the first half, but when they gave it all back in the second half, they didn’t blink and just followed their leader.  Hall hit big jumper after big jumper down the stretch and the Bears just looked like the better team.  This is not the last we hear from Dunk City, though, as after their NIT trip this year, they will have everyone back except for Chase Fieler next year.  And, with Mercer bolting for the SoCon, the Eagles have to be heavy favorites to win this league again next year.

15 people (Alexi, Becks, Bry, Caleb, Chris, Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lohse, Lynch, Primm,. Scoot, Stritts, Teddy) correctly predicted a Mercer victory here.  The other 10 missed their FGCU title pick in this game.  The 2014 CTC title will be shared four ways – all with perfect brackets and all with a hell of an A-Sun track record.  Becks goes perfect in his first ever A-Sun tournament.  Bry (the 2010 champ) and Scoot (the 2012 co-champ) each pick up their second A-Sun title belts.  And, the amazing J wins a share of – get this – his FOURTH A-Sun title.  J won the outright titles in 2008 and 2009 and shared it with Dave in 2011.  That kid sure knows his A-Sun hoops.

SEMIFINALS (March 6th – 12 points each)

#1 Florida Gulf Coast vs #4 East Tennessee State
The top-seeded Eagles pounded a terrible Stetson team in the quarterfinals in step one in trying to return to the big stage.  As the top seed, they get to stay in their dorm rooms on the beach for the entirety of the conference tournament.  In today’s semifinal, they welcome the ETSU team in from Johnson City, TN.  The Bucs survived a crazy double-OT thriller on Tuesday against Lipscomb.  Now, they have to regroup and see if they can handle a team that loves this time of year.

No one has ETSU winning this game, but Alexi, Chris, Dave, Lohse, Stritts, and Teddy all had Lipscomb here, so they will be rooting for ETSU to zero out this game.  An upset also wouldn’t be that terrible for the 15 people who have Mercer winning this tournament.

Florida Gulf Coast 69 – East Tennessee State 64
Dunk City got put to the test tonight in the first semifinal in the A-Sun.  At home, against a team that survived a double-OT thriller two nights before, the top-seeded Eagles were pushed to the brink, but survived and will now host the Atlantic Sun Championship on Sunday on ESPN2.  Brett Comer and his Lebron mask went for 11 and 4 assists, while Chase Feeler led the way with 22 and 15 rebounds.  ETSU heads back to Johnson City (whose mayor was in attendance in Fort Myers) knowing that they had their chances.

19 people got this one right, and 10 people keep alive their champion.

#2 Mercer vs #3 USC-Upstate
This is going to be a great semifinal battle in Macon, GA.  Mercer hammered Jacksonville on Tuesday in the quarters, while USC-Upstate got by North Florida, setting up this excellent battle.  USC-Upstate played Mercer really well this year, dominating the game in Spartanburg and losing a tight, overtime game here in Macon.  While Mercer is the better team, USC-Upstate has the talent to win this tournament.

Mac, Stri, Stumpf, and WaTers have USCU in the upset here.  GrossSr and PapaCim have already lost this game with North Florida.  The other 19 people all have Mercer here, including the 15 who have them winning this tournament.

Mercer 78 – USC-Upstate 75 (2 OTs)
I watched this game nearly start to finish and loved every minute of it.  It was truly a fantastic game and exactly why low-level college hoops is so fantastic.  The divergence of talent from the top to the bottom of a roster makes for such an interesting brand of basketball.  And, the best part of this game was simply watching the two best players (by far) in the Atlantic Sun trade blows back and forth through 50 minutes.  Mercer’s Langston Hall got the last laugh over USCU’s Torrey Craig with some cold-blooded threes. Upstate will go home and hope to get called by a postseason tournament, but if not, they will know that they really had a chance these past two seasons to do something special and now they may have to rebuild a little – which hurts when you get so close to the top but not reach it.  As for Mercer, they have one more chance to get their star, Hall, to the Dance.  They are heading to Fort Myers for a rematch of last year’s title game that they lost on their home floor.  They will try and return the favor to the top-seeded Eagles on Sunday.  If you haven’t seen an A-Sun game yet – tune in to that one on Sunday – you won’t be disappointed.

Mac, Stri, Stumpf, and WaTers missed the upset pick here with USCU.  GrossSr and PapaCim had already lost it.  The 19 others all picked up the 12 points here for the Mercer victory.  15 people keep alive a shot at 24 more for a Mercer championship.

QUARTEFINALS (March 4th – 6 points each)

#1 Florida Gulf Coast vs #8 Stetson
The funny part about the Eagles run to the Sweet 16 last year is that I had been on this team as a solid low-major team for a while, particularly because my parents have had a place across the street from the FGCU campus for almost a decade now, but I spent the whole time correcting people when they said “how is this team a low-major?” or “how were they only a 15-seed?” or “this isn’t a fluke – they’re THAT good!”  The fact is that they were lucky to get a 15-seed.  I thought they were a 16-seed.  They just didn’t have the results.  But, because of two high-profile wins in March, Coach Edfield parlayed a SECOND-PLACE finish in one of the worst leagues in the country into the head job at USC.  But, that is irrelevant to the 2014 version of Dunk City, which was – again – not as good as people think they are.  They still have Brett Comer (the solid, occasionally spectacular, often out-of-control point guard), Chase Fieler (the shockingly athletic, but not shockingly inconsistent small forward), and Bernard Thompson (a great second- or third-option, but not exactly a lead scorer type).  But, the heart of soul of last year’s nation-capturing team, Sherwood Brown, is gone – and he has not been replaced in any way.  But, they still have the athletes and style of play that works in the A-Sun and on the backs of a big win over Mercer last week, secured the top seed and homecourt advantage throughout this tournament.  I still think Mercer is the better team, but with the home court, FGCU has to be considered the favorite.  And, another perk of the top seed is that they get to open the tournament with a very, very bad Stetson team at home.

Dave is the only one that went for the HUGE upset here.  But, that doesn’t mean that there is a ton of support for the league’s top seed and defending champs.  FGCU actually only has 10 people (Colton, Doogan, GrossSr, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf, Waters) picking them to win this tournament, despite their homecourt advantage throughout the tournament.

Florida Gulf Coast 77 – Stetson 55
FGCU looked every bit the #1-seed, as they dismantled a hapless Hatter team by a 22-point margin that probably felt like 42.  The Eagles jumped out to a 35-13 lead and never looked back.

Dave missed a big upset pick here, while the 10 that have FGCU pegged as their A-Sun champs should feel fine about this win, but should also temper their excitement because Stetson stinks.

#4 East Tennessee State vs #5 Lipscomb
Both of these teams started conference play very poorly, but came on with big turnarounds.  Lipscomb’s turnaround came a lot later than ETSU’s (and too late to catch them in the standings), but was more impressive, including a big 21-point win over the league’s top team, FGCU, just last week.  This should be an interesting game and, in a league that has a bit of a dropoff after the top 3, should be the most competitive of the quarterfinals.

12 people (Alexi, Caleb, Chris, Dave, GrossJr, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, Primm, RDoc, Stritts, Teddy) went with Lipscomb in the minor upset on the road.  A surprising contingent (Alexi, Chris, Dave, Lohse, Stritts, and Teddy) actually have Lipscomb winning back-to-back road games to reach the finals.  Everyone who has ETSU here has them losing to FGCU in the semis.

East Tennessee State 89 – Lipscomb 88 (2 OT)
MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!  Welcome to the month of March, my friends.  The Month of Madness!  ETSU’s Jalen Riley, who finished the game with 28 and 10, hit a shot at the buzzer to give us our first overtime of the 2014 CTC.  Then, Lipscomb’s Khion Shankey tied it with a 3 at the end of the first OT and hit another big three to put the Bisons up 2 in the second overtime, but the Bucs hit 3 free throws down the stretch and made back-to-back huge stops to hold on and win what must have been an absolute thriller.  MADNESS!  ETSU now has to regroup enough to prepare for a semifinal trip to Dunk City.

This game was basically split down the middle, so the 13 people with the favored Buccaneers picked up a well-earned 6 points here.  The biggest losers here are the 6 people (Alexi, Chris, Dave, Lohse, Stritts, and Teddy) who had the Bison beating FGCU in the semis.

#2 Mercer vs #7 Jacksonville
After losing at FGCU, Mercer was still in position to win the league outright and secure a very important #1-seed, but they lost at home to North Florida on Thursday and were relegated to the 2-seed and now have an uphill climb to finally get Langston Hall (one of the best unknown players in the country) to the Dance.  The first step is a home game against a bad, but potentially dangerous Jacksonville team.  But, Mercer had no trouble with the Dolphins in the regular season, including a 37-point shellacking in Jacksonville.  This Bears team is – by almost any metric – head and shoulders above the rest of this league, but their stumbling down the stretch cost them the top seed and might force them to win on the road against a good FGCU team in the finals.

In CTC-land, this feels more like the 1/8 game, as no one has Mercer losing here, and 15 of the 25 people have the Bears winning this tournament.  In fact, only GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Stri, Stumpf, and Waters have them not reaching the finals, so those five would actually be better off losing this game.

Mercer 85 – Jacksonville 64
Much like top-seeded FGCU, 2nd-seeded Mercer rolled past an overmatched opponent in their home quarterfinal on Tuesday night.  The win was no surprise, but the fact that their stud 2-guard, Langston Hall only had 3 points (0-4 from the floor) is downright shocking.  He is much more than a scorer, though, and showed it tonight with 4 boards and 10 assists.  But, the Bears will need Hall to return to form if they are going to win this tournament.  As for Jax, the Dolphins end another somewhat disappointing season, but they were competitive throughout the year and have something to build on for 2014-15.

Everyone got this right, including 15 people who kept alive their A-Sun champs.

#3 USC-Upstate vs #6 North Florida
USC-Upstate taught us – yet again – the eternal lesson that it’s a whole lot easier to go from bad to good than good to great.  Upstate was a perennial doormat every year in D-1 until about 3 years ago, when they really started to develop.  But, the past 2-3 seasons, they have been a potential league title contender and it just hasn’t manifested itself in any banners.  They still have one of the true studs of the league in Torrey Craig and were still picked by many to win this league in the preseason, so they are still very much in contention for their first trip to the Dance, though they will probably have to win back-to-back road games against the best two teams in order to do it.  To get there, they will have a home date with a North Florida team that looked like the real surprise of the league early, but faded down the stretch.  They did pop up to win at Mercer on Thursday, but they had been struggling coming into that one.

8 people (Colton, Doogan, Gersh, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, PapaCim, Primm) went with UNF in a nice upset pick here; GrossSr and PapaCim actually have them winning again to reach the finals.  Mac, Stri, Stumpf, and Waters have the most at stake with USCU here, as those four all have them going to the finals before losing at FGCU.

USC-Upstate 80 – North Florida 74
USC-Upstate led nearly the entire way and held off a late comeback by the Ospreys to move on to a semifinal date at Mercer on Thursday.  Upstate, who looked like they were going to have a disappointing season in the A-Sun, recovered to finish 3rd and are playing some really good ball and should give the best team in the league all they can handle in the semis.  UNF, who looked like they might be the sleeper of this league, has their season end here in Spartanburg.

8 people missed a really nice upset pick here, while GrossSr and PapaCim become the first CTC’ers of 2014 to lose a conference finalist, as they had the Ospreys going to the finals.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Florida Gulf Coast (10) – Colton, Doogan, GrossSr, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf, Waters
• #2 Mercer (15)

Biggest Upsets

• QF – #8 Stetson (Dave)
• SF – #6 North Florida (GrossSr, PapaCim)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – J
• 2009 – J
• 2010 – Bry
• 2011 – Dave, J
• 2012 – Gersh, GrossJr, Lohse, Mac, Rikey, Scoot, Stri, Teddy
• 2013 – Lynch, PapaCim (perfect)

Final 2014 Scores

1. Becks – 72* (’14*)
2. Bry – 72* (’10, ’14*)
3. J – 72* (’08, ’09, ’11, ’14*)
4. Scoot – 72* (’12, ’14*)
5. Caleb – 66
6. Gersh – 66 (’12)
7. GrossJr – 66 (’12)
8. Lynch – 60 (’13*)
9. Primm – 60
10. Alexi – 54
11. Chris – 54
12. Lohse – 54 (’12)
13. Stritts – 54
14. Teddy – 54 (’12)
15. Dave – 48 (’11)
16. Colton – 42
17. Doogan – 42
18. Lazarow – 42
19. RDoc – 42
20. Mac – 36 (’12)
21. Stri – 36 (’12)
22. Stumpf – 36
23. WaTers – 36
24. GrossSr – 30
25. PapaCim – 24 (’13*)

In what may have been the worst season in Big South history, the conference races were still heated…but mainly because everyone was so bad.  “Parity” is what you can call it, I guess, but with the best programs all rebuilding and the “up-and-coming” programs late in arriving, it was just overall bad basketball throughout the league.  But, this bad basketball is so consistent that it makes for a wide open tournament.

And, wide open tournaments are what the CTC was made for! There are 6 different champion picks, including 3 people going with the 8th-seeded Winthrop to win the whole thing.  3rd-seeded VMI is actually the most popular championship pick with 10 people taking the Keydets.  The shocking thing is that only ONE person took top-seeded High Point.  10th-seeded Charleston-Southern has 5 people picking them to pull off two upsets to reach the semis.  J has won the Big South CTC title in back-to-back years and is going for three straight this year.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 9th – 18 points each)

#2 Coastal Carolina vs #8 Winthrop
If you bought tickets to the Big South tournament and travelled to Myrtle Beach to watch it, I am guessing you aren’t regretting it.  This has been an incredibly exciting (albeit poorly played) tournament from start to finish.  And, a lot of the excitement has surrounded the Winthrop Golden Eagles, who have now enjoyed back-to-back thrilling last-second victories to get themselves to the championship.  Coastal Carolina had the “easy” road of a hard-fought 4-point win over VMI in the semis, which was on the heels of a brutal, double-OT win over Charleston-Southern in the quarters.  These two teams have been through the ringer this week, but Coastal is at home and has had to play one game fewer, so they might have the edge here.  But, is anyone willing to pick against the charmed Winthrop team right now.

Mac, PapaCim, and Primm all have WINthrop taking this whole tournament, which would be monumental.  I don’t think there has ever been a correctly predicted 8th-seeded champion in CTC history.  7 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf) have the Chanticleers taking this title.  A CCU win would give Stri his first Big South title since winning in 2008.  A Winthrop win would give Mac his first Big South title ever.

Coastal Carolina 76 – Winthrop 61
After a pretty tight first half, Coastal pulled away in the second half to send them Dancing.  Not sure if the 4 games in 5 days was a detriment to the Golden Eagles, but I guess maybe they should have won another game in the regular season.  Anyway, does it surprise anyone else that this is Coastal’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1993?  What?!?!?  I feel like they have dominated this conference for a decade now, but I guess they never came through in the tournament.

7 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf) correctly nailed the Big South champion.  Mac, PapaCim, and Primm’s Cinderella run with Winthrop fell a game short.  Congrats to Stri for winning Big South titles 6 years apart.

SEMIFINALS (March 8th – 12 points each)

#4 UNC-Asheville vs #8 Winthrop
Asheville, coming off a nice fast-paced win over Radford on Friday will not have to face top-seeded High Point because they were upset by some Madness and the 8th-seeded Winthrop Eagles.  Now, these two teams – both 10-6 out of the superior South Division – will square off for the right to play on ESPN.

Usually when 8-seeds get this far, no one has them advancing, but Mac, PapaCim, Primm, and Stri can all pull off yet another huge upset here if Winthrop can bring back some magic.  In fact, Mac, PapaCim, and Primm can ride these upset points all the way to Big South championship if Winthrop can take them there.  7 people (Bry, Caleb, Doogan, GrossSr, Lohse, Teddy, WaTers) can all pick up some solid points (including upset points because it was supposed to be the 1-seed here) with UNCA.  WaTers has the Bulldogs as his Big South champ.

Winthrop 80 – UNC-Asheville 79
Big South MADNESS yet again!  Jaron Lane missed a point-blank shot at the buzzer that would have won it for Asheville, and Winthrop survives a thriller AGAIN.  The future is bright for Asheville though, as their “big three” (Lane, D.J. Cunningham, and Andrew Rowsey) are all back next year.  Rowsey – the Big South Freshman of the Year – is going to be a star.  But, this was all about Winthrop, who will be trying to win their 4th game in 4 days on Sunday to get themselves back to the Dance.  Hey, maybe the Committee will be devious, as usual, and give them the 16-seed opposite Wichita, so that Greg Marshall can coach against the program he put on the map.

Mac, PapaCim, Primm. and Stri got another huge upset with Winthrop here, with the former 3 all still having a shot at yet another one in the finals.  The 7 people with Asheville all missed a golden opportunity here, including WaTers, who lost his champ.

#2 Coastal Carolina vs #3 VMI
Coastal Carolina – the tournament hosts – survived a double-OT thriller against Charleston-Southern on Friday and now have to regroup and face a VMI that loves to run and ran Gardner-Webb off the floor Friday night.

This game is gigantic for CTC ramifications.  24 people have one of these two teams here with a somewhat even split.  And, depending on who wins, either 7 or 10 people will lose their Big South champion.  So, 17 people have a champion at stake here.  Gersh is the only one in the field with nothing to win here, as he had Gardner-Webb reaching the finals from this spot.  11 people (Alexi, Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf, WaTers) have the slight favorites in CCU.  The other 13 all have VMI, including 10 (Chris, Colton, Dave, GrossJr, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Scoot, Teddy), who have the Keydets winning this tournament.  7 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf) have CCU winning it all.

Coastal Carolina 66 – VMI 62
In a game that was close throughout, Coastal Carolina pulled it out in the end in front of their home crown.  Coming off of a double-OT war the night before, the Chanticleers seemed a bit fatigued, but came through in the end and will get solace in the fact that their championship opponent has had games that were just as tough and actually played one extra one.  It was another near-miss for VMI, who is still building towards championship-caliber here in the Big South.

11 people got this right, including 7 with a shot to get the Big South title winner correct.  10 people lost their champion in this big CTC swing game.

QUARTERFINALS (March 7th – 6 points each)

#1 High Point vs #8 Winthrop
Part of the disappointment (and excitement) of the Big South this year was the total lack of a “good” team.  High Point had the best league record at 11-5 (out of a far inferior division), but they do enter the tournament playing their best ball of the year – winners of 6 in a row – and they came into the season as a legit title contender.  So, I guess you could say that it is actually set up well for the 1-seed here.  The first problem, though, is their quarterfinal opponent.  8th-seeded Winthrop was 10-6 in the much better division of the Big South, so the argument can be made that they had a better conference season, despite being 7 seeds lower.  The regular season matchup was a thrilling 1-point High Point win at Winthrop.  This feels a lot more like a semifinal than a quarterfinal and should be a great opener to a pretty interesting quarterfinal quadrupleheader.

This is a HUGE CTC game – with some shocking picks associated with it.  Only 10 people (Becks, Caleb, Chris, Colton, Doogan, Lazarow, Scoot, Stritts, Stumpf, WaTers) took High Point here, even though they are the #1 seed and had a bye to get here.  7 of them (everyone except Caleb, Doogan, and WaTers) have High Point going to the finals, but only ONE PERSON – Stritts – has the #1-seed winning this tournament.  As for Winthrop, you would think that they were the #1-seed.  Other than the 15 people that have them winning this game (a huge upset, by the way), 3 people (Mac, PapaCim, Primm) have them WINNING THIS TOURNAMENT.  Stri also has them reaching the finals.  WOW!  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this kind of a thing in the CTC.

Winthrop 62 – High Point 60
MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This was almost the worst thing that ever happened to me.  I’m back at work today and decided to watch the last 5 minutes of this game on my phone.  When Andre Smith hit an INCREDIBLE three to win it for Winthrop, I let out an audible “woot,” and the woman next to me asked me if I was okay.  I told her that I must have turned weird and had a shooting pain through my neck, but that I am better now.  I was almost outed…  Anyway, what an incredible game.  Neither team ever had more than a 5-point lead, though Winthrop did seem to have a one-possession lead most of the way.  But, after a missed front-end FT (I hate missed free throws with a passion), HP’s Adam Weary hit a runner in the lane with :05 seconds left to give High Point a 60-59 lead, only to see Andre Smith take the inbounds pass dribble to just past halfcourt and throw up a line drive that hit nothing but net…WOW!!!  Yet another lesson to coaches everywhere – DON’T CALL A TIMEOUT IN THAT SITUATION.  Most coaches in America would have called a timeout after the High Point basket, but Pat Kelsey didn’t (he may not have had any, to be honest), and the defense couldn’t set up and Smith got off the shot heard ’round the CTC world.  What a great start to a great weekend.

The only thing bigger than that shot is what it just did to the CTC.  15 people pulled off a HUGE upset here.  Mac, PapaCim, and Primm all kept alive their Big South champion.  Stritts lost his champion here without them winning a single game.  7 more lost a finalist here.  High Point is also the first #1-seed to lose a conference tournament game in 2014.  Wow…

#4 UNC-Asheville vs #5 Radford
Radford squeaked by a bad Presbyterian team on Wednesday to set up this quarterfinal date with 4th-seeded UNC-Asheville.  Asheville is rebuilding from a long run at the top of the Big South, and though they showed the inconsistency of youth this year, they also showed some real promise.  This team might be another year away, but they do have the pieces right now to make a run at this title.

This is another HUGE CTC game.  Only 11 people (Bry, Caleb, Chris, Colton, Doogan, GrossSr, Lohse, Stri, Stritts, Teddy, WaTers) have the favored (and on a bye) Asheville team winning here.  The other 14 all have Radford in an upset.  Furthermore, this game will have HUGE down-the-road ramifications as well.  7 people (Bry, Caleb, Doogan, GrossSr, Lohse, Teddy, WaTers) have Asheville going to the finals, though only WaTers has them winning it.  7 other people (Alexi, Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lynch, RDoc) actually have Radford going to the finals, and 3 of them (Alexi, Gersh, Lynch) have the Highlanders WINNING IT ALL!  This is one of the more important 4/5 quarterfinals I have ever seen in the CTC.

UNC-Asheville 96 – Radford 87
Asheville dominated the first half and then survived a furious second-half comeback attempt by the Highlanders to advance to the conference semis on Saturday.  Again, it was Asheville’s big three that led the way, as Jeron Lane had 29, Andrew Rowsey had 27, and D.J. Cunningham grabbed an incredible 19 rebounds.  Asheville will face 8th-seeded Winthrop in the semis after the Golden Eagles shocked top-seeded High Point in the first game.

WaTers keeps alive his champion, while Alexi, Gersh, and Lynch all lose theirs.  4 others lost a finalist here, while 6 others kept theirs alive with UNCA.  This was a big CTC game that went in favor of the 4th-seeded Bulldogs.

#2 Coastal Carolina vs #10 Charleston-Southern
Charleston-Southern came out really flat on Wednesday against 7th-seeded Campbell, but recovered to come up with a big second half to keep their season alive.  But, their reward is a prime time date on Friday night with the conference hosts and possibly the best team in the league regardless of venue, Coastal Carolina.  The Chanticleers won the superior Southern Division and have been playing their best ball down the stretch.  They have an inside track to this tournament title – on their home floor – but this isn’t just any 10-seed that they are facing here in the quarters.  This should be yet another very interesting and good quarterfinal in Conway.

This nightime double-header seems tame – from a CTC perspective – as compared to the daytime matchups.  But, they are not.  5 (Chris, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, Teddy) people have the 10th-seeded CSU team winning here in a gigantic upset, though no one has them in the finals.  The other 20 people all have CCU here, with 7 of them (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf) picking the Chanticleers to win the whole thing, and 4 more (Alexi, Mac, Primm, WaTers) having them go to the finals and losing.  Another huge CTC game.

Coastal Carolina 73 – Charleston-Southern 68 (2 OT)
Coastal came out really flat in their Big South tournament opener on their home floor, but kept it together on the defensive end and outlasted a solid CSU team in double-OT.  The Chanticleers only shot 28% from the floor, but outrebounded CSU 59-41, including 28 offensive rebounds.  Wow.  A disappointing season for CSU – who was picked by many to win this league – comes to a close here in devastating fashion, as they did have a shot to win this tournament.

7 people keep alive their champion here, while 5 people JUST MISS a huge upset.  20 people got this one right.

#3 VMI vs #6 Gardner-Webb
Finally, the nightcap to what should be a great day of hoops in the Big South pits a VMI team that was oh so close to winning this auto-bid last year against a Gardner-Webb team that dismissed Longwood on Wednesday night.  VMI still plays a very fast pace, but they have come off their ridiculous D’Antoni on crack style that they had just a couple of years ago, and they are much better for it.  VMI is yet another serious contender in this wide open field.

And, just as if the CTC wasn’t crazy enough with this quadruple-header in the Big South, we’ve got the nightcap that features the most popular Big South champion pick, VMI.  10 people (Chris, Colton, Dave, GrossJr, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Scoot, Teddy) have the Keydets winning this tournament.  Lynch, PapaCim, and Stritts also have them going to the finals and losing.  GW was actually not very popular with the CTC crowd this year.  Gersh is the only one that has them even reaching the finals.  Bry, Doogan, Primm, and Stumpf do have them winning this game tonight, though.

VMI 90 – Gardner-Webb 77
VMI looked solid and got the only relatively comfortable win of the day in the nightcap of the Big South quarterfinal quadruple-header.  The Keydets, led by the star D.J. Covington, jumped out to an early lead and kept GW at arm’s length the entire game.  They are now the only North Division team left and will take on the tournament hosts, CCU, in the semis on Saturday.

4 people missed the upset pick here, while 10 people kept alive their Big South champion pick.

OPENING ROUND (March 5th – 3 points each)

#8 Winthrop vs #9 Liberty
The defending Big South tournament champs at Liberty didn’t have much of a regular season last year either, but they ran through four straight to take the auto-bid to the tournament.  The Flames went 5-11 and lost 20 games overall, finishing 5th in the weaker North Division.  They get a Winthrop team that was actually pretty decent this year, despite finishing in 4th-place in the South.  They also enter the tournament playing some of their best ball of the year.  I might go out on a limb and say that this could be the best chance for an 8-seed to win any tournament across the country.  The winner of this game will play top-seeded High Point on Friday.

The 8/9 game is usually a pretty prime upset spot, but only 4 people (Caleb, Chris, Colton, Stumpf) went with the mild Liberty upset, despite their run to last year’s title.  None of them have the Flames beating High Point.  Winthrop has a TON of supporters, including Mac, PapaCim, and Primm, who all have them winning this whole tournament.  Stri also has them reaching the finals.  An amazing FIFTEEN people all have Winthrop winning today AND then taking out top-seeded High Point in the quarters…wow!  The other 10 people are probably best served rooting for Liberty here whether they picked them or not.

Winthrop 77 – Liberty 65
For a while, it looked like 2013 all over again when a bad Liberty team rolled through the Big South tournament with upset after upset to earn a trip to the First Four.  The Flames were up 17-5 early, but Winthrop final woke up took a 6-point lead into the halftime locker room and never looked back.  The Eagles finished the game the way you’re supposed to, as they went 21-for-21 from the FT line in the game.  #1 High Point awaits at noon on Friday.

This could have busted a ton of brackets, but Winthrop survives and keeps alive the chances for the 15 people who have them beating top-seeded High Point.  Caleb, Chris, Colton, and Stumpf missed a minor upset here.

#5 Radford vs #12 Presbyterian
The Highlanders of Radford are not exactly a storied program, so a 20-win season is something to talk about.  Three of those wins were against NAIA schools, but two of them were against Chattanooga and Florida Gulf Coast, who were #2 and #1 in their respective leagues.  Now, they reap the rewards of a 10-win conference season by getting a first-round date with a very poor Presbyterian team, who still hasn’t rebounded from the paperwork fiasco that cost them D-1 qualification in a year that they had a very good team.  They are still building…slowly.  The winner of this game will get #4 UNC-Asheville in the quarters.

Bry and Doogan are swinging for the fences here with the longshot Presby upset.  If that happens, the biggest losses would go to Alexi, Gersh, and Lynch, who all have the Highlanders cutting down the nets here.  Dave, GrossJr, J, and RDoc all have Radford reaching the finals.  Becks, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Radford beating UNC-Asheville.

Radford 78 – Presbyterian 73
And…exhale, Radford fans.  A back-and-forth game that really could have gone either way ended with the Highlanders on top and heading on to the quarterfinals to take on UNC-Asheville on Friday.  A tough first half saw Radford up 6, but the Blue Hose scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 37-33 lead.  Radford responded with a run of its own, only to see Presby make a crazy comeback that fell just short.  The Blue Hose go home, and Radford moves on to the quarters to face UNCA.

Bry and Doogan just missed a humongous upset pick here, while Alexi, Gersh, and Lynch dodged a major bullet and keep alive their champion.  4 more nearly lost a finalist, but survive and advance.

#7 Campbell vs #10 Charleston-Southern
The Fightin’ Camels of Campbell had a DREADFUL non-conference season, but started out conference play on fire.  They fell apart down the stretch and lost any chance at a bye, but it’s hard to know what Campbell team is real.  My guess?  The bad one that started and ended the season.  As for Charleston-Southern, they might be the most disappointing team in maybe the most disappointing league in the country.  But, CSU still has talent, so they get a second chance that starts tonight against a very beatable Campbell team.  The problem is that the tournament hosts, Coastal Carolina, await in the quarters for this game’s winner.

The majority of the field actually has CSU in an upset here.  Only 9 people (Alexi, Becks, Caleb, Mac, Primm, Scott, Stri, Stumpf, WaTers) have the Fightin’ Camels here.  Scoot is the only one that has Campbell reaching the semis.  As for CSU, 5 people (Chris, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, Teddy) have them beating CCU in the quarters, so this is a big game for them.

Charleston-Southern 81 – Campbell 71
CSU, picked to win the league yet stuck as the 10-seed, looked like they were content with the end to a terribly disappointing season to come here in Conway in the opening round.  Campbell jumped out to a 15-point lead in the first half, but CSU came out and dominated the second half and actually won somewhat comfortably.  Now, they get to take on the tournament hosts, Coastal Carolina.

16 people hit this solid upset pick, including 5 people that have CSU going to the semis.

#6 Gardner-Webb vs #11 Longwood
When GW beat CSU on Wednesday, they were in a position to win the Southern Division, but a loss on Saturday to UNC-Asheville sent them4  to 3rd place and, thus, a first round game against an under-talented, but feisty Longwood team.  The Lancers – still relatively new to D-1 – are not very good.  But, somehow, this not-very-good team won at TCU in the non-con, and then won road games at Charleston-Southern and Campbell in conference play – the latter by a shocking 23 points.  Gardner-Webb should move on here to face 3rd-seeded VMI in the quarters.

Colton, GrossSr, Lazarow, Scoot, and WaTers all went for a really nice big-time upset pick here with Longwood.  Gersh has the most at stake with GW here, as he has them reaching the finals.  Bry, Doogan, Primm, and Stumpf all have the Bulldogs reaching the semis, so they are hoping to avoid the upset here.  Also, the 9 people that have VMI winning this tournament should probably be rooting for Longwood here, too, so that the Keydets have a far easier quarterfinal match.

Gardner-Webb 81 – Longwood 65
Longwood looked like a live ‘dog here, as they had knocked off some of the top teams in the league this year, but GW had no real problems in the nightcap of the Big South Opening Round quadruple-header.  Up next is #3 VMI in the quarters on Friday.

5 people missed a big upset pick here, while Gersh keeps alive a finalist.  4 more keep alive a semifinalist.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 High Point (1) – Stritts
• #2 Coastal Carolina (7) – Becks, Bry, Caleb, Doogan, RDoc, Stri, Stumpf
• #3 VMI (10) – Chris, Colton, Dave, GrossJr, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Scoot, Teddy
• #4 UNC-Asheville (1) – Waters
• #5 Radford (3) – Alexi, Gersh, Lynch
• #6 Gardner-Webb (0)
• #7 Campbell (0)
• #8 Winthrop (3) – Mac, PapaCim, Primm

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #12 Presbyterian (Bry, Doogan)
• QF – #10 Charleston-Southern (Chris, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, Teddy)
• SF – #8 Winthrop (Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Stri)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Stri
• 2009 – Bry
• 2010 – Alexi, Lil Lohse (perfect)
• 2011 – Doogan
• 2012 – J, Lohse
• 2013 – J

Final 2014 Scores

1. Stri – 134 (’14)
2. Mac – 104
3. PapaCim – 98
4. Primm – 98
5. RDoc – 96
6. Bry – 93
7. Doogan – 66
8. GrossSr – 63
9. Alexi – 60
10. Caleb – 60
11. Dave – 60
12. GrossJr – 60
13. J – 60
14. Lohse – 60
15. Teddy – 60
16. Becks – 57
17. Gersh – 54
18. Lynch – 54
19. Stumpf – 48
20. Stritts – 39
21. WaTers – 36
22. Colton – 33
23. Chris – 33
24. Lazarow – 33
25. Scoot – 12

Mac goes well over 300 points for the day and is one of 5 people over 600 points for the contest as the biggest day of Week One pays off big time for some.  PapaCim, who nearly cracked the 300-point total on the day takes the overall lead with nearly 640 points.  Colton and Gersh – who have been in contention all week – remain right behind in 2nd and 3rd.  Mac is now 4th after his big day and Stri jumps back into the top 5.  Bry – who had the overall lead after each of the past two days – slips to 6th.

Stumpf made the biggest jump up the standings, as went from last place to 13th and is right back in the hunt.  Primm also had a very productive day, as he entered the top 10 after starting the day outside in 21st.  Chris (17th to 7th), Doogan (18th to 9th), and Stritts (20th to 11th) also took advantage big days to make moves up the leaderboard.

Since a leaderboard is zero-sum, if some move up, others have to move down.  GrossSr and Lynch took the biggest dives, as they each dropped 10 spots from their Day Five positions.  WaTers (5th to 12th), J (6th to 14th), and Scoot (8th to 15th) each dropped well out of the Top Ten positioning that they held when the day started.  Bry had a rough day and lost his overall lead.

We did hand out our first CTC conference crown on Day Six, and it went to Doogan for winning the Ohio Valley Conference.  Three more rings will be handed out on Day Seven.

Day Seven doesn’t have as many games on tap, but there are a whole lot of points to be handed out, as the First Week conferences start to wrap up.  Here is what we have in story for us on Sunday:

• Missouri Valley championship
• Atlantic Sun championship
• Big South championship
• MAAC semifinals
• SoCon semifinals
• Colonial semifinals
• America East semifinals
• Summit League quarterfinals

With all these tournaments in their later stages, it usually makes for boom or bust days, so we could see big spreads across the field and, therefore, some major movement around the leaderboard.

DAY SIX SCORES:

1. Mac – 313.5
2. Stumpf – 307
3. Stri – 306.5
4. Chris – 306
5. Primm – 302.5
6. PapaCim – 294.5
7. Doogan – 293
8. Dave – 290
9. Colton – 286
10. Stritts – 282
11. RDoc – 254
12. Gersh – 252
13. Alexi – 248
14. Scoot – 239
15. WaTers – 232
16. Lohse – 231
17. Becks – 230
18. J – 229
19. Bry – 227
20. Caleb – 221
21. Lazarow – 213
22. GrossSr – 211
23. GrossJr – 201
24. Teddy – 193
25. Lynch – 186

OVERALL STANDINGS:

1. PapaCim – 638.5
2. Colton – 617
3. Gersh – 604
4. Mac – 603.5
5. Stri – 600.5
6. Bry – 598
7. Chris – 582
8. Dave – 576
9. Doogan – 569
10. Primm – 564.5
11. Stritts – 547
12. WaTers – 547
13. Stumpf – 543
14. J – 542
15. Scoot – 539
16. Alexi – 534
17. GrossSr – 521
18. Lohse – 514
19. RDoc – 508
20. Caleb – 498
21. Becks – 490
22. Lazarow – 487
23. GrossJr – 478
24. Lynch – 467
25. Teddy – 432

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

1. Doogan – 94 (’14)
2. Dave – 90 (’12)
3. J – 62 (’10, ’11)
4. Stritts – 62
5. Scoot – 58
6. Stumpf – 58
7. Caleb – 50
8. GrossJr – 50
9. Gersh – 40 (’13*)
10. GrossSr – 40
11. Mac – 40
12. Primm – 40
13. Stri – 40 (’12)
14. Becks – 36
15. RDoc – 36
16. Alexi – 32 (’09, ’12)
17. Colton – 32
18. Lazarow – 32
19. Lohse – 32 (’12)
20. PapaCim – 32
21. WaTers – 32 (’08)
22. Bry – 28
23. Lynch – 28
24. Chris – 24
25. Teddy – 20