With Oral Roberts gone to the Southland, the coronation of the South Dakota St. Jackrabbits and their star with the cult-like following, Nate Wolters, may have begun far too early.  SDSU did not put in the dominant performance in the Summit that most people thought they would without ORU to chase.  In fact, most of the computer numbers say that North Dakota St. was, in fact, the better team – and it wasn’t all that close.  That being said, SDSU did go 13-3 in a true round-robin, a game ahead of the Bison of NDSU.  And SDSU wasn’t the only Summit team that outperformed the Bison in the round-robin format, as Western Illinois was also 13-3, including a sweep of NDSU.  Those three teams dominated this league for most of the season, but the always-overlooked Oakland Golden Grizzlies made a strong run at the end to make things interesting.  But, none of these 4 teams are the Summit team with the longest winning streak entering the tournament, as that belongs to IPFW, who has won 5 in a row, including taking two games in 10 days from their opening-round opponent, Oakland.  The bottom of this league looked really, really bad at different times during the year – UMKC in the early going, South Dakota down the stretch, and IUPUI all season.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 24 points)

#1 South Dakota St. vs #3 North Dakota St.
Blood rivals.  Border war.  Arch-enemies.  These two teams plain don’t like each other and now they will add the most important chapter to the rivalry yet, as they will play a rubber match for a spot in the Big Dance.  They split the regular season series – both in hotly contested games – with the home teams winning each.  They both looked good against game opponents in the semifinals on Monday, so this should be a good one.  If there is an advantage to be had, it would be that NDSU is playing their third game in 3 nights, while SDSU is playing their third game in 4 nights.  But, when the ball is tipped, that probably won’t matter with these two.

This is also a huge game for the CTC.  Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters all have SDSU winning this tournament.  Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc all have NDSU winning it.  If the Jackrabbits win, Lohse will hang another CTC conference banner.  If NDSU wins, Bry, Doogan, and J will all share the 2013 Summit title.

South Dakota St. 73 – North Dakota St. 67
The Jackrabbits spent the first half showing the world that they are more than just Nate Wolters (particularly Jordan Dykstra), but used the second half to show the world just how good Mr. Wolters is.  In a hard-fought game, SDSU proved to be the class of the Summit again this year and will be everyone’s upset pick next week again this year.

Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters took home the 24 points that go with this win.  Lohse takes home the his 3rd Summit League CTC title in the last 4 years.

SEMIFINALS (March 11th – 16 points each)

#1 South Dakota St. vs #5 IPFW
This should be really interesting.  It’s the league’s best team against the league’s hottest team.  The Jackrabbits muddled through a 17-point win over a bad IUPUI team on Saturday, while IPFW trounced a pretty good Oakland team on Sunday.  Has IPFW just been beating the lower-division teams and Oakland (three straight times) against which they matchup well or are they rolling?  We will see Monday night.

No one has IPFW here, while Twenty people have SDSU.  Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Teddy have all lost this game already, having picked Oakland.  Seven people (Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters) have the Jackrabbits winning this tournament.

South Dakota St. 72 – IPFW 56
IPFW scored the first 10 points of the game and led 23-11 during at the under-11 timeout in the first half.  But, the Nate Wolters and the Jackrabbits turned it on from there, ultimately grasping a 20-point second half lead and winning going away.  SDSU will advance to the Summit Championship on Tuesday night.

20 people got this right – 7 of whom kept alive their Summit champ.

#2 Western Illinois vs #3 North Dakota St.
The Leathernecks of WIU survived by a single point against lowly South Dakota on Saturday, while NDSU struggled through an 11-point win over lowly UMKC on Sunday.  Now, they can go at each other in what should be a really good semifinal on Monday.  NDSU is one of the nation’s best defensive teams, while WIU can really struggle to score at times.  However, the Leathernecks seem to matchup well against the Bison, having swept the season series from NDSU.

This is almost as big of a semifinal – from a CTC standpoint – as is possible.  The two most popular championship picks in the Summit League are going head-to-head here.  If WIU loses, eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) will lose their champion.  If NDSU loses, nine people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc) will lose their champion.  Pretty gigantic.

North Dakota St. 55 – Western Illinois 43
TrayVaughn Wright dropped 19, and the NDSU defense was – as usual – stifling, and the Bison are moving on to the Summit League championship game against their arch-rivals, South Dakota St.

Half the field got this right; half got it wrong.  Eight people lost their champion here, while nine others kept theirs alive.

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th & 10th – 8 points each)

#1 South Dakota St. vs #8 IUPUI
The Jackrabbits won the league regular season title and the top-seed and get to face an IUPUI team that went 1-15 in league play this year and only qualified for the 8-team tournament because NE-Omaha was not eligible in their D-I transitional year.  Nate Wolters and company can probably use this former league top dog as a bit of a tune-up for the gauntlet of Summit teams that await them after this weekend’s quarters.

No one has IUPUI in the upset here, so the people with SDSU losing in the quarters (Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf) will be fans of IUPUI here.  Only seven people (Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, Teddy, and Waters) took the #1 seed here to win this tournament, so they all are big Jackrabbit fans.

South Dakota St. 66 – IUPUI 49
After an unimpressive first half, the Jackrabbits took control and won going away in the second half.  The cult figure, Nate Wolters had an easy 20 in this one.

Everyone got this one right, including Cheryl, Gersh, Lohse, LohseJr, Rikey, and Waters, who keep alive their champ.

#2 Western Illinois vs #7 South Dakota
The Leathernecks of WIU completed an under-the-radar 13-3 regular season co-champion campaign and will open the tournament on this first day of quarterfinals before getting a day off before their semifinal.  South Dakota looked like they were making major strides in the early going, but comlpetely fell apart down the stretch, losing 7 of their last 8.

Seven people (Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc, and Waters) took a shot at the South Dakota upset here.  Eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) have WIU cutting down the nets.

Western Illinois 54 – South Dakota 53
WIU survives a gutty South Dakota team that was in it all the way.  A USD three at the buzzer made it a one-point game, but they never actually had a chance to win in the final minute, though they were within 5 or 6 points pretty much the entire way, including a long stretch early in the second half with the lead.  But, the Leathernecks do enough to make it through and will move on to Monday’s semifinals against the N.D. State – UMKC winner.

Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc, and Waters all just missed a big upset pick here, while eight people (Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf) keep alive their champion).

#4 Oakland vs #5 IPFW
The first Sunday quarterfinal pits two teams that are very familiar with each other – having played twice in the past two weeks.  Interestingly, IPFW – who showed next to no signs of life – won both of them over an Oakland team that looked like a legit title contender.  Maybe it’s just a matchup issue or maybe it says something about one or both of these teams.  Either way, I am sure that the Golden Griffins of Oakland are not happy to see IPFW across the court again in a win-or-go-home setting.

Bry, J, Lohse, and PapaCim all went for IPFW in this one, with none of them picking them to reach the finals.  Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf all have Oakland reaching the finals, so they need them to come through here in the quarters.

IPFW 91 – Oakland 72
In a 19-game that wasn’t even that close, IPFW cruises past Oakland and into the semis, where the league’s hottest team will take on the league’s best team, SDSU.  The Mastadons were up 32-14 midway through the first half.  Oakland made a bit of a run to cut it to 8 in the middle of the second half, but they were just overmatched all day.  I’m not sure what has gotten into this IPFW team, but the unknown is probably scary to the rest of the league.

Bry, J, Lohse, and PapaCim hit this mild upset.  Alex, GrossSr, Primm, and Stumpf all lost finalists here.

#3 North Dakota St. vs #6 UMKC
The UMKC Roadrunners were doormats for most of the Summit season, but started to show signs of life down the stretch.  North Dakota St. had a real opportunity to take the Summit crown this year, but a sweep by WIU and a split with SDSU made the 3-point loss at Oakland a death nail to their title hopes.  Now, they have a shot to take care of business themselves, but they will most likely have to go through the two teams ahead of them to do it…though they shouldn’t overlook the Roadrunners.

PapaCim and Primm are the only two on the Roadrunners here, while nine people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, and RDoc) all have the Bison cutting down the Summit League nets.

North Dakota St. 69 – UMKC 58
It was nip and tuck for a long while, but the Bison finally pulled away late and will advance to a really good semifinal on Monday against Western Illinois.  Bison’s junior star, Taylor Braun had 27 for the victors.

PapaCim and Primm missed a nice upset pick here, while the most popular champion pick stays alive.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 South Dakota St. (7)
• #2 Western Illinois (8)
• #3 North Dakota St. (9)

Biggest Upsets

• QF – #7 South Dakota (Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J, Lohse, RDoc & Waters)
• SF – #4 Oakland (Alex, GrossSr, Primm & Stumpf)
• Champ – #3 North Dakota St. (Alex, Alexi, Bry, GrossJr, J & RDoc)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Waters (perfect)
• 2009 – Doogan & Stri
• 2010 – Alexi, Bry & Lohse
• 2011 – Bry, GrossJr, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Stri & Teddy
• 2012 – GrossJr

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Lohse (’10, ’11, ’13) – 90
2. Gersh – 86
3. Waters (’08*) – 78
4. Bry (’10, ’11) – 66
5. Doogan (’09) – 66
6. J – 66
7. Cheryl – 64
8. LohseJr – 64
9. Rikey – 64
10. Lazarow – 62
11. Teddy (’11) – 56
12. Alexi (’10) – 54
13. GrossJr (’11, ’12) – 54
14. Lynch (’11) – 54
15. RDoc – 54
16. Alex – 46
17. PapaCim – 44
18. Caleb – 40
19. Dave – 40
20. Mac (’11) – 40
21. Scoot – 40
22. GrossSr – 24
23. Stumpf – 24
24. Primm – 16

I love the NEC.  And, every time I watch an NEC game, my lovely wife says “why do you care so much about this game when nobody even cares enough to GO to the game?”  Maybe there is an allure to being interested in a game played in an empty gym, much like the indie band that nobody else has ever heard of.  Or, maybe – just maybe – the NEC has good basketball played by upperclassmen without a timeout every three possessions.  Coaches that let their guys play, get out in transition, and run offenses that aren’t just variations of the high ball-screen, drive-and-kick.  Or, maybe I just like to pretend all of this because I have a cable channel that plays a lot of NEC basketball…

Well, this year in the NEC has been the craziest, most bizarre season I can remember.  Usually, this league plays relatively to form, with just enough surprising upsets and homecourt defenses to keep it interesting.  But, this year was absolutely all over the map.  It started with a huge blow to my favorite low-major team this year, LIU-Brooklyn, who returned pretty much their entire team from their back-to-back NEC title runs.  Julian Boyd – the all-everything, two-time defending NEC player of the year – tore his ACL in November and missed the whole season.  Then, there is Wagner, who lost their up-and-coming celebrity coach, Danny Hurley, to Seton Hall, but should have returned enough talent to compete.  They wound up finishing in 2nd-place, but it was far from easy for the Seahawks this year.  And, the perennially overlooked NEC squad, Robert Morris, who dug themselves a pretty big hole early in the year, as they started conference play with two shocking home losses to teams picked near the bottom of the league.  They recovered, though, to win the league by two full games and enter as a solid favorite to make a trip to Big Dance.  One of the teams that beat them is Bryant.  This Bryant team had never even qualified for the NEC tournament until this season, and they spent most of the year in first place.  A late swoon dipped them to 4th, but it has still been the best season in Bryant basketball history.  Lost in the mish-mash of the top four seeds is the hottest team in the league, Mount St. Mary’s, who enters the tournment winners of 7 straight.  Among the disappoinments this year are Quinnipiac and St. Francis (NY), who both expected to contend for a league title, but never really entered the conversation all year, and Sacred Heart, who lost the final 7 games to go from a top-3 finish to missing the tournament completely.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 18 points)

#3 LIU-Brooklyn vs #5 Mount St. Mary’s
If you had said that, in mid-January, that the NEC championship game would be Long Island hosting Mount St. Mary’s, well, first of all, you should rethink your life because you’d be seen as a total dork talking about the NEC in mid-January – trust me, it sucks, I know.  Anyway, that would have been unthinkable, as it looked like these two teams might not even make the NEC tournament, let alone win it.  But, here they go, the two of them squaring off in the finals on Tuesday night in the WRE Center in the BK.  The first meeting between these two was at LIU and was a lopsided win for the Blackbirds, but the two met again on February 21st at MSM, with the Mountaineers winning by a dozen.  If the Blackbirds can get into the 80’s or 90’s, they will be happy.  The Mountaineers would prefer to be in the 60’s.

J, Lynch, and PapaCim all have The Mount taking this tournament, so this would be huge for them.  Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, and Stumpf all have LIU, so that would be huge for them.  A MSM win would give the 2012 NEC title to Lynch, while a Long Island win would give Stumpf his first ever CTC conference crown.

LIU-Brooklyn 91 – Mount St. Mary’s 70
The Blackbirds – for the third straight season – are Dancing!  They got the pace they like -particularly in the second half, when they scored 56 points – and #1-seeds beware.  With C.J. Garner having completely stepped up his game (another 31 in this one), they have shifted from an inside focus on Boyd and Olasawere to more of a perimeter-oriented game with Garner and Brickman.  I think that might actually serve them better in the tournament because it’s not like the big boys would be scared of 6’7″ power forwards quite like the NEC teams are, but if you’ve got quick guards who can shoot – that will play anywhere.  The Mounties needed one more win to cap an improbable run to the Dance, but fell short.

Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, and Stumpf get huge wins here, picking the champion.  Congrats to Stumpf for taking his first CTC conference crown.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 12 points each)

#1 Robert Morris vs #5 Mount St. Mary’s
RMC looked like the conference’s top seed on Wednesday night, as they handled St. Francis (NY) with little trouble in their quarterfinal matchup.  They will stay at home here for the semis, but welcome in a team playing some rather high-level hoops.  Mount St. Mary’s came from behind on the road at Bryant in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal mathchup to register their 8th straight win – the longest winning streak for an NEC team all year.  But, none of the 8 wins have been against teams this good, and the road wins during the streak were all against teams that didn’t even qualify for the NEC tournament, so this is a different animal.  Either way, it should be a pretty good NEC semifinal here.

J, Lynch, and PapaCim have the most at stake with the road team here, as they all have MtStM winning this whole tournament.  Teddy also has them in the finals, but losing there.  Ten people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Cheryl, Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Primm, Rikey, and RDoc) have RMC as their NEC champion.

Mount St. Mary’s 69 – Robert Morris 60
Maybe that whole “peaking at the right time” isn’t just annoying coachspeak.  MSM wins their 9th straight game, including back-to-back road upsets of, Bryant and Robert Morris – the only two teams to ever hold the NEC’s top spot all year.  Now, they are going to the finals on Tuesday with a shot at a shocking run to the Dance.  How does this happen?  Well, anything can happen in one game – and it’s gotta be EXCRUCIATING for these small school teams where the tournament is their only shot and one game ends a dream.  RMC was led all year by a terrific foursome of Lucky Jones, Velton Jones, Coron Williams, and Russell Johnson.  Well, in this game, Lucky Jones and Johnson fouled out, while Velton Jones and Williams were held to 7 and 6 points, respectively.  Velton Jones – one of the best players in RMC program history – ends his NEC career with a 2-for-17 shooting night.  Unbelievable result in Coraopolis.

This was a huge win for J, Lynch, PapaCim, and Teddy.  The first three of them actually have MSM winning a third straight road game to take the title  Ten people lost their champion here.

#2 Wagner vs #3 LIU-Brooklyn
The Seahwawks of Wagner had no trouble with CCSU in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal, but the LIU Blackbirds cannot say the same for their quarterfinal with Quinnipiac.  Trailing most of the game, the Blackbirds pulled it out and are still alive in search of their third straight NEC tournament crown.  In a jam-packed Saturday, this is one of the  better games on the slate all day.

Not surprisingly for a 2/3 semifinal, a lot of tournament championship picks are on the line here in this one.  Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, Teddy, and Waters all picked Wagner as their NEC champs, while Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, and Stumpf all chose LIU-Brooklyn as their champs.

LIU-Brooklyn 94 – Wagner 82
To think that LIU-Brooklyn – the two-time defending NEC champion – would be in line to host the NEC title game would never have been unthinkable…until their best player (and heart and soul of the team), Julien Boyd, went down with a torn ACL in December and the wheels seemed to fall off.  But, they recovered – thanks to a really strong stable of guys like Jamal Olasawere, Jason Brickman, and the guy who really has stepped up, C.J. Garner – and finished 3rd in the conference.  But, it wasn’t enough to get a home semifinal, as they had to travel to Wagner.  Well, the Blackbirds played this game at completely their pace the entire way – getting out in transition and forcing the action on the defensive end, and now they are a win away from a third straight trip to the Dance.  But, honestly, as my favorite mid-major this year, I can’t help but think of what “could have been” if Boyd were here.  Call me crazy, but I thought they had Sweet 16 upside with Boyd.

Anyway, Caleb, GrossSr, Lohse, Mac, Primm, RDoc, and Stumpf all got this one right, with four of them picking LIU as their champs.  Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, Teddy, and Waters all lost a champion here.

QUARTERFINALS (March 6th – 6 points each)

#1 Robert Morris vs #8 St. Francis (NY)
Despite all the hoopla surrounding LIU-Brooklyn and Wagner and the two home losses to start conference play, the Colonials of Robert Morris ultimately proved a notch above everyone else in the NEC this year and will start their quest to the tournament at home against a very dangerous 8-seed in St. Francis (NY).  After their first upper-division finish in a generation last year, the Terriers thought they could compete for their first league title this year, but it just never came together.  Now, they have to win three straight road games to qualify for the Dance.

The guy who hit solely hit the biggest upset of Day One is out on his own again here in Day Two, as J is the only one with St. Francis tonight.  And, while all six of the top six seeds in the NEC have at least one person backing them to win the tournament, RMC was the most popular championship pick with 10 people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Cheryl, Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Primm, Rikey, RDoc) nabbing the Colonials as their champ.

Robert Morris 75 – St. Francis (NY) 57
Despite Velton Jones only scoring 3 points, the Colonials won rather handily tonight in the NEC quarters.  Karvel Anderson stepped up with 23 off the bench.  And, here a disappointing season ends for the Terriers, and the Colonials will play on.

J misses his big upset pick this time, and the ten people with RMC winning this tournament are satisfied with their performance tonight.

#2 Wagner vs #7 Central Connecticut St.
The Seahawks of Wagner did come out in second place this year, but they probably would tell you that they did not play up to their potential.  There is a TON of talent on the best defensive team in the conference, so don’t rule out a trip to the Dance, but they will most likely have to beat RMC on their home floor.  As for CCSU, the former big dog in the NEC has fallen on some hard times.  They were in contention for a lot of the season this year, but slumped down the stretch and carved out a tough road for themselves, which begins on Staten Island.

J, Lazarow, Lohse, PapaCim, and Primm all took CCSU in a nice upset pick here.  Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, Teddy and Waters all put have Wagner winning this tournament.

Wagner 72 – Central Connecticut St. 50
Wagner’s stud power forward, Jonathan Williams, goes for 20 & 6, as the Seahawks make short work of CCSU and advance to the semis on Saturday.

The five with the CCSU upset pick are 6 points back after this, while the 5 with Wagner winning this tournament are rather encouraged with this performance.

#3 LIU-Brooklyn vs #6 Quinnipiac
This was supposed to be The Year.  The Blackbirds had it all – immense talent, experience, continuity, confidence.  But, one ACL tear can blow things up.  They actually looked very lost for a while, but recovered and finally learned to play without Julien Boyd.  And, let’s not forget, that as good as Boyd is, there is still a ton of talent on this roster, particularly Jamal Olasawere (who should step right into the POY spot vacated by Boyd) and Jason Brickman (who leads the NATION in assists).  The seeding didn’t exactly do them any favors, though, as Quinnipiac is a top-notch NEC team stuck as the 6-seed.  At 11-7, the Bobcats were only a game out of second place and they had won 7 in a row before losing at LIU on Saturday.  Now, they head right back there to try and start a 3-game winning streak that would end in a tournament berth.

This is probably the biggest swing game of the CTC so far.  Ten people (Alex, Alexi, Cheryl, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Scoot, and Waters) have Quinnipiac in the upset tonight with Alex, Dave, and Doogan having the Bobcats going to the finals.  But, on the other side, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, and Stumpf all have LIU-Brooklyn winning this whole tournament, while a handful more have the Blackbirds in the finals.  This game is pretty huge in the early going.

LIU-Brooklyn 91 – Quinnipiac 83
C.J. Garner had a career-high 30 points on Saturday in a 6-point win over Quinnipiac in LIU’s regular season finale.  Well, tonight in the Blackbirds quarterfinal rematch with the Bobcats, Garner matched that performance in a thrilling come-from-behind win for LIU to set up a semifinal trip to Staten Island to take on Wagner on Saturday.

The huge CTC game ends with an LIU win, costing the 10 people who took QU in the upset the points here, with Alex, Dave, and Doogan losing a finalist here.  Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, and Stumpf all keep their champion alive.

#4 Bryant vs #5 Mount St. Mary’s
The best season in Bryant basketball history could have been even better.  A 2-point home loss to Robert Morris on Thursday night was all that separated them from their first ever NEC regular season championship.  But, that loss resulted in them falling to the 4-seed and a possible road date with RMC in the semis if all of the seeds hold.  They did, however, earn themselves a home game here in the quarters, but have to face the hottest team in the bracket, Mount St. Mary’s, winners of 7 straight entering the tourney, which began with a 14-point win over Bryant back on Valentine’s Day.

As big as the Quinnipiac-LIU game is for the CTC, this might be even bigger.  At least two people will lose their NEC champion in this game.  If Bryant wins, J, Lynch, and PapaCim will lose their champ.  If MtStM wins, Caleb and Scoot will be down a champ here.  Actually the majority of people have MtStM winning tonight on the road.

Mount St. Mary’s 75 – Bryant 69
For 30+ minutes, Bryant looked like they might cruise to their first ever conference tournament victory.  But, Mount St. Mary’s came back to win their 8th straight game sending them to Robert Morris on Saturday for a semifinal matchup with the #1-seed.  This was the end of a very good season for Bryant that somehow seems a little empty after leading the conference for so much of the year.

Caleb and Scoot have now officially lost their NEC champion.  J, Lynch, and PapaCim keep theirs alive.  A bunch of people hit this minor upset.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1  Robert Morris (10)
• #2  Wagner (5)
• #3  LIU-Brooklyn (4)
• #4 Bryant (2)
• #5 Mount St. Mary’s (3)

Biggest Upsets

• QF – #8 St. Francis (NY) (J)
• SF – #7 Central Connecticut St. (J)
• Champ – #5 Mount St. Mary’s (J, Lynch & PapaCim)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Stri
• 2009 – Bry & Stri (perfect)
• 2010 – Lil Lohse
• 2011 – Scoot & Stri (perfect)
• 2012 – Lil Lohse, Mac, Primm & Rikey (perfect)

2013 Scores

1. Stumpf (’13) – 74
2. Lazarow – 68
3. Mac (’12*) – 65
4. Lohse – 59
5. Lynch – 57
6. Teddy – 57
7. PapaCim – 45
8. GrossSr – 44
9. J – 39
10. Primm (’12*) – 38
11. Caleb – 35
12. RDoc – 35
13. Bry (’09*) – 27
14. Gersh – 27
15. LohseJr – 27
16. Alexi – 21
17. Cheryl – 21
18. Dave – 21
19. Doogan – 21
20. GrossJr – 21
21. Rikey (’12*) – 18
22. Alex – 12
23. Scoot (’11) – 12
24. Waters – 12

The Horizon League – long considered one of the better mid-major conferences in the country – will kick off its conference tournament without one of its flagship programs, Butler, for, literally, the first time in my lifetime.  After 33 seasons in the Horizon League, the Bulldogs took a one-year detour to the A-10 this year before they join the Catholic-7 or Big Priest or whatever they are going to call it (I am in denial that they are stealing the “Big East” name before Temple ever even gets there…).

So, the Horizon took a bit of a step backwards this year with the loss of Butler and an uncharacteristically down season for Cleveland St., but there was still a nice battle up top between Valpo and Detroit and a decent middle of the conference bolstered by surprisingly not-terrible years from UIC and Loyola (IL) and the emergence of a Youngstown St. program that is on the rise.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 12th – 30 points)

#1 Valparaiso vs #3 Wright St.
After two incredibly thrilling, maddening semifinals, the whole Horizon community had a couple days to take a breath before Tuesday’s championship.  The venue remains the same, as the regular season champ, Crusaders, will host Wright St. tonight for a spot in the Dance.  Does Broekhoff have any more Valpo magic in him?  We will see.  Either way, it is a pretty incredible finals matchup.  Valpo was picked in the preseason to win this league, but Wright St. was picked DEAD-LAST.  Now, they are 40 minutes from a ticket to the Dance.

Eleven people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) have Valpo here, while the other 13 all had Detroit, so they are hoping for a Wright St. upset here to zero out the final.  Regardless of the result tonight, Caleb will win his first ever CTC conference title.

Valparaiso 62 – Wright St. 54
It wasn’t exactly how Coach Drew drew it up, but a win is a win is a win – especially in March.  That being said, it’s hard to imagine Valpo playing a worse game than this one.  They committed a season-high 25 turnovers and one of the better FT shooting teams in the country missed a ton of key FTs down the stretch.  But, still Ryan Broekhoff and company were too good on this night, and avoided a second straight season of blowing a big second half lead at home in the conference championship.  For people around my age, they were the first real “Cinderella,” so it’s nice to have them back in the Dance.

Eleven people hit this champion.  Caleb wins the 2013 Horizon League CTC title.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 20 points each)

#2 Detroit vs #3 Wright St.
In the Horizon semifinal opener, the Detroit Titans begin their postseason against a Wright St. team that handled Youngstown St. on Friday in the quarters.  If you’ve never seen Ray McCallum play – tune in – and not just because he looks like Michael from The Wire, but because he’s got serious game.  The dude turned down a scholarship offer from Michigan St. (among others) to play for his dad in the Horizon League.  He’s the real deal.  He almost single-handedly took Temple’s at-large hopes away last week at the Liacouras, but the Owls survived.

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters have the minor Wright St. upset here.  Everyone else has Detroit, including a baker’s dozen of people with the Titans winning this tournament (everyone who doesn’t have Valpo).

Wright St. 64 – Detroit 62
MADNESS!!!  A baseline jumper by Mike Dixon at the buzzer sent Wright St. to the upset win over Detroit and into the Horizon championship on Tuesday.  Detroit’s star, Ray McCallum was incredibly held to 1-for-7 from the floor with 4 turnovers.  The two teams played the whole game within 5 points of each other, with 14 ties and 9 lead changes.  What a crazy, crazy, March-like game.  The Titans, who had high hopes for McCallum’s junior season, are relegated to hoping for an invite to the NIT.  Wow!

Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters are the only four that got this game.  13 people (Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lohse, LohseJr, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Stumpf, and Teddy) had Detroit winning this tournament.  Nobody has Wright St. cutting down the nets. 

#1 Valparaiso vs #4 Green Bay
Keifer Sykes’s shot still echoes in the Valpo gym, as the Phoenix will try and use that magic to get through the league’s best team on its home floor.  As good as Ray McCallum is for Detroit, he might not win the Horizon POY this year because Ryan Broekhoff of Valpo had a phenomenal year for the team that won the league.  Now, Broekhoff will try and cement this status by carrying his team to the Dance.

All 24 people have Valpo here, including 11 people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, Lazarow, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) with Valpo winning this tournament.

Valparaiso 70 – Green Bay 69
Bryce Who?  MORE MADNESS!!!  What an amazing double-header the Valparaiso fans got to see on Saturday night.  First, they see Wright St. upset the Crusaders biggest threat, Detroit, on a buzzer-beater, and now they get to see one of the most amazing buzzer-beaters you will ever see – in any month (but, of course, it happened in March).  Horizon Player of the Year, Ryan Broekhoff hit an off-balance, desperation three as time expired to SHOCK Green Bay and send the Crusaders to the Horizon championship against Wright St. on Tuesday night.  Broekhoff had 25 in the game, while Keifer Sykes dropped 31 in a losing effort for the Phoenix.  Holy S&$*!!!

All 24 people got this one right, but the 11 people who had the Crusaders winning this tournament are pretty happy with this result, especially as the other 13 people all lost their champions in the early game.

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 10 points each)

#3 Wright St. vs #6 Youngstown St.
The YSU Penguins survived a tough opening round game at home on Tuesday against Loyola (IL) and now get to join the weekend fun here at Valpo with a quarterfinal date with Wright St.  These two teams played on the last day of the regular season last Saturday at Wright St. and the Raiders crushed YSU by 27.  Now, the Penguins can either get revenge and move on to face #2 Detroit in Saturday’s semifinal or their season will end here.  Wright St. – whose win on Saturday, coupled with a Green Bay loss to Valpo, earned them the 3-seed and the first-round bye – has put together a surprisingly good season after being picked in the preseason to finish dead-last in the Horizon.  They will get the chance this weekend to validate their 3rd-place conference finish and it starts Friday.

GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have YSU in a pretty nice upset pick here, though none of them have the Penguins beating Detroit in the semis, so it’s not a whole lot to lose.  Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all have Wright St. winning this game and then again Saturday over Detroit, so this is an important one for them.  Alexi and Lohse have already lost this game with Loyola (IL).

Wright St. 66 – Youngstown St. 59
For 30 minutes or so, this game looked like it might be a total blowout, but Youngstown St. made a furious comeback to cut it to 3 with less than three minutes to play, but Wright St. held on and will advance to Saturday’s semifinals against 2nd-seeded Detroit.  Junior forward Jerran Young filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.

17 people got this one right with Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, and Waters all keeping a finalist alive here.

#4 Green Bay vs #5 Illinois-Chicago
The first quarterfinal of the night at Valpo pits two teams coming off relatively easy opening round wins on their home floors Tuesday night.  Green Bay ended a bad season for UW-Milwaukee, while UIC disproved the doubters a bit by manhandling Cleveland St.  The Valpo fans in attendence will be closely tuned into this one, as their team awaits the winner of this one in the semifinal on Saturday.

Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC in this minor upset, while J and Lazarow have already lost it thanks to their Cleveland St. pick.  All 24 entries have Valparaiso going to the finals, so no one is putting even a finalist at risk here in Friday’s nightcap.

Green Bay 64 – Illinois-Chicago 63
MADNESS!  What an ending to a great season for the UIC Flames (though, they will probably be invited to some postseason tournament).  UIC’s Gary Talton hit two clutch free throws with the game tied and :07 seconds to go.  Green Bay inbounds the ball and, with his coach SCREAMING for a timeout, Keifer Sykes decides to make a stutter-step and put up a contested three, which he nails – Green Bay wins!  Bring on Valpo!  God, I love this month.

15 people got this one right and picked up the 10 points.

OPENING ROUND (March 5th – 5 points each)

#4 Green Bay vs #9 UW-Milwaukee
Two bitter rivals will face off in spots that are rather disappointing for each.  UWM was the biggest surprise in the league this year with just how bad they were, and GB has too much talent to have missed out on a bye, but a 19-point home loss to Valpo on Saturday pushed them into the opening round.  The good news for the Phoenix is that they will host the Panthers in this opening round on individual campuses.

Surprisingly, PapaCim is the only one who took the shot at a nice upset pick here in the rivalry game with UW-Milwaukee.  He does not have them going any further, and most people who picked Green Bay here also picked them in the quarters.  No one has Green Bay beating Valparaison in the semis, so unless PapaCim can grab the big upset points, this game won’t have much affect on the CTC.

Green Bay 62 – UW-Milwaukee 46
The Phoenix takes care of their in-state rivals, ending an incredibly disappointing season for UWM.

PapaCim misses on the upset pick.

#5 Illinois-Chicago vs #8 Cleveland St.
UIC versus Cleveland St. in the 5-8 would not have been that far out of the question in the preseason, but the location of the game would be.  Cleveland St. was supposed to be rebuilding this year, but they were even worse than expected.  UIC was picked for dead-last in the conference and, without a late-season slide, may have contended for a top 3 finish.  But, they did earn a home game against the Vikings.  The winner will face the winner of the GB-UWM game in the quarters for the right to take on #1 Valpo in the semis.

Eight people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, J, Lohse, LohseJr, and Waters) went for the road team, CSU, here in an upset.  J has the most at stake, though, as he has the Vikings winning again in the quarters.  Gersh, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, and Stumpf all have UIC advancing to the semis, though none of them have the Flames beating Valpo to reach the finals.

Illinois-Chicago 82 – Cleveland St. 59
The surprisingly solid season for UIC will at least last until the weekend, as they pretty much dominated Cleveland St. from the opening tip.  They are now set up to meet 4th-seeded Green Bay in the quartefinals in Valparaiso on Friday.

J took the biggest hit here, as he loses a semifinalist.  Five others have UIC in the semis, which looks like a decent pick if you judge by tonight’s performance.

#6 Youngstown St. vs #7 Loyola (IL)
Youngstown St. has been building their D-I program for a couple years now and, after a promising 2011-12, they took that momentum into this season and acquitted themselves rather well, despite falling to a 6th place finish in the end.  Loyola (IL) was supposed to beat out only UIC (maybe), but they actually looked solid for most of the season, including giving Michigan St. a run in the non-conference.  The winner of this game will take on #3 Wright St.in the quarters.

Seven people (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Lohse, RDoc, Stumpf, and Waters) went for the minor upset pick of Loyola here, with Alexi and Lohse picking the Ramblers to beat Wright St. in the quarters, as well.  GrossJr, J, PapaCim, Primm, and Scoot all have Youngstown St. beating Wright St. in the quarters.  No one has either of these teams reaching the finals.

Youngstown St. 62 – Loyola (IL) 60
A back-and-forth game that was played within 2 possessions almost the entire way ends with a game-winning jumper by Youngstown’s sophomore point guard D.J. Cole, pushing the Penguins into the quarters against Wright St.

Alexi and Lohse took the biggest hit here, while 5 people kept alive their semifinalist in YSU.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Valparaiso (11)
• #2 Detroit (13)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #9 UW-Milwaukee – PapaCim
• QF – #8 Cleveland St. – J
• SF – #3 Wright St. – Caleb, Dave & Waters
• Champ – #2 Detroit – many

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Waters
• 2009 – Bry
• 2010 – Doogan & Teddy (perfect)
• 2011 – Bry (perfect)
• 2012 – Lohse

2013 Scores

1. Caleb (’13) – 108
2. Waters (’08) – 103
3. Dave – 98
4. GrossSr – 93
5. RDoc – 85
6. Bry (’09, ’11*) – 75
7. Lynch – 75
8. Scoot – 73
9. Lazarow – 70
10. Alexi – 65
11. Primm – 65
12. Alex – 55
13. Doogan (’10*) – 55
14. Mac – 55
15. Cheryl – 50
16. LohseJr – 50
17. Rikey – 50
18. Gersh – 45
19. GrossJr – 45
20. Stumpf – 40
21. Teddy (’10*) – 40
22. Lohse (’12) – 35
23. J – 30
24. PapaCim – 30

Typically, the light-slated Day Seven (“the eye of the storm”) that is mostly championship games is boom or bust.  And, that was the case again here in 2013.  RDoc boomed with a share of the Day Seven title and ascending the standings to the top spot in the overall.  Stumpf busted, scoring just 4 points and falling to the basement.  Sharing the Day Seven crown with RDoc are Doogan, who shook off a bunch of close losses over the weekend to climb back into the Top 10, and Lazarow, who shook off some rookie jitters in the beginning to quietly climb the standings page over the past couple of days.  Lynch made the biggest jump up the standings – gaining 6 spots to 12th.  Teddy and Cheryl each gained 3 spots in the overall standings.

Aside from the bad luck day for Stumpf, which dropped him 8 spots, Primm took the biggest fall, dropping from 10th to 14th.  Alex also fell and is just barely hanging on to a Top 10 spot.

Overall, RDoc took the top spot from Bry, who falls to 2nd.  Mac and GrossJr are right there in 3rd and 4th – very much in striking distance.  Then there is a chase pack that includes J, Alexi, and Lohse that could be dangerous.  We are about 35% into the CTC – from a points scored perspective – so let’s call this the under-8 TV timeout in the first half.  Still PLENTY of hoops to go with the Big Boys about to get underway… 

DAY SEVEN SCORES (days won):

1. Doogan – 168 (1)
2. Lazarow – 168 (1)
3. RDoc – 168 (1)
4. Lohse – 165
5. GrossJr – 163
6. Teddy – 146
7. Mac – 128
8. J – 126
9. Lynch -126
10. Bry – 124
11. Alexi – 108
12. Caleb – 104
13. Cheryl – 104
14. Alex – 92
15. Gersh – 87
16. Lohse Jr – 86
17. Rikey – 86
18. Waters – 85
19. PapaCim – 83
20. Scoot – 83
21. Dave – 81
22. Primm – 68
23. GrossSr – 67
24. Stumpf – 4

OVERALL STANDINGS (confs won):

1. RDoc – 1055
2. Bry – 1037 (SoCon)
3. Mac – 1010.5 (MVC*)
4. GrossJr – 990.5
5. J – 937.5 (BigSouth)
6. Alexi – 932
7. Lohse – 924 (MAAC)
8. Lazarow – 905.5 (SunBelt)
9. Doogan – 870.5
10. Alex – 866
11. PapaCim – 837 (A-Sun*)
12. Lynch – 816 (A-Sun*)
13. Caleb – 815.5
14. Primm – 806.5 (CAA)
15. LohseJr – 795.5
16. Scoot – 783
17. Rikey – 782.5
18. Teddy – 780.5
19. Waters – 760
20. GrossSr – 751.5 (WCC)
21. Cheryl – 729.5
22. Gersh – 718 (OVC*,CAA)
23. Dave – 709.5
24. Stumpf – 703

I’m embarrassed to admit how actually sad I am to look at this bracket this year.  Throughout the CTC, this one conference tournament – 12 teams strong, great intrigue, fantastic basketball – has been above all others to me.  Even Arch Madness didn’t quite live up to the CAA.  But, now, we have to stare at a 7-team bracket of the ultimate of 2013 underachievers or never-wases.  I almost don’t even want to think about how this happened.  VCU was the first shoe to drop with their – totally understandable – defection to the A-10.  Then, Old Dominion was banned from the conference tournament because they are leaving for Conference USA next year (not a big loss, as ODU was one of the biggest disappoinments in the country this year).  Then, Georgia St. was banned from the tournament because they are leaving for the Sun Belt next year (they are a big loss because they were playing some good ball).  Then, Towson and UNC-Wilmington were banned from the tournament because of low academic performance (Towson is, actually, a HUGE loss this year because they were one of the nation’s big surprises).  Throw in the fact that Hofstra is uncharacteristically dreadful, George Mason was very disappointingly inconsistent, and William & Mary faded after a fast start.  Oh, and then there’s Drexel, who has probably had the most disappointing season of any D-I team in any conference.  Delaware had a pretty disappointing season and still backed into a second-place finish.  The only team in the tournament field that could say that they are happy with their season’s results is the top-seed Northeastern, but they aren’t really all that good.  Ugh…

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 12 points)

#1 Northeastern vs #3 James Madison
After the semifinal double-header on Sunday, how can the title game live up?  In fact, how are either of these two teams in this game, let alone both of them?  Both teams looked dead in the waters on Sunday and now one of them will be Dancing on Monday.

For a #1 vs #3 finals matchup to only have FOUR people who can get it right is amazing.  20 people have already had their champions eliminated.  No one has JMU here, and only Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey have NE.  Gersh and Primm will officially split the 2013 CTC CAA title, no matter what happens tonight, but they would like the extra 12 points that comes with a NE win.

James Madison 70 – Northeastern 57
This looked like it might be deja vu for a Northeastern opponent.  After an unbelievable comeback to beat George Mason on Sunday, the Huskies nearly made up a 40-18 halftime deficit on Monday in the finals.  But, this one was just too much to overcome, and JMU is going Dancing.  A.J. Davis led the way with 26 in an interesting year for JMU.  They have had some really good teams over the past decade that could never get over the hump.  Now, as almost an afterthought, they win the CAA and will be playing in front of the nation.

Despite being the 3-seed, no one picked Madison to win this tournament.  Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey miss out on the points here.  Gersh and Primm take the 2013 CAA crown.

SEMIFINALS (March 10th – 8 points each)

#1 Northeastern vs #4 George Mason
Mason survived Drexel in Saturday’s quarters and now get the surprising #1-seed, Northeastern.  The Huskies came out of nowhere to take advantage of a dreadful CAA and win a regular season title.  They also earned a bye in the conference tournament, which they enjoyed on Saturday.  Now, they get probably the most talented team in the conference as a semifinal opponent.

Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, and GrossSr have Mason here.  Dave, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, and Teddy have already lost with Drexel.  The other 13 all have Northeastern, though only Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey have them winning the tournament.

Northeastern 69 – George Mason 67
MADNESS!  Jonathan Lee hits a game-winner with :03 seconds left to complete a monumental comeback (from 24 points down) for the Huskies, keeping alive their hopes of capping a regular season title with a tournament title.  Mason was in complete control, including leading – get this – 28 to 4 (FOUR!) with less than 5 minutes left in the first half.  But, Northeastern woke up, stormed back and finished it off.  Stunning…

Alex, Cheryl, Doogan, and GrossSr must be sick after this one, while Gersh, LohseJr, Primm, and Rikey somehow didn’t lose their champion here.

#2 Delaware vs #3 James Madison
Both teams barely survived their quartefinal matchups against the league’s two worst tournament qualifiers, but they are here and a win away from an ESPN title shot.

Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm have JMU here, while the other 21 people all have UDel, which includes 17 people who picked them as their CAA champions.

James Madison 58 – Delaware 57
MADNESS AGAIN!  What a crazy semifinal night that pretty much sums up the whole CAA season.  Two ugly games, two crazy finishes – I wonder what the final has in store for us.  While I didn’t see any of this game, reports have it (RDoc, specifically) that UDel got completely hosed in the entire final minute, and JMU stole one here.

Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm hit this mild upset – the other 21 all lost, including 17 people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, Doogan, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, Teddy, and Waters) who lost their champion in this one.   

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th – 4 points each)

#4 George Mason vs #5 Drexel
This should be the championship game, not a really shaky 4/5 matchup.  These are probably the two most talented teams in the league, but neither put any results out there to show for it.  On paper, this is a great game.  In reality, it is far from it, despite the star power on the floor (Sherrod Wright, Damion Lee, Frantz Massenat…)  One of these two teams will end their disappointing season in a very disappointing way.  The other will try and save face against #1 Northeastern in the semis on Sunday.

Eight people (Bry, Caleb, Dave, J, Lohse, PapaCim, and RDoc) have the Dragons in the mild upset here.  J, Lohse, and PapaCim have them going to the finals and losing, while Dave has them winning the whole tournament.  If not Dave, two others – Alex and GrossSr – are going to lose their CAA champion in this game.  Cheryl and Doogan have Mason reaching the finals, as well, so this game has some decent CTC implications to it.

George Mason 60 – Drexel 54
And, there it is.  The end of one of the more disappointing seasons in Drexel Dragon history.  The Patriots – led by Sherrod Wright – were in control for most of this game and will advance to take on the top seed, Northeastern in the semis on Friday.

Dave loses his CAA champion here, while J, Lohse, and PapaCim all lose a finalist.  Alex and GrossSr keep alive their champs, while Cheryl and Doogan are one game away from correctly picking Mason in the finals.

#2 Delaware vs #7 Hofstra
The Blue Hens were hoping for a second-place finish (at least) this year because they have a very good team (and a great player in Devon Saddler), but they didn’t play nearly as well as they had hoped.  They just kind of tread water as the rest of the league imploded.  One of the biggest implosions came from Lon Gisland.  The Flyin’ Dutchmen of Hofstra (they will never be the “Pride” to me) were really, really bad and are, most likely, counting down the hours until they can close the book on 2012-13.

One person – GrossSr – took the Flyin’ Dutchmen in the upset, which would give him 34 points free and clear on the rest of the field.  Well more than half of the field has Delaware winning this tournament, so a Hofstra upset would be shockwaves through many CTC brackets.

Delaware 62 – Hofstra 57
It wasn’t the walk in the park that the Blue Hens had envisioned when the drew a really bad Hofstra team, but they managed to survive and advance to the CAA semis on Sunday.  First-team all-CAA performer, Devon Saddler, dropped 22 in a game that was still in doubt in the final seconds.  The season to forget for Hofstra mercifully comes to a close, and Delaware continues their pursuit at a tournament berth.

GrossSr missed on a big solo upset pick, while the most popular CAA champ stays alive.

#3 James Madison vs #6 William & Mary
James Madison is another sort of mediocre team that finished 3rd in the CAA simply because someone had to.  There is nothing special about this Duke team at all, unless you count that they’re not terrible.  William & Mary looked like they might do what Northeastern did and take advantage of this season to hang a banner, but they completely collapsed down the stretch and ended up as the 6-seed.  The Tribe still have some potential to put things together, which would be great for a program that has never played an NCAA tournament game.  But, it will have to start here Saturday against JMU.

Seven people (Alex, Bry, Doogan, GrossJr, L, Lohse, and Waters) have the W&M upset here, though none of them have the Tribe going to the finals.  Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm are the only three that have JMU reaching the finals, and none have the Dukes winning it.

James Madison 72 – William & Mary 67
W&M had a 7-point lead with 9:30 to go when JMU went on a 17-2 run to turn the tables and put the game away.  A tough ending to a tough season for the Tribe, as they will go another year without a NCAA tournament appearance.  JMU moves on to face Delaware in the semis on Sunday and are as good of a pick as any to take this tournament.

17 people got this one right, including Gersh, GrossSr, and Primm, who keep alive a finalist.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1 Northeastern (4)
• #2 Delaware (17)
• #3 James Madison (0)
• #4 George Mason (2)
• #5 Drexel (1)

Biggest Upsets

• QF – #7 Hofstra (GrossSr)
• SF – #5 Drexel (Dave, J, Lohse & PapaCim)
• Champ – #5 Drexel (Dave)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Alexi
• 2009 – Ina
• 2010 – Bry
• 2011 – Bry
• 2012 – GrossJr

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Gersh (’13) – 34
2. Primm (’13) – 34
3. GrossSr – 22
4. Alexi (’08) – 20
5. LohseJr – 20
6. Mac – 20
7. Rikey – 20
8. Scoot – 20
9. Stumpf – 20
10. Caleb – 16
11. GrossJr (’12) – 16
12. RDoc – 16
13. Waters – 16
14. Bry (’10, ’11) – 12
15. Cheryl – 12
16. Alex – 8
17. Dave – 8
18. Doogan – 8
19. Lynch – 8
20. PapaCim – 8
21. J – 4
22. Lazarow – 4
23. Lohse – 4
24. Teddy – 4

First the A-10 transcended mid-majordom by routinely placing multiple teams in the tournament.  Then, the Mountain West did the same – even ranking as the #1 RPI conference for much of this season.  Then, the Missouri Valley gained national attention with Creighton and Wichita St. becoming household names.  Finally, this year, the CAA suffered a complete implosion this year because of conference defections and poor academic performances.  So, I am in the market for a new “pet” mid-major.  The NEC and Atlantic Sun are more “low-major,” so they won’t fit the bill.  I am thinking that the MAAC might be the leader in the clubhouse.  This is a great league.  In fact, they would probably already have the job if they weren’t losing Loyola next year to the Patriot League (yes, interesting move…).

The battle all throughout this league this year has been fascinating on a night-in and night-out basis.  Plus, they are one of the very few conferences that play Fridays and Sundays, so they don’t get upstaged by the big boys as often, so you are able to actually pay attention without completely selling out to the lower conferences.  This year in the MAAC was a legit FIVE-team race that didn’t even include a couple of the preseason contenders, Manhattan and Fairfield, who had incredibly disappointing years.  And, the two that came out 1-2 came from nowhere.  Niagara, led by one of the best young backcourts in the country (remember the names of these stud sophs – Antoine Mason and Juan’ya Green) came from nowhere to win the league – almost going wire-to-wire.  Then, fueled by a surprising 5-game win streak to end the season, Rider, grabbed the #2 spot.  These two teams will await the winners of the pigtails on Friday.  And, then you have a tight threesome at 3, 4 and 5 that are as dangerous as any you will find in mid-major land.  The aforementioned, Loyola (Md), was picked to repeat as league champs, but missed their chance with a tough 4-point loss at Iona on Friday.  The Greyhounds finished a game back of Niagara at 12-6 and will play Manhattan in the 3/6 game.  Iona – who were given an at-large last year – still have Mo-Mo Jones and are one of the highest-scoring teams in the country with uptempo master, Tim Cluess calling the shots from the bench.  The Gaels finished 4th – which would be disappointing if not for the general awesomeness (technical basketball term) of the MAAC.  They will take on one of the toughest 5-seeds you will find, in Canisius, who hired the recently let-go Jimmy Baron from Rhode Island, who brought over his prolific-shooting son, Billy, to lead the Griffins.  This is going to be a thrilling tournament.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 30 points)

#4 Iona vs #6 Manhattan
It is not uncommon that the two best teams – from a talent standpoint – meet up in the conference’s championship.  But, it is very uncommon that that matchup is between the 4-seed and the 6-seed.  This will be a classic matchup of contrasting styles between the run-and-gun, potent offense of Iona against the physical, aggressive defense of Manhattan.  Watch for tempo in this one – it will be important.

Hats off to Lohse as the only one to nail both unlikely finalists here.  No one has Manhattan winning this tournament, so the 17 people that don’t have Iona will be rooting for the Jaspers.  The seven that do have Iona (Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy) would enjoy the 60 points that come with a championship here.  Lohse has already clinched the 2013 MAAC CTC title, so it would just be gravy for him.

Iona 60 – Manhattan 57
Another night, another guy stepping up for the Gaels.  On a team that is known for having the top scoring duo in the nation (guards Mo-Mo Jones and Sean Armand), Iona has had some major contributions from some of their role players this tournament.  On this night, it was Tre Bowman, who stepped up for 20 points in the Gaels 3-point win sealing another trip to the Dance.  This game was played at Manhattan’s pace the whole way, and it looked like they might get it done, but an atrocious technical foul call shifted the momentum the Gaels’ way until they almost gave it back with another awful technical foul call in the closing seconds.  But, in the end, it was too much Mo-Mo.  Watch out big guys, this team is gonna be a live ‘dog in the next tournament.

Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy all hit this really nice champion pick.  The win here for RDoc propels him to #1 in the overall standings.  Lohse wins the MAAC by impressively picking Iona to beat Manhattan in the finals.

SEMIFINALS (March 10th – 20 points each)

#1 Niagara vs #4 Iona
Not even 24 hours after a phenomenal game with #5 Canisius, Iona will have to turn around and play another great one against top-seeded Niagara.  The Purple Eagles had an unimpressive win over Siena in the quarters, but they probably spent less energy than Iona did in needed 89 points to beat a good Canisius team.

Only 7 people (Caleb, Cheryl, LohseJr, PapaCim, Primm, Rikey, and Scoot) have Niagara winning this game, with only LohseJr, PapaCim, and Rikey picking them to win the tournament.  On the other hand, everyone else except Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, and Waters (who have already lost it) have Iona winning this one, with 7 of them (Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy) picking the Gaels as their tournament champs.

Iona 79 – Niagara 73
Niagara led for much of this one, but, in the end, Iona was just too tough and will advance to the MAAC title game on Monday night.  The Gaels used their underrated frontcourt of Taaj Ridley and David Laury – who had 20 points and 17 boards…wow – to outrebound the Purple Eagles 36-25.  Niagara picked a bad night for a shooting slump, hitting only 7 of 33 from long-range, including a dreadful 0-for-7 from Juan’ya Green.  Chalk this up to a tough lesson for the young Purple Eagles, who should be really, really good for, at least, the next two years.

13 people got a nice upset pick here, with Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy all keeping alive their champ.

#6 Manhattan vs #7 Fairfield
In a rather unlikely semifinal, the Jaspers of Manhattan and the Stags of Fairfield are just a game away from a shot at a MAAC tournament title.  Both teams won ugly quarterfinal games, but Manhattan is the more rested team, having earned the 6-seed and a day off in the opening round, while Fairfield will play on their third straight day, after beating St. Peter’s and Rider in consecutive days.

Dave is the only one with the huge Fairfield finals pick here; Lohse is the only one with the huge Manhattan pick, so one of them will pick up massive points on the rest of the field.  No one has either of these teams winning this tournament.

Manhattan 60 – Fairfield 42
Another stifling defensive performance for the Jaspers, as they are now one win away from erasing the total disappoinment of their regular season.  The Stags, who scored 54, 43, and now 42 in their “run” to the semifinals, will take the offseason to try and figure out how to generate a little offense.  Manhattan will think about how to stop Mo-Mo Jones in the finals on Monday night.

Lohse picks up a quick 50 points on the whole rest of the field on the strength of his Manhattan to the finals pick.

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th – 10 points each)

#1 Niagara vs #9 Siena
The Siena Saints ended Marist’s season on Friday night in the opening round and now they will take their shot at top-seeded Niagara in the quarters.  The Purple Eagles have had a phenomenal season.  Led by a standout sophomore backcourt of Juan’ya Green and Antoine Mason, Niagara won a shocking regular season that was loaded with excellent teams.  Now, they will try and substantiate that feat with a conference tournament title.

GrossSr and Waters have huge upset picks in play here.  Alex and Lynch have already lost this game with Marist.  The other 20 all have Niagara, but only LohseJr, PapaCim, and Rikey picked the top seeds to win this tournament.

Niagara 74 – Siena 62
While it was relatively unimpressive, considering they were facing an inferior Siena team, it was one of those “survive-and-advance” March wins for Niagara.  Mason and Green combined for 36, but the Purple Eagles will have to play better on Saturday, no matter who they face, than they did today.

GrossSr and Waters had a shot here, but ultimately missed out on a huge upset pick.  LohseJr, PapaCim, and Rikey all keep their MAAC champs alive.

#4 Iona vs #5 Canisius
This is probably the best non-Valley quarterfinal of the entire first week of conference tournament action.  These two teams have been really good all year and both would scare the hell out of any team in March.  In the offseason, Canisius took a chance on just-fired Rhode Island coach, Jim Baron, and they look like geniuses for it.  Baron has done wonders with this recently-downtrodden Canisius team, with a lot of help from his son, Billy, who transferred from Rhode Island with his dad, and averaged 17 points per game this year, joining stud senior Harold Washington to form one of the better backcourts in mid-majorland.  However, they are up against maybe THE best backcourt in mid-major land – at least the best scoring backcourt – of Mo Mo Jones and Sean Armand of Iona.  Jones and Armand are actually the highest scoring pair of teammates in the nation.  Throw in a solid big like Taaj Ridley, and it’s amazing that this team finished fourth in any mid-major conference.  But, that is just how tightly contested the MAAC was this year, which is going to make for a phenomenal tournament.

Surprisingly, only three people – Caleb, Dave, and Gersh – took Canisius here, but two of them (Dave and Gersh) liked the Golden Griffins enough to pick them to win the whole thing.  The other 21 people have Iona, including 7 people (Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy), who have them winning this tournament.

Iona 89 – Canisius 85
This game seemed lived up to all the hype, as it was a back-and-forth game all the way, with Iona pulling away at the end to advance to the semifinals to take on top-seeded Niagara.  The stars were out in full force, as well, as Mo-Mo dropped 33 and Armand added 24 for the Gaels.  Billy Baron and Harold Washington added 24 and 17, respectively, for Canisius.  Wow!

21 people got this right, including Doogan, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Teddy all kept their champions alive.  Dave and Gersh lost their champs.  Alex, Alexi, Bry, J, Lynch, and Stumpf are all happy with this, as well, as they have Iona reaching the finals. 

#2 Rider vs #7 Fairfield
Fairfield took care of St. Peter’s in the opening round Friday night and now get a crack at the hottest team in the MAAC, Rider.  The Broncs enter this tournament on a 5-game winning streak that took them from eyeing up an opening round seed to the #2-seed.  The way they are playing, they have to be considered one of the favorites (many in this awesomely wide-open tournament) to win this thing and go Dancing.

Fairfield is a pretty popular upset pick, considering how hot Rider has been and how poorly FU finished the season.  Ten people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, RDoc, and Teddy) took the Stags here in the big upset, with Dave having them in the finals.  Cheryl and Lynch both put their champions up at stake here

Fairfield 43 – Rider 42
In a game that typifies this unoffensive season, the Stags of Fairfield pull off the mighty upset and only needed 43 points to do it.  Fairfield’s star, Derek Needham, dropped 19 in this mess of a game, and the “darkhorse” Rider team exits with a whimper.

Ten people hit this big upset, while Cheryl and Lynch both lose their MAAC champs without winning a game.

#3 Loyola (Md) vs #6 Manhattan
And, enter the final two teams to the MAAC tournament – both relative underachievers, based on preseason prognostications, but both pretty talented.  Manhattan may be the most disappointing team in the country this year, as they were supposed to seriously contend for a MAAC title, and the wheels seemed to fall off, as they muddled through a bad non-con and then played lackluster ball for most of the MAAC season, before turning it on near the end to grab a bye.  Loyola was also supposed to contend – and they did, but a 3rd-place finish despite returning basically the same team that won the regular season and tournament championship a year ago is a bit disappointing.  So, one season will end unceremoniously here, while the other has a shot at redemption.

Cheryl, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, and PapaCim are the only five to take Manhattan here, with Lohse riding them all the wat to the finals.  Loyola is the most popular MAAC champion pick, as ten people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, GrossSr, J, Primm, Scoot, Stumpf, and Waters) have the Greyhounds repeating as conference champs.

Manhattan 55 – Loyola (Md) 52
MADNESS!  The Jaspers – at least for one night – put it all together, leading the entire second half and pulling off a nice upset here in the MAAC quarterfinal nightcap.  If they get things rolling, they could be pretty dangerous, so watch out.  They will move on to the semis against another lower-seed, Fairfield, who upset Rider in the early game of the nighttime session.  A tough final season for Loyola here in the MAAC, as (after the NIT or other postseason tournament that they will be in) they will head off to the Patriot League next year and try to forget this one.

Cheryl, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, and PapaCim pick up a nice upset pick here, and Lohse keeps alive a finalist.  This was a HUGE CTC bracket-buster, as ten people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, GrossSr, J, Primm, Scoot, Stumpf, and Waters) all lose their champ here – making it a crazy 14 lost champions during this quarterfinal quadruple-header – an all-time record for a round that didn’t lose its top seed.

OPENING ROUND (March 8th – 5 points each)

#8 Marist vs #9 Siena
Lost in how good the top-9 teams in this conference are is how bad the bottom-3 were.  Marist, who isn’t dreadful (like the other two) has sleeper potential and are probably the team that top-seeded Niagara does not want to face in Saturday’s quarterfinal.  Siena, who has really fallen on hard times after dominating this league for nearly a decade, had another difficult year upstate.  The Saints are young, though, as their only senior is their stellar forward, O.D. Anosike.  Marist is led by Chavaughn Lewis, who is one of those pure inside/outside scorers who you really just want to contain rather than try and stop.

This is not your typical innocuous 8/9 matchup for the CTC.  Eleven people (Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Gersh, GrossSr, J, LohseJr, PapaCim, Scoot, Stumpf, and Waters) have Siena in a mild opening round upset.  GrossSr and Waters took that two steps further, as they both have the Saints upsetting Niagara in the quarters AND winning again in the semis to reach the finals.  On the other side, while no one has Marist reaching the finals, Alex, Lynch, and Teddy all took a shot on the Red Foxes reaching the semis.  Multiple brackets will be busted tonight regardless of who wins the MAAC opener.

Siena 70 – Marist 64
Tonight was just way too much O.D. Anosike.  The senior all-league performer for Siena had 24 points, 12 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks in a solid back-and-forth win for the Saints.  The Red Foxes end yet another disappointing year upstate.  Siena will start getting prepared for the dynamic backcourt of Niagara in the quarters.

11 people hit the mild upset here with Siena, and GrossSr and Waters both kept alive their longshot finalist pick.  Alex, Lynch, and Teddy all lost a semifinalist here in this one.

#7 Fairfield vs #10 St. Peter’s
It is a real disappoinment for the Fairfield Stags that they ended up here in the pigtail round because they have legit upper-league talent on this roster.  But, losing Ed Cooley to Providence in the offseason probably took its toll, as did some really tough losses, including two close losses to Niagara and OT losses at Loyola and at Manhattan.  If they can get past last-place St. Peter’s, the Stags will get to take on #2 Rider – whom they swept this year – so let’s not be too quick to rule out another deep Fairfield run in a MAAC tournament, which they always seem to fare well.

And, there is more CTC intrigue in the late game tonight, though more for later rounds, as only Lazarow, Lynch, Primm and Waters went with the Peacocks in the upset here, with neither having them beating Rider in the quarters.  But, ten of the FU fans (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Dave, Doogan, GrossJr, J, RDoc, and Teddy) are riding the Stags past Rider in the quarters (man, that was terrible…), and Dave has them going all the way to the finals.  More brackets will be busted if St. Peter’s takes out FU in the nightcap.

Fairfield 54 – St. Peter’s 47
Fairfield nearly blew a big lead down the stretch, but held on to beat the Peacocks and move on to face #2 Rider in the quarters.  Derek Needham dropped 24 for the Stags.

20 people got this one right, half of whom keeping alive a semifinalist, and Dave, who keeps a finalist alive.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1  Niagara (3)
• #2  Rider (2)
• #3  Loyola (MD) (10)
• #4 Iona (7)
• #5 Canisius (2)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #10 St. Peter’s (Lazarow, Lynch, Primm & Waters)
• QF – #9 Siena (GrossSr & Waters)
• SF – #9 Siena (GrossSr & Waters)
• Champ – #5 Canisius (Dave & Gersh)

Previous CTC Champions

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

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Lohse (’13) – 202.5
2. Doogan – 162.5
3. GrossJr – 162.5
4. RDoc – 162.5
5. Mac – 152.5
6. Teddy (’12) – 152.5
7. Lazarow – 135.5
8. Alexi – 112.5
9. Bry (’09, ’10*) – 112.5
10. J (’08) – 112.5
11. Alex – 92.5
12. Lynch – 77.5
13. Stumpf – 77.5
14. Caleb – 60
15. PapaCim – 60
16. Cheryl – 50
17. Dave – 50
18. LohseJr – 35
19. Scoot – 35
20. Gersh – 25
21. GrossSr – 25
22. Rikey – 25
23. Primm (’11) – 20
24. Waters – 20

The Sun Belt is down to 11 teams after the defection of Denver to the WAC, but it might as well have been 10 teams fighting for second place this year, as Middle Tennessee St. is at least one cut above the rest, if not two or three (if that even makes any sense…).  The Blue Raiders are a true tournament team no matter what happens this weekend, but the Committee probably disagrees, so they should probably just make it official and win the thing.  They were supposed to get some resistance this year from the likes of Western Kentucky, AR-Little Rock, and Florida-Atlantic, but they all struggled at times and really posed very little threat.  But, the true disappoinment comes from North Texas, who plays in this low-major conference with a guy named Tony Mitchell – a projected NBA lottery pick – and yet barely avoided a last-place finish.  The interesting thing about that is that the Mean Green finished 9th, which lines them up with MTSU in the quarters, if they can get past LA-Lafayette.  More out of default with the expected contenders never materializing, but it was a nice year for second-place Arkansas St., third-place South Alabama, and fourth-place FIU (coached by some guy named “Richard Pitino”).

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 24 points)

#4 Florida-International vs #6 Western Kentucky
The final everyone expected, right?  Well, not exactly.  But, honestly, other than Middle, these two teams are as talented and/or hot as anyone else in the conference, so if not for the top-seed, these two are as good as any.  And, it will be a good game because there are some pretty good guards in this game, including Malik Smith for FIU and T.J. Price for WKU.

Nobody has either of these teams winning this tournament, so the Sun Belt scoring is over.  Congrats to Lazarow on taking his first ever CTC conference title in this is inaugural season.  He will always remember his first CTC conference crown…

Western Kentucky 65 – Florida-International 63
WKU coach, Ray Harper, who took over right before the 2012 Sun Belt tournament has done nothing except lead a 7-seed and a 6-seed to back-to-back Sun Belt tournament championships.  I am not sure what Coach Harper does differently in these tournaments, but he has a knack for the one-and-done format, huh?  Unfortunately, another subpar regular season might put the Hilltoppers back in the First Four in Dayton.  We will see.  Either way, it was another great run for a talented WKU squad.

No one had either of these teams, so no CTC impacts here.  Lazarow wins his first ever CTC conference title. 

SEMIFINALS (March 10th – 16 points each)

#1 Middle Tennessee St. vs #4 Florida-International
Anyone who follows the advanced metrics and tempo-free ranking systems knows that Middle Tennessee St. is clearly good enough to make the NCAA Tournament whether or not they win the Sun Belt.  That being said, they probably will win the Sun Belt.  But, this semifinal will be a big test, as FIU is playing their best basketball of the year at just the right time.  The Golden Panthers knocked off Little Rock in the quarters and Coach Pitino keeps his boys fearless.

23 people have Middle in this one – 19 of whom picked them to win this tournament.  Waters is all by himself on FIU here, so he could pick up a quick 34 points on the whole rest of the field if he hits this upset.

Florida-International 61 – Middle Tennessee St. 57
I already know that I am going to be really angry on Selection Sunday because the Committee will not include a MUCH-deserving MTSU team for its field of 68.  Don’t worry, we won’t be deprived of watching Maryland or Baylor or Cincinnati in the Dance because everyone wants to see mediocre basketball teams qualify over more-deserving teams that don’t play on ESPN every week…sorry for the rant.  This was a nice win for FIU, as they led nearly wire-to-wire and will now play for the auto-bid.  Hey, there is always the chance that Louisville wins the Big East tournament and steals a 1-seed – then maybe FIU will get the 16-seed in that region and we will have Father vs. Son in the first round…

Waters gets a huge upset here.  It’s always nice to be the ONLY ONE on an upset pick.  34 quick points for Waters, while everyone else cashes nothin’.  19 people lost their Sun Belt champion here.

#2 Arkansas St. vs #6 Western Kentucky
The Red Wolves survived overtime against Troy in the quarterfinals, while WKU won a really hard-fought game against South Alabama to set up a good semifinal here.  The Hilltoppers are playing their 3rd game in 3 nights, so fatigue could play a factor here, as well as the partisan crowd here in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

This semifinal spot in the CTC was all over the map.  Eight people (Cheryl, Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, J, Lynch, PapaCim, and Primm) have already lost it with either USA, FAU, or Troy.  Five people (GrossJr, Lazarow, Mac, Scoot, and Teddy) have WKU in a nice upset here.  The other 11 have Arkansas St.  Stumpf and Waters have the most at stake with the Red Wolves, as they are their champions.  No one has WKU winning this tournament.

Western Kentucky 58 – Arkansas St. 56
Another thriller in the Sun Belt tournament (this tournament never seems to disappoint!), as the Hilltoppers pull off their second upset in as many days, eliminating 2nd-seeded Arkansas St. on a game-winner by stud sophomore, T.J. Price.  Price – who probably has a Sun Belt Player of the Year plaque in his future – had a game-high 24 and, with MTSU’s loss in the early game, WKU has a good chance of yet another trip to the Big Dance.  A tough way for a good season to end for Ark State.

GrossJr, Lazarow, Mac, Scoot, and Teddy all hit this solid upset pick.  Stumpf and Waters lost their champions.

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th – 8 points each)

#4 Florida-International vs #5 AR-Little Rock
This is an interesting matchup between two interesting teams going in two interestingly different directions.   Despite two wins to close out the season, UALR has been on a bit of a slide after a hot start to conference play.  FIU, on the other hand, has been climbing up the standings rather steadily.  And, if nature or nurture matters at all, then they have a coach who knows his way around a conference tournament.  Rick Pitino’s son, Richard, replaced Isaiah Thomas as the FIU head man and has immediately made this program a lot better.

A small majority has UALR in the mild upset here, as 11 people (Cheryl, Gersh, Lazarow, Lohse, LohseJr, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, and Waters) took FIU.  Waters has the most at stake here, as he is the only one with either of these teams beating MTSU in the semis, as he has FIU in title game.

Florida-International 69 – AR-Little Rock 54
Junior guard, Malik Smith, hit 8 three-pointers, as the Golden Panthers advance to the semifinals with a surprisingly easy 15-point win over a decent UALR team that really thought of themselves as a potential sleeper here.  It looks like it might be Richard Pitino’s team that could be the sleeper.

Eleven people got this right, including Waters, who is the only one with FIU winning again in the semis.

#1 Middle Tennessee St. vs #8 LA-Lafayette
The Ragin’ Cajuns took care of Tony Mitchell and North Texas in the opening round, and now they get a crack at the conference’s best team.  Middle Tennessee enters the tournament riding a 16-game winning streak (the longest in the nation) and have actually entered the bubble conversation if they somehow stumble in this tournament.  Needless to say, I think they are CLEARLY a tournament team, but they probably will make it a moot point.  That being said, the Cajuns are always tough in this tournament, so looking past them would be a bad idea.

Everyone has MTSU here, with 19 people picking them to win this tournament.

Middle Tennessee St. 81 – LA-Lafayette 66
17 in a row for the Blue Raiders, as MTSU handles Lafayette with relative ease and will cruise into the semis to take on Florida-International.

Everyone got this one right, with 19 people keeping alive their champion.

#3 South Alabama vs #6 Western Kentucky
The USA Jaguars were clearly the “best of the rest” in the Sun Belt this year, finishing two games better than Ark State, but because of the division preference, ended up as the 3-seed.  They still earned a bye, but now have to face a pretty tough Hilltopper team that is a lot better than their 6-seed might indicate.  The Hilltoppers crushed LA-Monroe in the opening round on Friday, but have to step it up even more to beat a USA team that has a win over Florida St. on its resume this year.

Only nine people (Caleb, Cheryl, Dave, Gersh, GrossSr, LohseJr, Lynch, Primm, and Rikey) went with the favored Jaguars here.  Cheryl, Gersh, GrossSr, Lynch, and Primm have USA going to the finals.  Lynch and Primm have them winning this tournament.  GrossJr, Lazarow, Mac, Scoot, and Teddy all have the Hilltoppers going to the finals, but no one has them winning it.

Western Kentucky 62 – South Alabama 59
In a great game, where neither team had more than a 5-point lead the entire second half, the Hilltoppers’ Jamal Crook got a steal and scored the go-ahead layup with :27 seconds left, giving WKU a thrilling quarterfinal victory over a very good USA team.  It is a tough way for the season to end for the Jaguars, but WKU is a good team that had some bad luck to finish .500 in the league.  Watch out for the Hilltoppers.

A nice upset pick for 15 people here, as Lynch and Primm lose their Sun Belt champions.  Cheryl, Gersh, and GrossSr lost a finalist here.  GrossJr, Lazarow, Mac, Scoot, and Teddy all keep alive a finalist with the win here.

#2 Arkansas St. vs #10 Troy
The Trojans outlasted FAU in the opening round in overtime and now get to take on the 2nd-seeded Red Wolves of Arkansas St. in the quarters.  ASU had a really nice season, winning their division and earning this #2-seed and a spot in the bracket opposite Middle, so they can take their chances with potential upsets up top.  But, they should be careful here because this Troy team has been feisty all year.

Dave is the only one with Troy here (he actually has them going to the finals), but Cheryl, Gersh, J, and PapaCim have all already lost this game with FAU winning here.  Stumpf and Waters both have Arkansas St. winning this tournament, so they need the Red Wolves to survive here.

Arkansas St. 68 – Troy 63 (OT)
The second night in a row where the Trojans have to work overtime, but this time they couldn’t pull it out.  Arkansas St. overcame some really poor shooting to survive a tough underdog here and move on to the semis to face another tough underdog, Western Kentucky.  Troy is young and should be better next year, though their program is still a-ways from really pushing the top of the Sun Belt.

Stumpf and Waters keep alive their champions, while Dave loses a finalist.

OPENING ROUND (March 8th – 4 points each)

#6 Western Kentucky vs #11 LA-Monroe
After a crazy season last year that saw the coach fired in February, the seniors sent to the bench, and the underclassmen step up and nearly make the tournament, everyone thought that they would continue that momentum into this year and possibly challenge Mid Tenn for the title.  Well, the young’ins are still young, and the Hilltoppers simply never put the pieces together for any legitimate stretch of time.  The pieces are still there, though, so it would not be crazy to think that there is a run left in these guys, especially considering they get a likely overmatched LA-Monroe team right off the bat.  The winner here will get 3rd-seeded South Alabama in the quarters on Saturday.

No one has Monroe in the big upset here, but a lot of people have a lot at stake with Western.  GrossJr, Lazarow, Mac, Scoot, and Teddy all have WKU reaching the finals, while ten more (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Doogan, J, Lohse, PapaCim, RDoc, Stumpf, and Waters) have them in the semis.

Western Kentucky 74 – LA-Monroe 60
The Hilltoppers, as expected, pretty much dominated this game from start to finish cruising into the quarterfinals on Saturday against the 3rd-seeded South Alabama Jaguars.

Everyone got this one right, and 5 people kept a finalist alive, and 10 more kept alive a semifinalst.

#8 LA-Lafayette vs #9 North Texas
In, by far, the best “nicknamed” conference, two of the best go head-to-head here in the opening round.  The Mean Green of North Texas – led by future NBA lottery pick, Tony Mitchell, and NO ONE else – will take on the LA-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.  Both teams are used to be at or near the top of the Sun Belt, so for these two to be playing in the 8/9 game is bizarre – and possibly terrifying for top-seeded Middle Tennessee St., who awaits the winner in the quarters on Saturday.

Eleven people (Alex, Bry, Cheryl, Dave, Doogan, Lazarow, Lynch, RDoc, Scoot, Stumpf, and Teddy) are going with the mild North Texas upset here.  No one has either of these teams beating Middle in the quarters.

LA-Lafayette 74 – North Texas 55
It is hard to believe that Tony Mitchell – projected NBA lottery pick – could be on any team that loses 20 games while playing in the Sun Belt.  But, that is what happened this year.  Mitchell picked up a double-double in this one, but his Mean Green got blown out in the second half, ending an incredibly disappointing season.  The Ragin’ Cajuns get to move on a take their chances with a stellar Middle Tennessee team Saturday in the quarters.

13 people got this one right.

#7 Florida-Atlantic vs #10 Troy
An expected step backwards for FAU was taken this year, but the lower expectations do not change the fact that the Owls had conference-title level of personnel the past two or three seasons and never got over the hump.  Now, they have to feel the pain of rebuilding.  They will take on a Troy team that seems to be always rebuilding, but actually showed some real signs of life in January and early February, before losing 5 straight to end the season.  The slide was much more a product of a hugely back-loaded schedule, but it is still hard to get excited about a team that hasn’t won a game since Valentine’s Day.

Six people have the first-round upset here (Alex, Bry, Dave, Lazarow, Primm, RDoc, and Stumpf), while Dave is going all-in on the Trojans.  Not only does he have them winning again in the quarters, but he has them winning again in the semis to reach the finals, which would be worth a cool 120 points in a 2x conference.  As for FAU, there is a lot at stake for some here, as well.  With the most at stake are J and PapaCim, who have FAU reaching the finals.  Throw in Cheryl, Gersh, and Teddy, who have the Owls in the semis, and there is a decent contingent of entries who need FAU to come through.

Troy 81 – Florida-Atlantic 79 (OT)
Troy’s Emil Jones scored 9 of the team’s 11 points in overtime and assisted on the other two, as the Trojans pulled off a nice overtime upset of FAU.  FAU ends a very disappointing season, but the future might be bright based on the promise of one guy – Stefan Moody.  The 5’10” freshman averaged nearly 16 points per game in his freshman season and did everything he could – dropping 29 – to pull out this opening round game.  He could be good enough to keep the Owls on the Sun Belt map, single-handedly, for the next couple of years.

Alex, Bry, Dave, Lazarow, Primm, RDoc, and Stumpf all hit this upset pick.  Dave breathes a sigh of relief, as he keeps alive a finalist here.  J and PapaCim weren’t that lucky, as they had FAU in the finals.  Cheryl, Gersh, and Teddy lost semifinalists here with the Owls.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1  Middle Tennessee St. (19)
• #2  Arkansas St. (3)
• #3  South Alabama (2)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #10 Troy (Alex, Bry, Dave, Primm, RDoc & Stumpf)
• QF – #10 Troy (Dave)
• SF – #10 Troy (Dave)
• Champ – #3 South Alabama (Lynch & Primm)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Alexi
• 2009 – Ina
• 2010 – Stri
• 2011 – J
• 2012 – Teddy

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Lazarow (’13) – 104
2. Mac – 92
3. Scoot – 88
4. Waters – 86
5. GrossJr – 84
6. Teddy (’12) – 72
7. RDoc – 64
8. Stumpf – 64
9. Alex – 56
10. Bry – 56
11. Lohse – 52
12. Alexi (’08) – 44
13. PapaCim – 44
14. Doogan – 40
15. Primm – 40
16. J (’11) – 36
17. LohseJr – 32
18. Dave – 28
19. Caleb – 24
20. Gersh – 24
21. GrossSr – 24
22. Rikey – 24
23. Cheryl – 20
24. Lynch – 20

The SoCon made the encouraging move this year away from the divisional-based seeding system for their conference tournament, with the exception of granting the top two seeds to the two division winners.  The thing that hasn’t changed, however, are the team names at the top of the standings.  It’s not the Steph Curry Davidson, but it is the Jake Cohen Davidson, and they are, once again, far and away, the best team in the SoCon – winning it by 3 games at 17-1.  College of Charleston, who has created the “second banana” niche here much like a SoCon’s version of St. Mary’s in the WCC, finished as the 2nd-best team in the league, but will get the #3-seed because they are in the same division as Davidson.  The Northern Division winner, Elon, is a relatively deserving #2-seed, though, as the Phoenix had a very solid year all-around.  We also saw some real surprises in Samford and Chattanooga, while the big disappoinment came from UNC-Greensboro, who was thought to challenge, if not Davidson or CofC, at least Elon for the North title.  GA-Southern was also a bit disappointing, though they were the only team to beat Davidson (and, then did so by 13).  The hottest team in the non-Davidson portion of this league is probably Appalachian St., who made up for a slow start by earning the 4th-seed and the bye via a double-OT win over Samford last week.  We should also give a shout-out to The Citadel, who won 5 conference games and were competitive all year as a program that is usually a SoCon doormat.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 18 points)

#1 Davidson vs #3 College of Charleston
The two most accomplished programs in the SoCon get to battle yet again for conference supremacy.  The Wildcats of Davidson are the clear favorites, but you can never rule out a Charleston team that has put together a 24-win season and is always tough in these situations.  As much as I hate to admit it because I think it’s wrong, but Davidson has no legit shot at an at-large, so their great season comes down to these 40 minutes.

PapaCim (App State), Gersh and Stumpf (Elon) are the only three that can’t get points here.  GrossSr, Mac, and Waters have CofC.  The other 18 all have Davidson.  If Davidson wins, Bry will take the 2013 SoCon title.  If CofC wins, GrossSr will get that crown. 

Davidson 74 – College of Charleston 55
This season was kind of a forgone conclusion before it started.  This Davidson team is a good bit better than the rest of the SoCon, but we’ve all seen significantly better teams not win their conference tournaments (see: Tennessee, Middle).  And, this could have been the year, as SoCon POY Jake Cohen had a rough tournament.  The ‘Cats nearly lost in the semis to App State.  But, even without Cohen at his best, his supporting cast – namely, the underrated Da’Mon Brooks – stepped up in a big way in Monday’s championship, and the ‘Cats ride into the Dance as a really scary first-round opponent for someone.

18 people correctly got this champion.  GrossSr, Mac, and Waters missed the upset pick here.  Bry clinches his first ever CTC SoCon title.

SEMIFINALS (March 10th – 12 points each)

#1 Davidson vs #4 Appalachian St.
Davidson has been head-and-shoulders the best team in the SoCon from the start of the season.  But, App State has been playing really well as of late, and might not be the rollover that Davidson hopes to prepare for a tough final against either Elon of CofC.  App State took care of 12th-seeded Furman in the quarters, while Davidson plastered #9 GA-Southern.

Gersh, GrossSr, PapaCim, and Waters all have App State in a nice upset pick here.  PapaCim has them winning it all, so this is big for him.  Everyone else has Davidson, including 18 people, who pegged them to win this tournament.

Davidson 65 – Appalachian St. 62
Multiple times, including well into the second half, it looked like App State was in total control of this game.  They had several double-digit leads and didn’t trail at all for the first 33 minutes of this semifinal, and Nathan Healy got a good look to tie at the buzzer, but it didn’t go.  In the end, it was just too much Jake Cohen and Da’Mon Brooks, as Davidson closed out a nice comeback to advance to Monday’s championship.  App State was really a play away from going to the title game where I think they’d have had a decent chance to beat either of their other semifinalists.

PapaCim loses the most with the Davidson comeback, as he loses his SoCon champ.  Gersh, GrossSr, and Waters also lose finalists.  Everyone else got this right, including the 18 Davidson title supporters.

#2 Elon vs #3 College of Charleston
The top 4 seeds all came through in the quarters, setting the stage for a really good SoCon semifinal double-header.  Both of these teams knocked off talented teams in the last round, with Elon beating the underachieving 10-seed, Greensboro, while CofC knocked off the up-and-coming 6-seed WCU.  It has been a great season for Elon and a typically solid season for CofC, but their season might be defined by this game.

A CTC SoCon title might be defined here, as well, as all 24 people have a horse in this race, with the game split just enough to make it important.  Most people had CofC in the mild upset here, but seven (Gersh, GrossJr, J, Lohse, PapaCim, Primm, and Waters) have Elon here.  Also, of the six people that didn’t pick Davidson to win the tournament, five of them took one of these two teams.  Gersh and Stumpf have Elon; GrossSr, Mac, and Waters have CofC.

College of Charleston 68 – Elon 60
The Cougars scored the first 11 points of the game and the first 8 points of the second half to really take control of this game at those key times.  The got 19 from their senior center from London, Andrew Lawrence, and an unlikely double-double from Willis Hall.  The Cougars will now take on their perennial nemisis, Davidson.

Gersh and Stumpf both lost champions here.  GrossSr, Mac, and Waters kept theirs alive.  18 people got this mild upset right.

QUARTERFINALS (March 9th – 6 points each)

#1 Davidson vs #9 GA-Southern
This Davidson team is really, really good.  I would not want to see them in the big tournament in two weeks, but they won’t get there unless they win their next three here in Asheville.  Game One comes against a GA-Southern team that handled Wofford in the opening round on Friday.

Everyone has Davidson here, with a large majority picking the ‘Cats to win this tournament.

Davidson 86 – Georgia-Southern 59
Nick Cochran hit 5 threes and dished out 7 assists, as the top-seeded Wildcats cruised to an easy win here in the quarters.  GA-Southern – the one team to beat Davidson in the SoCon regular season put up zero resistance.

Everyone got this one right, though the 6 people that don’t have Davidson winning this tournament (Gersh, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Stumpf, and Waters) probably aren’t thrilled by the ease with with the ‘Cats dominated.

#4 Appalachian St. vs #12 Furman
The Paladins of Furman pulled off a big SoCon upset on Friday, knocking out a solid Samford team, and now they get an Appalachian St. team that has been playing its best basketball of the year recently.

Seven people (Alex, Caleb, Dave, Doogan, Lazarow, Lohse, and Lynch) have already lost this game with Samford, but the other 17 have App State here.  PapaCim has the most at stake with App State, as he has them winning this tournament.  Gersh, GrossSr, and Waters all have them in the finals, so they would like a survival here.

Appalachian St. 74 – Furman 60
After upsetting Samford in the opening round to end its 10-game losing streak, Furman came out a little flat in the quarterfinals against #4 App State, and it was enough for the Mountaineers to build a big first half lead and hold on to advance to the semis to take on Davidson.

17 people got this one right, but PapaCim is the happiest of all, as he has App State winning this tournament.  Gersh, GrossSr, and Waters keep alive a finalist. 

#2 Elon vs #10 UNC-Greensboro
Greensboro looked good on Friday in an upset win over Chattanooga, but now they take on an Elon team that has had a heck of a season.  Led by the big Lucas Troutman, the Elon Phoenix already have a 20-win season in the books and now they are looking for more.  They are three wins from securing a trip to the Big Dance.

Doogan, GrossSr, RDoc, and Teddy all have Greensboro here in what would be a fantastic upset pick.  Everyone else has Elon, except Mac, who has Chattanooga and has thus already lost this game.  Gersh and Stumpf both have Elon winning this tournament, so they need a W here.

Elon 68 – UNC-Greensboro 61
2nd-seeded Elon turned a real back-and-forth first half into a more comfortable double-digit lead by opening the second half on an 8-0 run.  Greensboro put up a nice struggle here, but a good Phoenix team was just too much down the stretch and will advance to the semis.  Greensboro’s disappointing season comes to a close here in Asheville.

Doogan, GrossSr, RDoc, and Teddy missed on a solid upset pick here.  Mac also lost the game, as he had Chattanooga.  Everyone else got it right.  Gersh and Stumpf get an important win, as they are the only two with Elon winning the SoCon tournament. 

#3 College of Charleston vs #6 Western Carolina
After a solid 15-point win over The Citadel, WCU gets to take a crack at the College of Charleston in a pretty interesting quarterfinal.  The College of Charleston had a typical CofC season – winning some nice non-conf games, suffering a few head-scratching losses in conference, but, in the end, putting together a really solid season.  Their goal is not to top it off with a trip to the Dance.

J, Lohse, PapaCim, and Primm all have WCU in the upset here.  A slew of people have CofC in the finals, with GrossSr, Mac, and Waters all picking them to win this tournament.

College of Charleston 78 – Western Carolina 70
In a pretty dramatic game of big runs by both teams, the Charleston Cougars ended up on top, ending a season of missed opportunities for a good WCU team that could be REALLY good next year.  This year, though, Charleston is a kind of forgotten team here and they are two games from winning this tournament.

A Charleston title would be good new for GrossSr, Mac, and Waters, as they all have that.  J, Lohse, PapaCim, and Primm missed on this upset here in the quarters. 

OPENING ROUND (March 8th – 3 points each)

#8 Wofford vs #9 Georgia-Southern
Wofford should return to SoCon prominence very shortly, but this year, they were incredibly young and inexperienced.  They will take on a disappointing GA-Southern team in a very intriguing – if inconsequential – 8/9 game, with the winner to get Davidson in the quarters.  Wofford’s sophomore Karl Cochran has SoCon POY potential and is fun to watch.

Seven people (Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, Lazarow, LohseJr, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, and Waters) went with GA-Southern in the upset here, and no one had either of these teams beating Davidson on Saturday.

Georgia-Southern 60 – Wofford 44
Wofford’s season comes to a close thanks, in part, to a 3-20 performance from long range and a 38-26 disadvantage on the glass.  The GA-Southern Eagles can now start preparing for conference behemoth Davidson in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Nine people hit this minor upset for a whopping 6 points.

#5 Samford vs #12 Furman
Picked dead-last in the preseason rankings and putting together a dreadful non-conference portion of the season, Samford found something in conference play, finishing 9-9 and, if not for a double-OT loss last week at App State, would have earned a bye in the tournament.  Furman has mid-conference talent, but has been just riddled with injuries and enters the tournament on a 10-game losing streak.  They do still have senior forward, Colin Reddick, though, so they should be considered dangerous.  The winner of this one will face off with a red-hot Appalachian St. team in the quarters on Saturday.

Five people (Bry, Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, and RDoc) took a big shot here at the Furman upset.  Another five (Alex, Caleb, Dave, Doogan, and Lohse) have Samford beating App State next round to reach the semis.

Furman 55 – Samford 51
MADNESS!  Taking a page from the Loyola Marymount playbook, the Furman Paladins enter the conference tournament with a double-digit losing streak only to shock their opening round opponent, Samford, whose season comes to a close in devastating fashion, as they lost the final two regular season games in OT and double-OT (either one of which would have given them the bye in the conference tournament) and then they lose to a Furman team that had lost 10 straight to end their season.  Samford’s best player, Raijon Kelly goes 1-13 from the field for 3 points on the day.  Fortunately, he’s only a sophomore, so there are better days ahead for this Bulldog program, but the way this season ended is going to sting.  Furman will move on to face App State in the quarters on Saturday.

Bry, Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, and RDoc all hit on this huge upset pick.  Alex, Caleb, Dave, Doogan, and Lohse lost two games here with the single Samford loss.  On the heels of this win, Gersh and Bry take over the top two spots in the overall standings.

#7 Chattanooga vs #10 UNC-Greensboro
The Mocs of Chattanooga have been playing their best basketball down the stretch, finishing with four wins in their final seven games.  But, they have the tall feat today of slowing down the conference’s leading scorer, Trevis Simpson.  Simpson’s heroics this year were not enough to avoid a very disappointing season for a Greensboro team that had conference title aspirations.  But, there is a path here for Greensboro, if they can take care of a mediocre Mocs team here, then they get a shot at Elon in the quarters on Saturday.  There is a lot of talent with very few results here, so any result is possible.

Most people actually like Greensboro here in the upset, as only Caleb, Cheryl, LohseJr, Mac, and Rikey picked the Mocs.  Mac has the most at stake with Chattanooga, as he has them beating Elon in the quarters.  Of the upset pickers here, Doogan, GrossSr, RDoc, and Teddy have the most at stake, as those four have Greensboro reaching the semis.

UNC-Greensboro 87 – Chattanooga 81
Greensboro’s 6’1″ Derrell Armstrong  went for 25 points and 8 boards, and the Spartans pulled off a mild upset in a day of upsets here in the SoCon.  The talented Greensboro team now gets a shot at 2nd-seeded Elon in the quarters on Saturday.  Chattanooga will have a long offseason to figure stuff out.

19 people hit on this upset pick, and Doogan, GrossSr, RDoc, and Teddy keep alive their semifinalist here.  Mac lost a semifinalist here.

#6 Western Carolina vs #11 The Citadel
Like Greensboro, WCU probably feels like they underperformed in the SoCon this year.  They have the pieces to be an upper-division team, but finished a disappointing 9-9 in conference, missing out on a first-round bye.  Their first round opponent will be a feisty Citadel team who won 5 conference games, which is about 4 or 5 more than was expected, including a sweep of Furman and road wins at App State and GA-Southern.  This is no walk in the park for WCU, though they may be looking ahead to a quarterfinal date with College of Charleston on Saturday.

Bry, Gersh, and Waters are the only three to take a shot on The Citadel here.  J, Lohse, PapaCim, and Primm have the most at stake with WCU here, as they have them beating CofC before losing in the semis.

Western Carolina 76 – The Citadel 61
The Citadel kept it close for about 10 minutes, but the Catamounts went on a big run to end the first half and never looked back.  Stud junior guard, Trey Sumler, poured in 27 for WCU, as they move on to face College of Charleston on Saturday.  The Citadel ends a somewhat decent year for a program that doesn’t usually produce all that much as far as results on the hardwood.

Bry, Gersh, and Waters miss the upset pick here; the other 21 all got it right.  J, Lohse, PapaCim, and Primm keep alive their lively semifinalist.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1  Davidson (18)
• #2  Elon (2)
• #3  College of Charleston (3)
• #4 Appalachian St. (1)

Biggest Upsets

• R1 – #12 Furman (Bry, Gersh, GrossJr, GrossSr, & RDoc)
• QF – #10 UNC-Greensboro (Doogan, GrossSr, RDoc & Teddy)
• SF – #4 Appalachian St. (Gersh, GrossSr, PapaCim & Waters)
• Champ – #4 Appalachian St. (PapaCim)

Previous CTC Champions

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

FINAL 2013 SCORES

1. Bry (’13) – 113
2. RDoc – 104
3. GrossJr (’11) – 93
4. Alexi – 86
5. Lynch (’09) – 86
6. Scoot – 86
7. Alex – 80
8. Cheryl – 80
9. Dave – 80
10. LohseJr – 80
11. Rikey – 80
12. Teddy – 80
13. Caleb – 74
14. Doogan – 74
15. GrossSr – 74
16. Lazarow – 74
17. Primm – 69
18. J – 63
19. Gersh – 60
20. Waters – 59
21. Lohse – 57
22. Stumpf – 51
23. Mac – 50
24. PapaCim – 33

It’s not often (and by “not often” I mean “absolutely never”) that the #1 team in the nation appears during the first week of the CTC, but that is going to be the case here in 2013 (and, my thoughts on that are documented), as the Gonzaga Bulldogs are the AP’s #1 team in the country.  But, we have to sort through plenty of WCC riffraff before we welcome the Zags (or their tourney-bound conferencemate, St. Mary’s).  Gonzaga dominated the WCC yet again this year, as St. Mary’s was yet again the strong #2.  A solid year from Santa Clara wasn’t enough to crack the perennial top 3, as BYU held on to that 3rd spot.  The bottom of this conference was rather poor, with Portland and LMU having dreadful seasons, and San Diego ruining a promising season by not winning a game in the month of February.

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 42 points)

#1 Gonzaga vs #2 St. Mary’s
The dream championship matchup in the WCC.  A St. Mary’s team that thinks they belong in the Dance against a Gonzaga team that thinks they belong as the king.  This should be an interesting test, as the one thing that Gonzaga may struggle with is perimeter defense, and SMC’s Matthew Dellavadova is one of the best guards in the country.  This is must-watch TV on an otherwise calm CTC day.

23 people have Gonzaga winning this tournament.  Stumpf is the lone dissenting opinion, as he has St. Mary’s.  A Gael win tonight will give him a 56-point gain over the entire rest of the field.  Stumpf’s St. Mary’s pick is good enough to take him to the 2013 WCC crown is they win.  If Gonzaga wins, GrossSr will win the WCC this year.

Gonzaga 65 – St. Mary’s 51
Do the right thing, Committee!  THIS is the #1 overall seed, my friends.  They were 5-0 against the Big XII, including wins at Oklahoma St. and K-State and neutral court wins over Oklahoma and Baylor.  They were a freak inbounds pass away from beating Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse with College GameDay there (the home team always wins with GameDay).  And, they have now beaten a really good SMC team three times – all pretty convincingly.  You really think this team wouldn’t have won the Pac-12 by 2 or 3 games?  I think they probably win the SEC and Big XII, as well.  Hell, I’d even take my chances with the Zags in the Big East.  The only conference I think that they don’t win is the Big Ten, but none of those teams has a better resume for the top seed.  Last night was another impressive performance for a LOADED front line, though it would have been interesting if Jorden Page had been healthy the whole game.

Everyone except Stumpf got this one right, with GrossSr taking the 2013 CTC WCC crown – his first in his inaugural season.

SEMIFINALS (March 9th – 28 points each)

#1 Gonzaga vs #9 Loyola Marymount
After three crazy upsets by LMU, they get the pleasure of playing the #1 team in the nation.  I have been saying from the beginning of the season that this is the best Gonzaga team in program history, and now it seems pretty obvious.  But, this season will be defined by what they do in the next tournament, not this one.  But, it would be nice to complete a WCC title with a tournament win to lock up a #1 seed in the Dance.  They got lucky to not have to face solid Santa Clara or San Francisco teams, while instead they get a 1-15 LMU team that is playing their 4th game in 4 nights.  This might be the biggest upset in the history of conference tournaments if it comes through.

Everyone has Gonzaga winning this game, with 23 people taking the Zags to win the tournament.  Stumpf, the only one with St. Mary’s should be rooting for LMU here.

Gonzaga 66 – Loyola Marymount 48
Elias Harris goes for 21 and 8 in a very easy semifinal win for the Zags.

Everyone got this right.

#2 St. Mary’s vs #6 San Diego
The second quarterfinal upset of the night on Friday night was a 3-point USD upset of of BYU.  The Toreros, after beating Pepperdine in the second round and then BYU on Friday, will have to take on a very good Gaels team that still has work to do to assure themselves of another trip to the Dance.  Personally, I think St. Mary’s belongs, but I definitely understand the issues with their resume (namely, that they hadn’t beaten anyone until their BracketBusters win over Creighton), but I think that a semifinal win here should cement an at-large on this very soft bubble.  And, if they do get in, Matthew Dellavadova may become a household name – he’s that good.

GrossSr has the huge upset pick of San Diego here.  Dave and Doogan have both already lost this game with BYU.  The other 21 all have St. Mary’s, including Stumpf, who has them cutting down the nets.

St. Mary’s 69 – San Diego 66 (OT)
The Toreros kept Dellavadova in check for over 39 minutes, but he hit a game-tying three-pointer with :10 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, where the Gaels hung on to advance to a great championship with Gonzaga.  Dellavadova only had 7, but Brad Waldow stepped up with 23 points and 16 boards to avoid a possible bubble-bursting loss for St. Mary’s and ended an up-and-down season for USD.

21 people got this right, but GrossSr was oh so close to a pretty big upset.  Dave and Doogan lost ground here, as well, because of their BYU picks.  The SMC win here was biggest for Stumpf, as he is the only one that doesn’t have Gonzaga winning the whole thing – he’s got St. Mary’s.

QUARTERFINALS (March 8th – 14 points each)

#4 Santa Clara vs #9 Loyola Marymount
If you haven’t seen Santa Clara play in the past season or two, and you enjoy guards who can flat-out SCORE, it might be worth checking out a Broncos game before Kevin Foster graduates – you’ll thank me later.  Foster – and a decent supporting cast – wound up playing a pretty solid “4th fiddle,” if you will, this year in the WCC behind the big boys of Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, and BYU.  He and his mates will open their WCC tournament on Friday night against a surprising foe.  They probably spent yesterday preparing for San Francisco, only to wake up this morning and find out that they have LMU on the docket in the quarters, as the Lions shocked USF Thursday night in an OT thriller.  The winner of this game will face #1 Gonzaga – not #1-seed…NUMBER ONE.

No one has Loyola Marymount in this game, but a few people (Doogan, Lazarow, Lynch, Scoot, Teddy, and Waters) all had USF here, so they are hoping for yet another LMU upset to zero out these points for everyone.

Loyola Marymount 60 – Santa Clara 58
MADNESS!!!  Anthony Ireland, who was huge all day, hits a driving layup with :05 seconds left to put the Lions up 1.  Then, LMU committed an AWFUL foul, sending an 80% free throw shooter to the line, who missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and the Lions held on to continue this unbelievable run after a 1-15 conference season.  It’s hard to believe that it will last any longer, as they will play their 4th game in 4 nights against the #1 team in the country, who has a ridiculously big and physical front line.  I can’t imagine they have anything left, but, remember when Georgia won the SEC tournament including winning two games in the SAME DAY?  So, in this crazy, crazy month, anything can happen.  A great career of Kevin Foster comes to a close here in disappointing fashion

All those that picked San Francisco to beat Santa Clara (Doogan, Lazarow, Lynch, Scoot, Teddy, and Waters) here can breathe a sigh of relief, as no one will get points here.

#3 BYU vs #6 San Diego
The Jimmer is long gone, but there is still a Davies left from the Jimmer team, a Carlino left from last year’s team, and a new guy this year coming off a Mormon mission, Tyler Haws, who can absolutely LIGHT UP the scorebook.  The Cougars are probably a severe longshot to earn an at-large bid this year, but they are still one of the 50-75 best teams in America, at worst, so they are worth keeping an eye on here.  USD survived #7 Pepperdine Thursday night, but will have to play a lot better Friday if they are going to pull off this big upset.  The winner here will face #2 St. Mary’s in the semis on Saturday.

Six people (GrossJr, GrossSr, J, Lynch, Scoot, and Waters) have the big USD upset here in the quarters.  GrossSr has them beating St. Mary’s in the semis to reach the finals.

San Diego 72 – BYU 69
Upset City in the WCC Friday night, as 6th-seeded San Diego ended any hopes at the NCAA tournament for BYU.  Nothing about the last month of basketball at USD looked like a semifinalist, but nothing all year about LMU made them look like a semifinalist and they won the early quarterfinal.

Six people nailed this big upset pick, including GrossSr, who keeps alive another big upset pick next round.  Dave and Doogan each lost a finalist here.

SECOND ROUND (March 7th – 7 points each)

#5 San Francisco vs #9 Loyola Marymount
Remember Rex Walters draining 3’s for Kansas all those years ago?  Okay, well, I do.  Now, he’s the next up-and-coming head coach and he turned in a pretty solid season as the head man at USF.  The Dons could have done a lot more, if not for some really tough, close losses, but they still finished right in the middle of the league, behind four pretty good teams.  And, with no seniors on the roster and budding stars in Cole Dickerson and Cody Doolin, this team should be an upper-division team next year.  LMU officially snapped their brutal 14-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a win in the pigtail game against Portland, but they have a bigger test on Thursday with the Dons.

Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, J, and Mac have all already lost this game with Portland.  GrossSr, PapaCim, and Primm all have a really nice upset pick of LMU here.  Everyone else has the Dons today, with Doogan, Lazarow, Lynch, Scoot, Teddy, and Waters all taking USF to win today and then beat Santa Clara tomorrow.

Loyola Marymount 61 – San Francisco 60 (OT)
MADNESS!  After entering the tournament on a 14-game losing streak, the LMU Lions upset Portland in the pigtail game and now ended a relatively disappointing season for Rex Walters’s team at USF.  Cole Dickerson did his part for what should be a really good Dons team next year, adding 23 points and 18 boards in the losing effort.  LMU will move on to face #4 Santa Clara in the quarters on Friday.

GrossSr, PapaCim, and Primm hit a really, really nice upset pick here, as the three of them pick up a cool THIRTY-FIVE points on the rest of the field.  Six people had USF winning again in the quarters, so they lost a couple games tonight.

#6 San Diego vs #7 Pepperdine
It was quite the interesting season for San Diego.  For much of the early part of the conference season, the Toreros actually looked like they might be the team that, at least, put up a fight against the Big Three in the WCC.  And, never more did it appear that way than the first two weekends in February, when they played Gonzaga to a 2-point loss on the 2nd, then beat LMU on the road on the 4th, then BEAT BYU on the 7th, and finally played St. Mary’s really tough on the 9th.  But, something happened after that.  They lost 4 straight, including a head-scratcher to Portland and slippped all the way down to this 6-spot.  Now, they have a second round date with Pepperdine today and, if they survive that, they have to take on BYU in the quarters.  The Waves, on the other hand, continue to suffer through a down period in the program, which, honestly, I cannot even fathom.  If I were the best high school player in America and I could go to any D-I school, tuition-free, the most beautiful campus in the country would certainly make my short list.  Isn’t Malibu a pretty amazing recruiting tool in and of itself?  It would be for me (coming from the guy that chose Lancaster, PA, as his college destination…)

Bry, Lazarow, PapaCim, and Primm are the only ones to take Pepperdine in this one, while none of them have the Waves going any further.  GrossJr, J, Lynch, Scoot, and Waters all have San Diego winning today and tomorrow to reach the semis.  GrossSr is the biggest San Diego believer, as he has them going all the way to the finals.

San Diego 62 – Pepperdine 59
In a close game throughout, the Toreros of San Diego held on to keep their season alive against 7th-seeded Pepperdine.  The Toreros will move on to the league’s quarterfinal round on Friday night against one of the big boys – BYU.

20 people got this one right (including GrossSr, who is, unbelievably still perfect in this bracket), 5 of whom kept alive a semifinalist with the Toreros here.

OPENING ROUND (March 6th – 3.5 points)

#8 Portland vs #9 Loyola Marymount
These two teams were bad – really bad – but it was only a surprise for one of them.  Portland knew that they didn’t have much this year, but for LMU, with the apparent talent they have on the roster, to go 1-15 in conference play, including a 14-game losing streak to enter the conference tournament is really terrible.  They will try and salvage something here in the tournament, but it has to start with Portland here in the pigtail game – and it doesn’t get much easier, as Rex Walters’s San Francisco team awaits the winner of this game in the next round.

Eight people (Alex, Bry, Doogan, GrossSr, LohseJr, PapaCim, Primm, and Waters) have LMU in the minor upset tonight.  GrossSr, PapaCim, and Primm have Marymount winning again tomorrow.  Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, J, and Mac all have Portland winning again tomorrow.  No one has either of these teams reaching the semis.

Loyola Marymount 65 – Portland 54
14-game losing streak?  That is old news.  Loyola Marymount – picked to finish in the top-half of the league – at least was not the first team out of the WCC tournament.  A rebuilding Portland team can look towards 2013-14, while LMU will try and salvage a little more respect on Thursday against 5th-seeded San Francisco.

Eight people nabbed this upset pick, while GrossSr, PapaCim, and Primm all keep alive an upset shot in the 2nd round with LMU.  Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, J, and Mac all lost two games today with Portland.

CTC UPDATE

Championship Picks

• #1  Gonzaga (23)
• #2  St. Mary’s (1)

Biggest Upsets

• R2 – #9 Loyola Marymount (GrossSr, PapaCim, Primm)
• QF – #6 San Diego (GrossJr, GrossSr, J, Lynch, Scoot, Waters)
• SF – #6 San Diego (GrossSr)
• Champ – #2 St. Mary’s (Stumpf)

Previous CTC Champions

• 2008 – Waters
• 2009 – Ina (perfect)
• 2010 – Lynch
• 2011 – Bry (perfect)
• 2012 – Alexi

FINAL 2013 SCORES:

1. GrossSr (’13) – 154
2. Waters (’08) – 147
3. GrossJr – 140
4. J – 140
5. Lynch (’10) – 140
6. PapaCim – 140
7. Primm – 140
8. Scoot – 140
9. Alex – 112
10. LohseJr – 112
11. Alexi (’12) – 105
12. Bry (’11*) – 105
13. Caleb – 105
14. Cheryl – 105
15. Gersh – 105
16. Lohse – 105
17. Mac – 105
18. RDoc – 105
19. Rikey – 105
20. Teddy – 105
21. Lazarow – 98
22. Doogan – 84
23. Dave – 77
24. Stumpf – 63

Mac wins his second day in a row, completing a perfect Missouri Valley bracket, moving into 3rd place.  Bry and RDoc remain barely ahead in the top 2 spots overall.  Lazarow has a huge day, jumping into the Top 10 from 22nd place.  Doogan also storms back – gaining 7 spots.  A good day for Teddy brings him out of the basement.

J falls for 2nd to 6th on the day, but Lynch took the biggest drop, as he lost 5 spots in the standings.  PapaCim, Stumpf, and Cheryl all dropped 4 spots each.  Gersh finished on the bottom of the day with just 42 points.

On Day Five, PapaCim and Lynch completed perfect A-Sun brackets to win the first CTC conference titles of 2013.  Gersh followed it up later that night with a perfect OVC bracket.  Here, on Day Six, Mac completed a perfect MVC bracket for the 2013 crown, while J defended his 2012 Big South title by winning it again here in 2013.

DAY SIX SCORES (Days Won)

1. Mac – 187 (2)
2. Lazarow – 179
3. RDoc – 172.5
4. Bry – 159 (2)
5. Teddy – 156.5
6. Alexi – 147
7. Alex – 139
8. Doogan – 128.5
9. Lohse – 124.5
10. GrossJr – 110.5
11. LohseJr – 104.5 (1)
12. Rikey – 104.5
13. Scoot – 96.5
14. Primm – 94 (1)
15. Caleb – 92.5
16. GrossSr – 86.5
17. J – 86.5 (1)
18. Stumpf – 82.5
19. Lynch – 79
20. Waters – 78.5
21. Dave – 74
22. PapaCim – 70
23. Cheryl – 48.5
24. Gersh – 42

OVERALL STANDINGS (Conferences Won):

1. Bry – 913
2. RDoc – 887
3. Mac – 882.5 (MVC*)
4. GrossJr – 827.5
5. Alexi – 824
6. J – 811.5 (Big South)
7. Alex – 774
8. Lohse – 759
9. PapaCim – 754 (A-Sun*)
10. Primm – 738.5
11. Lazarow – 737.5
12. Caleb – 711.5
13. LohseJr – 709.5
14. Doogan – 702.5
15. Scoot – 700
16. Stumpf – 699
17. Rikey – 696.5
18. Lynch – 690 (A-Sun*)
19. GrossSr – 684.5
20. Waters – 675
21. Teddy – 634.5
22. Gersh – 631 (OVC*)
23. Dave – 628.5
24. Cheryl – 625.5