Broad Street Believers

No, I don’t mean that everyone gets four points off of the point spread in any direction they’d like if they hit both of these games.  I mean that the Big Sky plays two games tonight and then takes two days off before a final four tournament gets underway in Missoula.  This conference was the epitome of the ole two-horse race this year, as Weber St. and Montana were head and shoulders better than the rest of the field.  They split their two games and the only difference was a head-scratching 2-point loss that Weber St. suffered at Idaho St.

Championship Picks
13 for #1 Montana
6 for #2 Weber St. (Gersh, Gross, Lohse, Scott, Stri, Waters)
0 for #3 Portland St.
0 for #4 E. Washington
1 for #5 Idaho St. (KA)

Biggest Upsets
QF – #6 Montana St. (Doogan, Gross, J, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Mac, Teddy)
SF – #5 Idaho St. (KA)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Bry*
2010 – Lohse* (a pretty incredible tournament to have predicted perfectly, see)
2009 – J
2008 – Bry

#3 Portland St. vs. #6 Montana St.
The Bobcats of Montana St. fooled everyone into thinking they were contenders at the beginning of the year, but showed their true colors down the stretch, losing 7 in a row before a final day win over hapless N. Arizona.  Portland St., who was picked third in this conference in the preseason behind the Big Two, started slowly, but came on late to finish 10-6 in conference (10-2 against everyone other than the Big Two).  The winner here gets Weber St. in the quarters on Tuesday.   7 people have the MSU upset here ((Doogan, Gross, J, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Mac, Teddy).  No one has them reaching the finals.  Dave, Primm, and RSmith all have PSU in the finals.

#4 E. Washington vs. #5 Idaho St.
This matchup was determined before the two teams played their regular season finale on Tuesday night.  They were locked into the #4 and #5 seeds.  There was one question left – who would be #4 and get to host the game?  Well, EWU answered that question by taking care of business by 13, forcing Idaho St. to make this trip again 4 days later with the season on the line.  The winner here gets a crack at the Big Sky Final Four host for the year, and top seed, Montana.  Alexi, Dave, and KA are the only three with the mild upset of Idaho St.  KA actually has ISU winning this tournament.

The Sun Belt is the only 11-team tournament this year, as LA-Monroe was disqualified from the tournament.  I’m not sure why, and I really hope it wasn’t due to recruiting infractions because if they’re cheating, they really need to cheat on better players.  The Warhawks (just another amazing nickname in, by far, the greatest conference of nicknames in the country) were terrible.  It’s probably good news for Yours Truly because I’m a real sucker for those last-place teams pulling upsets in the first round, so I’m saved from myself in this one.  #1 Middle Tennessee and #3 Denver have been the best two teams in the league this year, and that is shown by

Championship Picks
10 for #1 Middle Tennessee
1 for #2 AR-Little Rock (Mac)
8 for #3 Denver (Alexi, J, KA, Lohse, Lynch, RDoc, Stri, Waters)
1 for #4 LA-Lafayette (Gersh)

Biggest Upsets
R1 – #11 Troy (Bry, Dave, Doogan, J, KA, Lynch, Waters)
QF – #11 Troy (Dave, Doogan)
SF – #7 W. Kentucky (RSmith, Teddy)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – J
2010 – Stri
2009 – Ina
2008 – Alexi

#6 S. Alabama vs. #11 Troy
The Trojans are one of the more underrated nicknames in this amazing conference.  Trojans, by itself, is a good, but not great nickname.  But, when you consider that it’s the Troy Trojans, it makes it amazing.  That’s like if American University’s nickname was the “Americans.”  Anyway, Troy finished in 11th, but it was a wide-open Sun Belt this year and they are not a doormat.  USA, on the other hand, had some rough breaks this year, losing two conference games in overtime, and four more by 5 points or fewer.  They are much better than their conference record may indicate.  #3 Denver awaits the winner of this game in the quarters tomorrow.  Troy is a live ‘dog in this one, as 7 people (Bry, Dave, Doogan, J, KA, Lynch, Waters) has this big upset.  Dave and Doogan have them winning again in the quarters.  Gersh and RSmith have USA going to the semis.

#7 W. Kentucky vs. #10 Florida-International
What a hire FIU made a couple years back!  Bringing in the great Isiah Thomas to coach their team, FIU has skyrocketed from perennial last-place team to, well, perennial last-place team.  What don’t people understand about Isiah?  He was an amazing point guard – one of the five best to ever play the game.  And, he is a dreadful, dreadful head coach…at any level!  Well, his Golden Panthers take on a Sun Belt royalty that has fallen on hard times, W. Kentucky.  The Hilltoppers (another great one) had to fire their head coach halfway through the season – that’s how bad it is.  (For the record, they were three places above FIU, who, for some reason, did not fire their coach.)  But, WKU has played better under new leadership.  The Hilltoppers are a popular pick every year in this tournament, and this year is no exception.  6 people have them in the semis (Alexi, Gross, Lohse, Lynch, RSmith, Teddy), with RSmith and Teddy having them in the finals.  FIU is also a somewhat popular upset pick, as 8 people have them winning this game (Bry, Dave, Doogan, J, KA, Lil Lohse, Primm, Waters).  Waters even has them in the semis.

#8 Florida-Atlantic vs. #9 Arkansas St.
These two teams thought they had contenders, and at least FAU looked like a contender early on before falling apart midseason.  Arkansas St. (the Red Wolves…not bad) just muddled their way through a disappointing season.  One of these teams will win tonight and get to play #1 Middle Tennessee tomorrow in the quarters.  11 people actually have the upset with Ark State here.  The other 9 (Alexi, Dave, Gersh, Lynch, Primm, RDoc, RSmith, Scott, Waters) have FL-Atlantic.

With the addition of BYU to the WCC this year, the conference regular season took on an interesting new twist, in jockeying for position for the conference tournament.  Obviously, they will all be fighting for the top-seed, so as to send the other two to the opposite side of the bracket and only have to beat one of them to win the tournament.  But, there will also be a fight for the two-seed to earn a bye to the semis.  St. Mary’s won the top-seed and will reap the benefits today, as Gonzaga and BYU play each other in the other semi.  Gonzaga got their benefit last night, as they were able to sit and watch, as BYU had to scrape and claw well into the night with San Diego.  But, all of that doesn’t matter if you don’t win on the court.

#1 St. Mary’s vs. #5 San Francisco
The Dons beat a pretty good LMU team last night in the quarters a night after beating Portland St.  Now, their third game in three nights will be against a nationally legit St. Mary’s team.  Matthew Dellavadova is one of the best players that no one has ever heard of, and Rob Jones (grandson of Jim Jones…yes, THAT Jim Jones) has been a monster on the boards ever since transferring from San Diego a couple years back.  Dave has the really nice upset pick of USF here.  Doogan, KA, Lynch, Mac, Scoot, and Waters have already lost with LMU.  The rest of the field has SMC here, but not that many (Alexi, Bry, J, Primm, and Teddy) have them winning the tournament.

#2 Gonzaga vs. #3 BYU
The Cougars did survive San Diego last night to set up the best conference tournament game of the day.  Only 4 people (Gross, J, Primm, and Teddy) took BYU here.  The other 16 have the Zags, with the majority of them have them win this tournament.

As great as the MVC tournament is usually, this year has been a little bit of a letdown.  The games haven’t been incredibly competitive, and the sheet all chalk.

#1 Wichita St. vs. #4 Illinois St.
The Shockers looked every bit of a top-15 team yesterday in utterly dominating a good Indiana St. team from start to finish.  Illinois St. took care of a good UNI team to set up a really good semifinal opener.   This is a huge game for Dave’s CTC, as he has Illinois St. winning this game and the whole tournament.  RSmith also has ISU in a nice upset pick here.  KA has already lost with UNI.

#2 Creighton vs. #3 Evansville
The Purple Aces impressively eliminated Missouri St. yesterday in the quarterfinal nightcap and now they get to take their shot at #2 Creighton, who survived a game Drake squad.  These two teams played last week in the regular season and it was an unbelievable game, won by the Blue Jays at the buzzer.  Doogan and RDoc have already lost this game with Missouri St.  J, KA, Lohse, and Stri have Evansville here with the upset pick.  KA has the Aces cutting down the nets and sealing a third tournament bid for the most underrated conference in America.

After an interesting Horizon tournament so far, we now add the top two seeds to the party.

#1 Valparaiso vs. #5 Butler
This is a fantastic game!  The regular season champs and tournament hosts taking on the Horizon darlings, who just happen to be red-hot at just the right time.  Butler has won their two tournament games to get here by a combined 40 points, but they were swept by Bryce Drew and Valpo this year.  KA and RSmith are the only two with Butler here.  Gross, J, Lil Lohse, and Teddy have already lost this game.  The other 14 people have Valpo.  RSmith has Butler winning this tournament.

#2 Cleveland St. vs. #3 Detroit
As good as Butler looked last night, Detroit looked just as good, if not better, in dismantling Youngstown St.  Now, they get a CSU team that looked like the best in the conference for a while, but limped into the tournament.  This is a pretty big swing game in the CTC.  7 people have Detroit (Alexi, Dave, Gross, Lohse, Mac, Scoot, and Waters).  Lil Lohse and Stri have already lost this game, while the other 11 all have Cleveland St.  Gersh, J, KA, Lynch, Primm, and Teddy all have the Vikings winning the tournament.

Just like the whole season, the SoCon Opening Round was utterly confusing.  There is only one thing in this conference that seems to make consistent sense – and that team, Davidson, enters the tournament today, with the other 3 bye teams.

#2 UNC-Greensboro vs. #10 Appalachian St.
UNC-Greensboro entered conference play at 2-10.  But, they won the Northern Division…ya, I know.  App State, who was supposed to contend for the North title, lost 11 conference games.  The Mountaineers, though, ended the season for the most disappointing team in the disappointing SoCon yesterday when they beat College of Charleston, 93-81.  Only 7 people have UNC-Greensboro here (KA, Lil Lohse, Mac, Primm, RSmith, Scoot, Stri, Waters), even though they won their division and didn’t have to play yesterday.  2 others, Dave and Gersh, have App State in what will be a very lucrative upset here.  The other ELEVEN people have already lost this game with Charleston.

#3 Wofford vs. #6 W. Carolina
WCU knocked off The Citadel yesterday, setting up a quarterfinal date with a young, but strong Wofford team.  Lil Lohse has a nice WCU upset pick here; the other 19 have Wofford.  Primm is the only one with Wofford winning this tournament, but a decent number have the Terriers reaching the finals.

#1 Davidson vs. #9 Furman
Davidson is reaping the benefits of the Steph Curry run, as their recruiting boon is maturing.  They are going to be a terrible draw for someone in the next tournament…if they get there.  Furman knocked off Samford yesterday, 77-64.  19 people have Davidson here; KA has already lost with Samford.  Most of the field has Davidson winning this tournament.

#4 Elon vs. #5 GA-Southern
Georgia-Southern has a terrific year and continued it last night with a decent win over Chattanooga.  Elon looked like they were going to run away with the Northern Division, but really struggled down the stretch and ended up second.  9 people have Elon here (Gersh, KA, Lil Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Scoot, Stri, Waters); 7 more have (Alexi, Dave, Lohse, Primm, Rikey, RSmith, Teddy).  The remaining 4 have already lost with Chattanooga.

After two uninteresting Opening Round games last night, the MAAC gets really interesting today with a quarterfinal quadruple-header.

#4 Fairfield vs. #5 Rider
The defending regular season champs, Fairfield are trying to play the role of underdog this year, as they come in as the red-hot #4 seed.  They do have a really tough test right off the bat, with a Rider team that is playing really well, as well.  This is a very interesting CTC game here, as 8 people (Gross, J, Lil Lohse, Primm, RSmith, Scoot, Stri, Waters) have Rider in the mild upset.  Primm has Rider winning again next round.  Dave, KA, and Teddy have Fairfield reaching the finals.  Dave has them winning the tournament.

#1 Iona vs. #8 Marist
The Red Foxes knocked off defending champion, St. Peter’s, last night in the Opening Round.  Now, they get top-seeded and national story, Iona.  The Gaels are well-known for their potential NBA backcourt, with lottery prospect Scotty Machado and Arizona transfer Mo-Mo Jones, but, in my opinion, their best player is Seton Hall transfer (and younger brother of former St. John’s star, Anthony), Michael Glover.  The only knock on Iona (which may bite them in the next tournament, should they get there) is that they are very small and tend to not play any defense at times.  But, they are the highest scoring team in the country and actually have an at-large shot were they to lose this week.  KA has the huge upset pick of Marist here.  The other 19 have Iona, with most of them having them winning this tournament.

#2 Loyola (MD) vs. #7 Niagara
The Greyhounds of Loyola took first-place in the MAAC, when they beat Iona a couple weeks ago, but lost three straight after that and had to settle for the #2-seed.  Niagara, who has some young talent, survived against a bad Canisius team last night, giving them a shot here in the quarters.  Bry, J, and RDoc have Niagara here in a big upset.  Alexi, KA, Primm, Scoot, and Teddy all have the Greyhounds winning this tournament.

#3 Manhattan vs. #6 Siena
The Jaspers of Manhattan are one of the better stories around the country this year.  They quickly turned around a struggling program and were in contention all year.  Siena – the former dominating force of the MAAC – is still a middling MAAC team, despite huge resource advantages over their conference-mates.  5 people went with Siena here (Doogan, Gross, Lynch, Scoot, Waters).  Doogan, Lynch, and Waters have the Saints going to the finals.

The Patriot League played four quarterfinal games on Wednesday night and the four survivors are playing today in the semis.

#1 Bucknell vs. #5 Lafayette
The only team to pull off a quarterfinal upset – Lafayette – gets rewarded with a trip to top-seeded Bucknell for the semis.  The Bison handled Navy in their quarterfinal round and might be happy that they don’t have to face Holy Cross, who just beat them two weeks ago.  No one has Lafayette winning this game, but nearly half the field (Alexi, Bry, Dave, Gross, J, KA, Lynch, Teddy, Waters) had Holy Cross here.  The other 11 have Bucknell here, with 8 of them having the Bison winning the tournament (Doogan, Gersh, Lil Lohse, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, RSmith, Stri).

#2 Lehigh vs. #3 American
Both of these teams are very good and showed as much with relatively easy quarterfinal wins on Wednesday.  Now, they are set up for a fantastic semifinal in NEPA.  This is also a huge game for the CTC, as all 20 have a horse in the race here.  7 people (Gersh, Lil Lohse, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, RSmith, Scoot) have American, and the other 13 have Lehigh.  A slew of people have Lehigh winning this tournament.  Scoot is the only one with American taking this title.

There are a lot of great single days of Championship Week, but, for whatever reason, there is nothing better – to me – than the quarterfinal quadruple-header in the Colonial.  Great basketball between teams that are not “playing for seeding.”  This is a true championship.

#1 Drexel vs. #9 UNC-Wilmington
UNC-Wilmington had a nice win yesterday over James Madison, but they are up against it today, as they get the CAA’s top seed, Drexel.  This is probably the best team in the long history of Dragon basketball, as they enter the tournament having won 17 straight games.  There is talk about potential at-large bid for the Dragons, but that is certainly not a certainty and will not happen if they lose today.  20 CTC entries, 20 Drexel picks in this one.  Somewhat surprisingly, though, is that only 9 people (Alexi, KA, Lil Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Rikey, RDoc, Scoot, Stri) have Drexel winning this tournament.

#4 Old Dominion vs. #5 Delaware
Delaware survived an ignominious defeat yesterday, outlasting 1-30 Towson, and now they get an ODU team that is incredibly well-coached and very talented.  Kent Bazemore is as good and versatile of a player as you’ll find on any roster in America, and he does not want his senior season to end today.  Plus, the youth surrounding Bazemore is coming along.  Gross, J, KA, Lynch, and Water have UDel in this upset.  Waters actually has them in the finals, so this is big for him.  6 people (Bry, Dave, Gersh, Lohse, Primm, Teddy) have ODU reaching the finals.

#3 George Mason vs. #6 Georgia St.
Georgia St. looked as impressive as anyone anywhere yesterday, as they pounded Hofstra by 35.  Now, the senior-laden Panther team gets to take their shot at a very, very good George Mason team.  Mason is probably on the outside of the bubble, but I wouldn’t want to play them at any point in March.  And, while Ryan Pearson may not look like the quintessential superstar, he can really play.  This is a rather popular upset pick, as 7 people have them winning this game (Alexi, Dave, Doogan, J, Lohse, RDoc, and Teddy).  Alexi and Teddy have the Panthers reaching the finals.

#2 VCU vs. #7 Northeastern
Northeastern survived a pretty ugly game with William & Mary in the Opening Round and now they get to take a shot at Shaka Smart’s VCU squad.  The young Rams have really come together and are looking like they could be a real force this March.  They lead the nation in steals with a really smart, calculated style of pressing that is so effective.  19 people took VCU here, so only Teddy (who already lost this game with W&M) is rooting for NE.  Bry, Dave, Doogan, Gross, J, and Lohse all have VCU winning this tournament.

After that amazing overtime game between Binghamton and UMBC, we all needed that day off to regroup.  Well, we got it and now we’re ready for the quarterfinal quadrupleheader.

#1 Stony Brook vs. #9 Binghamton
Stony Brook won this league in the regular season.  Binghamton is 344th out of 344 in the RPI.  All 20 people have SB in this one.

#2 Vermont vs. #7 Maine
It was a pretty disappointing season for the Black Bears of Maine, as they finished in 7th place, when they really had upper-conference talent.  As for UVM, another good season in Burlington, but you have to think that they feel like they left a possible regular season title on the table when they lost…somehow…to Binghamton last week.  18 people have Vermont winning this game.  Bry and KA have Maine.

#3 Boston U vs. #6 Hartford
BU was the third of the “Big Three” in this conference all year – and they were clearly third behind the other two.  Hartford kind of stinks, but had a couple interesting wins.  This is a relatively popular upset pick here (Dave, Doogan, Gersh, KA, Primm, RDoc, Scoot, Waters).  Dave, KA, and Primm all have the Hawks making the title game; KA has them winning it.

#4 Albany vs. #5 New Hampshire
A pretty successful season, all told, for UNH, who is still developing their program.  Albany had some real chances to compete, but could never get over the hump against the three ahead of them.  This mild upset only attracted three picks (Alexi, Lohse, and RSmith).  RSmith has UNH in the finals.  Doogan and Primm both have Albany making the finals.