Broad Street Believers

Another great season in the NEC is in the books, and it culminated with a solid tournament and the crowning of a rather undisputed champion tonight.

Lil Lohse, Mac, Primm, and Rikey all complete perfect NEC brackets in impressive fashion.  This is Lil Lohse’s 2nd NEC title in 3 years.  Stri, who finished 8th, had won 3 of the first 4 of these.

#1 Long Island 90 – #3 Robert Morris 73
The Blackbirds are dancing…again, as they knock off a game Robert Morris team, dropping 90 in the process, including a double-double by NEC POY Julian Boyd.  This team is stacked (and young), so they may be a really tough out next week (and next year), even if they are a 16-seed.  RDoc and Waters miss out on a good opportunity here, as they were the only two with RMC.  Bry, Doogan, Gersh, J, Stri, and Teddy all joined the 4 champions as getting this one right.

FINAL NEC STANDINGS:

1. Lil Lohse – 73.5 (’10/’12*)
2. Mac – 73.5 (’12*)
3. Primm – 73.5 (’12*)
4. Rikey – 73.5 (12*)
5. Bry – 57 (’09*)
6. Doogan – 51
7. Gersh – 51
8. Stri – 48 (’08/’09*/’11*)
9. RDoc – 46.5
10. Waters – 46.5
11. J – 45
12. Teddy – 45
13. Alexi – 39
14. Scoot – 39 (’11*)
15. KA – 33
16. Lynch – 33
17. Dave – 27
18. RSmith – 24
19. Lohse – 21
20. Gross – 12

Here’s a question for you:  How does a conference that is so clearly a one-bid league improve to a league that might get as many as FOUR bids, without playing anyone outside of said league?  I can’t stand it.  After the non-conference schedule (when the league went 0-458 against Top-50 RPI teams), everyone was in agreement that this league didn’t deserve a single at-large bid.  Now, after two months of just playing each other (ya know, just like 20+ other one-bid leagues), they all of a sudden have four potential at-larges?  “Washington has to get in – they won the Pac-12.”  Well, the Pac-12 SUCKS.  Wins over Oregon aren’t that impressive when you look at Oregon’s actual RESULTS.  Ugh…

The Pac-12 CTC is as wide open as I have ever seen a conference.  No one team has more than 6 people picking them to win the title, with 5 teams receiving multiple backers.  One entry, in particular is hoping for total chaos.  J has none of the top 4 seeds in the semifinals.  In fact, if he hits his bracket perfectly (which includes UCLA beating Stanford for the title), he will get 635 points.  Now, that is…Onions!

Championship Picks
6 for #1 Washington
4 for #2 California (Bry, Dave, Mac, RSmith)
5 for #3 Oregon (Lil Lohse, Lohse, Lynch, Teddy, Waters)
2 for #4 Arizona (Doogan, Gross)
2 for #5 UCLA (J, RDoc)

Biggest Upsets
R1 – #12 USC (Dave, Primm)
QF – #9 Oregon St. (RDoc)
SF – #7 Stanford (J)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Lynch
2010 – Stri
2009 – Alexi
2008 – Doogan

#8 Washington St. vs. #9 Oregon St.
Both of these teams are boring, middling, irrelevant teams that I don’t want to waste time on.  The winner here gets #1 Washington in the quarters.  We’re essentially all split on this one, as 9 people have the mild upset of OSU (Bry, Dave, Doogan, Gross, KA, Mac, Rikey, RDoc, Waters).  Someone is going to lose a semifinalist here as, RDoc has OSU beating UW tomorrow, and J has Wazzu doing it.

#5 UCLA vs. #12 USC
It’s almost not fair to count Pac-12 teams as part of the “major conference” contingent, so I might not be able to claim USC as the worst major conference team.  So, let’s just say that they are really, really bad.  They would have trouble finishing .500 in any more than 6-7 conference in the country.  UCLA is a mess, but I would still hire Howland in a heartbeat.  The winner of this game gets Arizona tomorrow in the quarters.  This game could make some real impact on the CTC, as two people (Dave and Primm) have a huge 80-point upset here, while two other people (J and RDoc) have UCLA winning this entire tournament.  A slew of others have the Bruins reaching the semis, while Lohse, Lynch, and Teddy all have them reaching the finals, but losing.

#7 Stanford vs. #10 Arizona St.
The fact that ASU finished ahead of two other teams in this conference is probably the most damning evidence of this league’s atrociousness of all.  Suprisingly, I don’t mind this Stanford team, so I’ll leave them out of my anti-Pac12 ire.  #2 Cal awaits the winner of this game in the quarters.  Surprisingly, in such a wide open conference, that no one took a shot at Arizona St. in the upset here.  Alexi, J, Lohse, and Lynch, though, have Stanford in the semis.  J has them reaching the finals.

#6 Colorado vs. #11 Utah
I think Utah would finish in last place in at least a dozen conferences in America, so the fact that they didn’t in a “major” conference is a joke.  Colorado – the other new team to the conference – looked pretty good all year…at home.  They were terrible out of the altitude.  If I hear anything about their “bubble chances,” no matter what happens in this tournament, I might vomit.  The winner will face #3 Oregon in the quarters.  RSmith is the only one that took Utah here in a nice upset pick.  Dave, Gross, J, Mac, and Scoot all have Colorado reaching the semis, though none of them took them to the finals.

Is this the best conference in the country?  This is one of only two conferences that I will even entertain that notion, but I think I would take the Big Ten…though it’s really close.  The 10-team Big 12 opens tonight with its bottom four teams playing a couple of opening round games.  The fall to 10 teams makes for a pretty uninteresting opening day in the Big XII tournament, as one game is a total mismatch, and the other is a fight to see who gets to get pummeled by Kansas tomorrow.

As for the title picks in the Big XII this year, it is just exactly split down the middle between #1 Kansas and #2 Missouri, with the lone dissident being Lynch, who went with Baylor.

Championship Picks
10 for #1 Kansas
9 for #2 Missouri (Alexi, Bry, Doogan, KA, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Primm, RSmith, Teddy)
0 for #3 Iowa St.
1 for #4 Baylor (Lynch)

Biggest Upsets
R1 – #10 Texas Tech (Teddy)
QF – #7 Oklahoma St. (Dave, J)
SF – #6 Texas (J, RDoc)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Bry
2010 – J/Stri
2009 – Alexi
2008 – Doogan

#8 Oklahoma vs. #9 Texas A&M
With all due respect to Pitt, UCLA, Arizona, and UConn, I think that Texas A&M might be the most disappointing team in the nation.  OU has looked real good and real bad – sometimes within a couple of days.  The winner here gets #1 Kansas tomorrow.  8 people have Texas A&M in the mild upset (Bry, Dave, J, Lohse, Primm, RSmith, Stri, Teddy).  No one has either of these teams beating Kansas tomorrow.

#7 Oklahoma St. vs. #10 Texas Tech
TTech is in the conversation for worst major conference team in the nation.  And, OSU has Keaton Page – who is Jimmer without the Latterday Saints.  The winner here will get to deal with #2 Missouri.  Teddy is the only one that took a shot at TTech here.  Dave and J have a lot at stake here, as they both have the Cowboys upsetting Mizzou in tomorrow’s quarterfinal.

It seems like once we all kind of jointly decided that Conference USA wasn’t a very good league, it immediately got a lot more interesting – in more of a mid-major kind of a way.  And, this year was no exception.  Once we realized that Memphis wasn’t a top-10 team or that Marshall was a top-25 team, the conference immediately got a lot more interesting in trying to sift through the UCFs and Southern Misses, as well as the UABs, UTEPs, and Tulanes of the world.  And, what we have here is a pretty intriguing tournament at The Pyramid in Memphis, as exemplified by the fact that all of the top four seeds have at least two people picking them to win the whole thing (though more than half of the field does have #1 Memphis).

Championship Picks
12 for #1 Memphis
4 for #2 Southern Miss (J, Lil Lohse, Lynch, Primm)
2 for #3 Tulsa (Mac, Rikey)
2 for #4 UCF (Dave, KA)

Biggest Upsets
R1 – #12 Tulane (Bry, RDoc)
QF – #8 UTEP (J, KA)
SF – #6 Marshall (Lohse)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Lynch
2010 – Lohse/Teddy
2009 – Bry
2008 – Ina

#7 Rice vs. #10 East Carolina
This is one of the best teams in Rice history, led by everyone’s favorite Iranian, Arsalan Kazemi.  ECU had one stretch where it looked like they might actually compete in this year’s C-USA, but before and since, they just haven’t been very good.  2nd-seeded Southern Miss is next in line for the winner here.  This is a rather popular upset pick here, as only 8 people have 7th-seeded Rice winning this game (Alexi, Doogan, Gross, KA, Mac, Rikey, Scoot, Waters).  But, those that believe, believe strongly, as Gross, KA, and Mac all have the Owls beating S. Miss in the quarters.  No one has ECU in the semis.

#6 Marshall vs. #11 SMU
The Thundering Herd was picked to finish 2nd in the preseason by just about everyone (except those bold prognosticators that had them winning the conference), but it just hasn’t worked out this year.  They still have the talent, so anything can happen, but this team was supposed to be a borderline Top 25 team.  SMU stinks.  They scored 67 points earlier this year…IN TWO GAMES.  Yes, that’s right, they lost to Rice on February 11th, 43-39 and then, 4 days later, they lost to UAB 47-28.  67 points in TWO games…wow.  #3 Tulsa awaits the winner.  J and KA are the only two with the big upset pick of SMU here, and neither of them have the Mustangs going any further.  An SMU win here, though, would really blow up some brackets, as 11 people have Marshall in the semis (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Doogan, Gross, Lohse, Lynch, Primm, RDoc, RSmith, Teddy).  Gross and Lohse both have the Herd thundering into the finals.

#8 UTEP vs. #9 Houston
The Miners, who have made the past two NCAA tournaments, fell on some hard times this year, but have been playing better lately.  Houston has been up-and-down, mostly down this year.  The winner here will get #1 Memphis tomorrow.  8 people have the mild upset of Houston here (Bry, Dave, Gross, Lil Lohse, Lohse, RSmith, Scoot, Waters).  This game is huge for J and KA, as they both have UTEP beating Houston today and Memphis tomorrow.  No one has Houston in the semis.

#5 UAB vs. #12 Tulane
On December 3rd, Tulane beat Georgia Tech 57-52, to improve to 9-0.  The only other undefeated teams in the country were Syracuse, Kentucky, and Murray St.  After that, they finished their last 5 non-conference games with 3 more wins.  They entered conference play at 12-2, with their only losses on the road against a good Wofford team and #1 Syracuse.  They lost their first conference game by 7 at UCF (no real shame in that) and then lost in OT to S.Miss, by 1 point to Rice, and by 4 at Tulsa.  They picked up two wins and then lost by 2 in OT at UTEP.  It looked like they were just snakebitten.  Well, they’ve only won 1 game since and haven’t even been competitive.  UAB had a very similar story in losing a lot of close games to good teams early in conference play, but where Tulane turned south, UAB really came together and looked like one of the best teams in the conference in the second half.  Now, the two get together, battling for the right to play UCF in the quarters.  Bry, Doogan, and RDoc all went for the longshot upset of Tulane.  Alexi, RSmith, and Scoot have UAB going to the semis.

The Southland and the SWAC used to really bother me.  Who do they think they are with their meaningless tournaments in the second week?  But, either I’ve mellowed with age or I realize that it really doesn’t matter because these tournaments usually aren’t good anyway.  This year, though, the SL is pretty interesting.  There are a couple nationally legitimate mid-majors (UTA, UTSA, Lamar), some perennially solid programs (SFA, SHSU) and some upstart teams ready to make names for themselves (McNeese St., Northwestern St.)

Championship Picks
11 for #1 UT-Arlington
5 for #2 Stephen F. Austin (Gersh, Mac, Primm, RSmith, Waters)
4 for #3 Lamar (Doogan, KA, Lohse, Scoot)

Biggest Upsets
QF – #8 Nicholls St. (KA)
SF – #7 Sam Houston St. (Teddy)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Dave
2010 – Alexi/Lynch/Stri/Teddy
2009 – Waters
2008 – Bry

#2 Stephen F. Austin vs. #7 Sam Houston St.
These are probably the most consistently good programs in the SL and they have a hefty rivalry, so a first round matchup is nice.  Both teams are young and playing their best ball of the year.  Dave, Doogan, J, and Teddy went for this meaty upset pick.  Teddy has SHSU in the finals.  Gersh, Mac, Primm, RSmith, and Waters would all lose their champions if that upset comes true.

#3 Lamar vs. #6 Northwestern St.
Anyone else hear that press conference that Lamar coach Pat Knight held last week, saying how the seniors are the worst class he’s ever seen – throwing out accusations of drug use and stuff like that?  Tell me that if you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t hear his old man.  The voice is pretty much identical and his rhythm and cadence were just like The General.  Anyway, Lamar was supposed to be really good, but they really underachieved.  Maybe the senior class stunk…or maybe that this guy Pat doesn’t coach like that other Knight.  Lil Lohse, Primm, RSmith, and Waters all took a shot at Northwestern St. here in the upset.  Doogan, KA, Lohse, and Scoot all have Lamar winning this tournament.

#1 UT-Arlington vs. #8 Nicholls St.
Only 8 of the 12 SL teams make the conference tournament.  After Nicholls St.’s first two conference games, the other 11 teams were feeling better about their chances.  Nicholls took a weekend trip to Texas to open the conference season with UTSA and UTA.  They lost by a combined 73 points…and they weren’t even that close.  Well, somehow they put it together and actually looked decent for parts of the season, and now they get a shot at redemption with UTA (and possibly UTSA in the semis, if they can win tonight).  UT-Arlington is one of the better mid-majors in the country and should be considered a decent favorite to win this tournament.  KA went for the home run with the Nicholls St. upset pick here.  More than half the field has UTA winning this tournament.

#4 McNeese St. vs. #5 UT-San Antonio
The Roadrunners of UTSA were thought to have arrived a year earlier than expected last year when they won this tournament.  This was supposed to be their year.  But, this year hasn’t gone as planned and now they have a tough road.  McNeese has been the big surprise of the SL season, as they won the Northern Division.  McNeese is an unappreciated favorite here, as only 7 people have the 4-seed in this one (Dave, Gersh, J, Rikey, RSmith, Stri, Waters).  Waters has McNeese in the finals.  KA and Lohse both have UTSA in reaching the finals to defend their title.

SWAC finals are basically the First Four semifinals, as the winner of this dreadful conference always ends up there.  It would have been interesting to see what they would have done with Mississippi Valley St. if they had gone undefeated in the conference and then won the tournament.  That might have been enough to earn them a “regular” 16-seed, but we’ll never know because they lost their last game of the regular season at AR-Pine Bluff.  Now, this is truly a feeder tournament to Dayton and the First Four.  But, these teams should be used to it, as they seem to love to get pounded.  I will never understand the non-conference schedules of all of these teams.  They all stink, and all they do in the non-conference is play the best teams in the country.  I think the 10 teams combined for 3 or 4 D-I non-conference wins this season.  They’re bad, but not that bad, they just offer themselves up as cannon fodder to the SEC and Big XII.  I guess it’s all about the gate split, so it makes sense, but still…

Tonight there is a day-night doubleheader with the top two teams in action in the quarters.  Again, confusing.  If you’re going to split up the quarters, don’t you think that the reason for that is to avoid the empty seats of the afternoon sessions?  That makes sense to me.  More people can come at night, so play two doubleheaders on consecutive nights and play it off as an “advantage” to the top two seeds in getting the day off.  But, they have one of the games today at 1:30 and the other at 9:00.  My head hurts…

As for the CTC, half the field has the top-seeded Delta Devils, while the other 10 people are split between the 2nd and 5th seeds, with each getting at least two supporters.

Championship Picks
10 for #1 Mississippi Valley St.
4 for #2 Texas-Southern (Lohse, Mac, RDoc, Waters)
2 for #3 Prairie View (KA, Teddy)
2 for #4 Alabama St. (Gersh, RSmith)
2 for #5 AR-Pine Bluff (Gross, J)

Biggest Upsets
QF – #8 Jackson St. (KA)
SF – #6 Alcorn St. (J)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Lynch
2010 – Teddy
2009 – Ina*
2008 – Waters

#2 Texas-Southern vs. #7 Alabama A&M
Texas-Southern was supposed to have the year that MVSU had – totally dominant.  But, they were barely better than mediocre in the conference.  They did rally though to finish in the 2-spot and avoid MVSU until the finals.  Alabama A&M just isn’t good.  19 people took TxS in this one, with KA as the only one that took a longshot at this nice upset pick.  Lohse, Mac, RDoc, and Waters all have TxS winning this tournament.

#1 Mississippi Valley St. vs. #8 Jackson St.
The Delta Devils won their first 17 conference games (to improve their overall record to 1-10) before losing at AR-Pine Bluff in the regular season finale.  They enter the tournament as pretty big favorites to take the auto-bid and the trip to Dayton on Tuesday.  Between the top two seeds, though, they did get the tougher draw, as Jackson St. does have the potential to rise up and nip them, whereas Alabama A&M (or Grambling, who just missed qualifying for this tournament) would probably have been a walkover for a team like MVSU.  KA has this huge upset, half the field has the Delta Devils cutting down the nets on Saturday.

All year, the other 7 Big Sky teams have just been playing for third place, as the top two teams were so far ahead of the rest of the league, it seemed a foregone conclusion that this day would come.  And, now it’s here (though, it may not have been as easy as expected last night).

Someone is going to finish this conference perfect.  If Montana wins, Bry, Lynch, Rikey, and RDoc will all complete perfect brackets.  If Weber St. wins, Gersh and Scoot will both be perfect.

#1 Montana vs. #2 Weber St.
The Grizzlies fought hard to get this game at home all year, going 15-1 in conference to solidify the top seed.  But, Damian Lillard and Weber St. are not going to go lightly.  Both teams are coming off harder-than-expected semifinals, in which they both had to erase second half deficits.  Montana ended up winning by 8 over a feisty E. Washington team, while Weber beat #3 Portland St. by 6.  Now, they meet in Missoula for all the marbles.  Gersh, Gross, Lohse, Scoot, Stri, and Waters all have Weber in this one.  Other than KA (who has already lost with Idaho St.), the other 13 have Montana.

The great NEC is ready to crown another champion, and this game should be fantastic, just like the rest of the tournament has been.

No matter what happens, we are not going to have an outright champion this year.  The current leaders, who are perfect (Lil Lohse, Mac, Primm, and Rikey), all have LIU, so they will split it four ways if the Blackbirds repeat.  If RMC wins, then RDoc and Waters will split the title two ways.

#1 Long Island vs. #3 Robert Morris
The Blackbirds are going for the second straight NEC title at home, but RMC has playing the best basketball in the NEC for about a month now.  Something has got to give – this is gonna be a really good one.  RDoc and Waters are the only two with Robert Morris here.  10 people have LIU (Bry, Doogan, Gersh, J, Lil Lohse, Mac, Primm, Rikey, Stri, Teddy).

When the Patriot League tournament began, the CTC leader was Lohse with 99 points.  Now that Lohse is over 1,000 points, we are ready for this tournament to crown its champion.

Mac has navigated this tournament perfectly thus far, and needs a Lehigh win to complete the perfection.  If Bucknell wins, Doogan and Stri will take split the 2012 crown.  A Lehigh win will create a four-way split in the money division between Bry, Dave, Gross, and J.

#1 Bucknell vs. #2 Lehigh
It seems as if the whole season was just a collision course for this game.  The only question was where would it be played, and the Bison were just good enough to get the game in Lewisburg. And, that is HUGE.  Because, if I remember right, I don’t think the home team in the PL final has EVER lost.  Scoot took American to win this tournament, but the other 19 people all have one of these two teams.  8 have the favored Bison of Bucknell (Doogan, Gersh, Lil Lohse, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, RSmith, Stri); the other 11 have Lehigh.

So, the new school MAC tournament took a day off to travel to beautiful Cleveland, where the rest of this tournament will take place.  This second round still does not include the top four teams in the conference, as we’ve got the four winners from Monday playing each other for spots in the quarters.

#8 Western Michigan vs. #12 Northern Illinois
NIU pulled off the big upset of E. Michigan on Monday and now they get to take on the other side of the state.  Western knocked off Ball St. to earn a spot here.  The winner will take on #4 Kent St. tomorrow night in the quarters.  No one has NIU winning this game, but 7 people have WMU here in what would count as a decent upset (Bry, Dave, Gross, J, Lynch, Mac, RDoc).  The other 13 have already lost with either E. Michigan or Ball St.

#7 Toledo vs. #11 Central Michigan
Like NIU, C. Michigan pulled off a really nice upset in the First Round, beating a solid Bowling Green team on their home floor.  Now, they get a Toledo team that outlasted Miami (OH) on Monday night.  The winner here will get #3 Ohio tomorrow.  6 people have what would count as an upset here with Toledo (Gross, J, Lil Lohse, Primm, Rikey, Teddy).  The other 14 have already lost with either Bowling Green or Miami (OH).  Gross and J both have Toledo winning here and again tomorrow, so this could be big for them.