{"id":4701,"date":"2014-03-15T10:02:14","date_gmt":"2014-03-15T14:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=4701"},"modified":"2014-03-15T15:11:52","modified_gmt":"2014-03-15T19:11:52","slug":"2014-ctc-the-southland-312","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=4701","title":{"rendered":"2014 CTC: The Southland (3\/15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A surprisingly interesting season in the Southland concludes with an 8-team tournament for a 14-team league.\u00a0 It is probably best that they limited it to 8 because no one really enjoys watching Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, or Lamar play basketball, and these three didn’t make it because of merit.\u00a0 Abilene Christian is also terrible, but didn’t make it because of D-I transition.\u00a0 The interesting part is that a couple teams in this tournament could be replaced by either New Orleans or Incarnate Word and the field would be improved – particularly IW, who was actually pretty good, despite playing a noncon slate consisting entirely of NAIA and D-II teams.\u00a0 But, that doesn’t matter.\u00a0 What matters is that at the top of this league, there is some real intrigue.\u00a0 Stephen F. Austin – picked for 3rd in the league – absolutely and completely dominated this league start to finish.\u00a0 The Lumberjacks finished 18-0 in league play\u00a0and 29-2 overall (one of the 2 losses was a close loss at Texas) and received one of the two double-byes to the semis.\u00a0 The other one went to a shocking Texas A&M – Corpus Christi team.\u00a0 The Islanders were picked 11th in this league and finished 2nd, which relegated solid teams Sam Houston State and preseason favorite Northwestern State to the single bye 3- and 4- seeds.\u00a0 It also sent Oral Roberts (picked 2nd in the league) into the first round.\u00a0 So, there are 4 really solid teams in this league and one of them is in the first round, two of them have single-byes, and the other one is 18-0.\u00a0 It makes for an interesting tournament, though.<\/p>\n

Considering they went undefeated in\u00a0conference play and utterly dominated the season, it is a bit surprising that only 19 picked SFA to win this tournament.\u00a0\u00a03 had TxAM-CC, 2 had Sam Houston, 1 had Northwestern State, and 1 had McNeese State.\u00a0 J and PapaCim are coming off perfect Southland brackets a year ago, so they are trying to defend their titles.\u00a0 There are 11 different people (all competing again this year) that have won at least a share of a Southland title, but no one has won it twice.<\/p>\n

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 15th – 24 points)<\/h1>\n

#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #3 Sam Houston State<\/strong>
\nSince before the new year, it seemed as if these two teams were on a collision course for this very day.\u00a0 SFA dominated the conference all year and shook off some rust to take care of a very good NW State team in the semis.\u00a0 Sam Houston, who gave away the 2-seed late in the season, was forced to beat a good Oral Roberts team in the quarters and then 2-seed TxAM-CC in the semis.\u00a0 Now, it’s 40 minutes for the Southland title.\u00a0 Any team thinking they might be\u00a0about a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament should be rooting hard for Sam Houston here because they do not want to see a 30-win Lumberjack team.<\/p>\n

Lynch and Stumpf are the only two with Sam Houston here.\u00a0 Colton, GrossSr, Lohse, and Mac have already lost this game.\u00a0 The other 19 all have SFA.\u00a0 Alexi and Gersh are a SFA win away from a perfect SL bracket.\u00a0 Lynch will sneak up and steal the SL title if SHSU wins here.<\/p>\n

SEMIFINALS (March 14th\u00a0– 16 points)<\/h1>\n

#1 Stephen F. Austin vs #4 Northwestern State
\n<\/strong>The Lumberjacks of Stephen F*cking Austin were f*cking amazing this year.\u00a0 Let’s quickly look inside the numbers on this amazing season.\u00a0 They are 3rd in the nation in forcing turnovers.\u00a0 Not unrelated, they allow the 2nd shortest possessions in the country.\u00a0 And, they are the 10th best offensive rebounding team in the country.\u00a0 All of this combines for a ridiculous 29-2 with only losses at Texas and East Tennessee State.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lohse is the only one with NW State here, as he has them winning the whole tournament.\u00a0 GrossSr has already lost this game with Nicholls State.\u00a0 The other 23 all have SFA, including 18 of them that have the Lumberjacks scaring the crap out of someone in the Big Dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen F. Austin 85 – Northwestern State 78<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

#2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs #3 Sam Houston State<\/strong>
\nSam Houston really wanted the 2-seed to get the bye, but TxAM-CC snuck up and stole it.\u00a0 But, now they get to play it all out on the court after Sam Houston’s win over Oral Roberts.\u00a0 Corpus Christi had a very bizarre season.\u00a0 They were absolutely dreadful in the noncon, going 2-10 against a schedule that was kind of tough, but not crazy tough.\u00a0 Then, as soon as they got into conference play, they started to play like gangbusters.\u00a0 They won\u00a06 of their first 7 with the only loss a close loss at SFA.\u00a0 Then, they seemed to return to\u00a0form, losing 3 out of 4.\u00a0\u00a0 But, they then finished the season with 7 straight wins. Now, they enter the tournament with a bye to the semis and are two wins away from Dancing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only 9 people (Caleb, Colton, GrossJr, J, Lazarow, Mac, PapaCim, RDoc, WaTers) have TxAA-CC, despite them having a bye to this point.\u00a0 Colton, GrossJr, and Mac all have the Islanders winning this tournament.\u00a0 Bry, Chris, and Lohse all had ORU here; GrossSr had McNeese.\u00a0 So, they have all already lost this one. The other 12 all have Sam Houston in the minor upset pick.\u00a0 Lynch and Stumpf have SHSU winning this tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sam Houston State 69 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 63<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

QUARTERFINALS (March 13th – 8 points each)<\/h1>\n

#4 Northwestern State vs #5 Nicholls State<\/strong>
\nNorthwestern State – the FASTEST team in the nation – was picked to win the Southland Conference in the preseason, but they struggled to stop people, particularly on the defensive glass and were undone by some bad losses.\u00a0 Smoke and mirrors Nicholls State pulled off another trick on Wednesday, beating SELa to set up this quarterfinal.\u00a0 The show has to end here, right?\u00a0 The winner here gets undefeated Stephen F. Austin in the semis.<\/p>\n

Dave, GrossSr, Lynch, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Nicholls here, including GrossSr, who has them winning the whole thing.\u00a0 Everyone else has NW State, including Lohse, who is the only one that has them in the finals – and he has them winning it all.<\/p>\n

Northwestern State 88 – Nicholls State 72<\/em><\/p>\n

#3 Sam Houston State vs #6 Oral Roberts<\/strong>
\nSam Houston State was in position for a double-bye all year, but blew it down the stretch and gave it up to an upstart Texas A&M-CC team.\u00a0 Now, they have to play Oral just for the right to face Corpus Christi, who awaits the winner in the semis.<\/p>\n

7 people (Bry, Caleb, Chris, Lazarow, Lohse, RDoc, WaTers) have Oral Roberts here, with Bry, Chris, and Lohse taking them to reach the finals.\u00a0 GrossSr has already lost with McNeese State.\u00a0 The other 17 all have SHSU here, including 12 that have them in the finals and 2 (Lynch and Stumpf) that have them winning it all.<\/p>\n

Sam Houston State 70 – Oral Roberts 61<\/em><\/p>\n

OPENING ROUND (March 12th – 4 points each)<\/h1>\n

#5 Nicholls State vs #8 SE Louisiana<\/strong>
\nNicholls won 10 conference games through absolute smoke and mirrors.\u00a0 I have no idea how they did it, but they did.\u00a0 It is a very hollow 10-8 conference record and, therefore, a pretty hollow 5-seed.\u00a0 That being said, SELa isn’t that much, uh, unhollower (I have no idea what that word would be there).\u00a0 Always tantalizing on paper, the Lions never seem to live up to anything, and this year was no different.\u00a0 The winner of this game will take on preseason favorite and 4th-seeded Northwestern State.<\/p>\n

11 people (Becks, Bry, Caleb, Chris, Doogan, Grossjr, J, RDoc, Stri, Stritts, Teddy) have SELa here in the upset.\u00a0 Dave, GrossSr, Lynch, Scoot, and Stumpf all have Nicholls winning on Wednesday and again on Thursday.\u00a0 GrossSr did them two better by taking Nicholls to win the whole thing.\u00a0 In fact, this one game on Wednesday is the only favorite that GrossSr picked all tournament.<\/p>\n

Nicholls State 71 – SE Louisiana 64<\/em>
\nSome guy named Dantrell Thomas scored 27, as Nicholls State’s smoke-and-mirrors season continues for at least one more game.\u00a0 SELa has – as usual – another disappointing season.\u00a0 Nicholls gets to play #4 Northwestern State in Thursday’s quarterfinal.<\/span><\/p>\n

11 people miss the upset pick here, and brackets are kept from busting.\u00a0 Dave, Lynch, Scoot and Stumpf keep alive a semifinalist.\u00a0 GrossSr keeps alive his huge upset of a champion pick.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

#6 Oral Roberts vs #7 McNeese State<\/strong>
\nOral Roberts’ two-year foray into the Southland is over this year and they are returning to the Summit.\u00a0 They have the talent to make one final run here, but their regular season was so up and down, that they are hard to trust.\u00a0 They take\u00a0on a very beatable McNeese State team that will sneak up and take someone out on occasion, so they better be careful.\u00a0 The winner here will take on #3 Sam Houston State in the quarters on Friday.<\/p>\n

10\u00a0people (Colton, Dave, GrossSr, Mac, PapaCim, Primm, Scoot, Stri, Stumpf, Teddy) have McNeese in the mild upset here.\u00a0 GrossSr did them two better, taking McNeese to go to the finals (before losing to Nicholls State).\u00a0 Bry, Chris, and Lohse have the most at stake with ORU, as they all have them going to the finals.\u00a0 Caleb, Lazarow, RDoc, and WaTers have a lot at stake also, as they have them in the semis.<\/p>\n

Oral Roberts 66 – McNeese State 62<\/em>
\nORU had a much tougher time than they may have thought, but they survive and their stay in the Southland will last at least one more day.\u00a0 Oral gets a tough Sam Houston State team in a pretty interesting quarterfinal on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

10 people miss out on the upset pick here, including GrossSr, who lost a finalist.\u00a0 Bry, Chris, and Lohse keep alive a finalist.\u00a0 Caleb, Lazarow, RDoc, and WaTers keep alive a semifinalist.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

CTC UPDATE<\/h1>\n

Championship Picks<\/strong><\/p>\n