{"id":4757,"date":"2014-03-11T11:51:45","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T15:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=4757"},"modified":"2014-03-11T23:15:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T03:15:51","slug":"2014-ctc-the-horizon-league-34","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=4757","title":{"rendered":"2014 CTC: The Horizon League (FINAL)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Butler leaving two years ago took some steam out of the ascending Horizon League, but what is left is still a pretty solid mid-major league.\u00a0 There are no real at-large teams in the league this year (though if Green Bay were to make the championship game, they might be in the discussion), but it was still a decent league top to bottom this year, and this tournament should be entertaining at the very least.\u00a0 The Horizon has a great format for a tournament with the first round games on campuses Tuesday night, the quarters and semis hosted by the league champion on Friday and Saturday night, and the finals on the home court of the top remaining seed last next Tuesday.\u00a0 The structure also awards regular season performance by providing double-byes to the top 2 seeds (Green Bay and Cleveland State) and a single-bye to 3rd-place (Wright State beat out Valpo on the last day of the season), so every spot is critical, keeping the regular season endlessly interesting. Top-seeded Green Bay is a very popular choice here in the CTC, as 18 of the 25 entries have the Phoenix taking this title.\u00a0 8th-seeded Detroit is a very popular upset pick in the first round and even has three supporters picking them to win a pair of games.\u00a0 Caleb is going for a repeat victory here in the Horizon.\u00a0 Bry is the only one to have won this league more than once.\u00a0 As a 3x tournament in the first week, this one could go a long way towards establishing a strong\u00a0CTC position early.\u00a0 In fact, the Milwaukee-Detroit Opening Round\u00a0game might be the biggest CTC game ever on the First Tuesday.<\/p>\n

CHAMPIONSHIP (March 11th – 36 points)<\/h1>\n

#3 Wright State vs #5 Milwaukee<\/strong>
\nThings could not have broken better for Wright State in the semifinals on Saturday night.\u00a0 They took care of business against a really good Cleveland State team and then sat back and watched as Milwaukee pulled off a second straight upset, beating in-state rival and huge conference favorite, Green Bay, on their home floor in overtime.\u00a0 Now, not only does Wright avoid the best team in the league in the finals, but they now get to host this championship game in their own gym.\u00a0 But, they shouldn’t get too comfortable, as Milwaukee has already eliminated Detroit, Valparaiso, and Green Bay in this tournament.\u00a0 One more and they’ll be dancing.<\/p>\n

Just to exemplify how unlikely of a final this is – there is only one person in the entire CTC that can get any points from this game tonight.\u00a0 Stumpf.\u00a0 Stumpf was the only one to take Wright State to win the Horizon, and not a soul took Milwaukee.\u00a0 So, either this game will be completely zeroed out or Stumpf will pick up a FREE AND CLEAR 60 POINTS!\u00a0 Wouldn’t that be nice?\u00a0 Obviously, a Wright State win would give Stumpf a dominant Horizon League victory.\u00a0 If Milwaukee wins, Colton will take his first ever CTC conference title.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee 69 – Wright State 63<\/em>
\nWhat a run.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 Milwaukee sure earned their way to the Dance with an incredible run through this tournament.\u00a0 I still don’t know how this happened – this team was picked to finish 9th in the 9-team Horizon and now they are going to represent this league in the Big Dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one gets any points for this championship, so Colton takes his first ever CTC conference title.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

SEMIFINALS (March 8th – 24 points each)<\/h1>\n

#2 Cleveland State vs #3 Wright State<\/strong>
\nCleveland State was supposed to be okay this year, but they completely outperformed even the most optimistic projections.\u00a0 The Vikings picked up quality noncon wins like Iona, Robert Morris, and Western Carolina and then carried that momentum into conference play, where they went 12-4 and earned the 2-seed and the corresponding double-bye.\u00a0 The open the conference tournament already in the semis against a really good Wright State team that was supposed to win this league.\u00a0 The Raiders knocked off Oakland with no problem on Friday night to set up this excellent semifinal.<\/p>\n

7 people (Chris, Colton, Dave Doogan, Stri, Stumpf, WaTers) have Wright State here, with Stumpf as the only one picking them to win the tournament.\u00a0 Lohse and Teddy have already lost this game with Youngstown.\u00a0 The other 16 people all have CSU, with GrossSr, Lazarow, Mac, and Scoot all taking the Vikings to win this tournament.<\/p>\n

Wright State 68 – Cleveland State 63<\/em><\/p>\n

#1 Green Bay vs #5 Milwaukee<\/strong>
\nThe nightcap finally welcomes the home team to the fray, as regular season champs, Green Bay finally enter the tournament to take on heated rival, Milwaukee.\u00a0 Green Bay has had an extraordinary season and is a team that many look at as a real sleeper in the next tournament…if they get there.\u00a0 Besides going 14-2 to win a pretty decent Horizon, the Phoenix also knocked off UVA and nearly beat Wisconsin in the noncon.\u00a0 If you have never seen GB play, find them if for nothing else Kiefer Sykes is worth the price of admission – he’s that good.\u00a0 They also have a 7-footer, Alex Brown, who shoots nearly 60% from the floor.\u00a0 This team is rock solid.\u00a0 But, one of their two conference losses came at home by double-digits to this very Milwaukee team back on Feb 8.\u00a0 The Panthers, who beat Detroit and Valpo pretty handily to get here are ready.\u00a0 This could be a war between two teams that plain don’t like each other.<\/p>\n

Lazarow and Scoot would pull off an amazing run with Milwaukee if they can win again Saturday – neither of them have UWM winning the tournament, though.\u00a0 19 people have Green Bay winning here; 18 of them have them going on to win the tournament.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee 73 – Green Bay 66 (OT)<\/em><\/p>\n

QUARTERFINALS (March 7th – 12 points each)<\/h1>\n

#4 Valparaiso vs #5 Milwaukee<\/strong> Two teams that had to win home games on Tuesday will play on Green Bay’s homecourt Friday night for the right to play the hosts in the semis on Saturday.\u00a0 Valpo struggled surprisingly against last place UIC, but survived.\u00a0 Milwaukee, on the other hand, were impressive in taking out a decent Detroit team.<\/p>\n

Colton, Lazarow, and Scoot have Milwaukee here, with the latter two picking them to beat Green Bay on Saturday, too.\u00a0 GrossJr, Lynch, and Teddy have already lost this game with Detroit.\u00a0 The other 19 all have Valpo.\u00a0 PapaCim and WaTers have the most to lose here, as they have Valpo winning this tournament.\u00a0 GrossSr and Mac have them going to the finals.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee 74 – Valparaiso 57<\/em><\/p>\n

#3 Wright State vs #6 Oakland<\/strong> Travis Bader’s brilliant shooting and Coach Kampe’s brilliant inbounds play design saved Oakland’s season against Youngstown State and set up this quarterfinal date with Wright State.\u00a0 Bader is one of the best players that no one’s ever heard of, but he’s three\u00a0wins from being 2014’s Nate Wolters.\u00a0 But, first in line is a Wright State team that was picked to win the Horizon.\u00a0 It’s not like Wright was all that underperforming (inconsistent, maybe), it’s that Green Bay and Cleveland State were far better than expected.\u00a0 But, Wright did get a huge win over Valpo last week that clinched them the 3-seed and a first-round bye.\u00a0 While the Raiders don’t have anyone on the level of Bader, they are a deep and balanced team that can overwhelm you on defense.\u00a0 This should be a really good game from which we will know who moves on to face #2 Cleveland State in Saturday’s semifinal.<\/p>\n

6 people (GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, Scoot) have Oakland in a nice upset pick, though none have them any further.\u00a0 Lohse and Teddy have already lost this game with Youngstown.\u00a0 The other 17 all have Wright here, including Stumpf, who has them going all the way.\u00a0 6 others (Chris, Colton, Dave, Doogan, Stri, WaTers) have them reaching the finals.<\/p>\n

Wright State 73 – Oakland 57<\/em><\/p>\n

OPENING ROUND (March 4th – 6 points each)<\/h1>\n

#4 Valparaiso vs #9 Illinois-Chicago<\/strong> Valpo was in really good shape to at least grab the single-bye that accompanies the 3-seed in the tournament, but they lost a tough road game at Wright State and then closed out the season with a home loss to Cleveland State, forcing them into this opening round.\u00a0 Fortunately, they have a home game against a UIC team that went 1-15 in conference play.\u00a0 If there’s a silver lining for the Flames, it’s that that one win was a shocking 22-point win just this Wednesday on the road at Milwaukee.\u00a0 The winner of this game will face the winner of the 5\/8 game for the right to play #1 Green Bay on their home floor in the semis on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, no one took the terrible UIC here on the road.\u00a0 Valpo has some decent support, as GrossSr and Mac have them beating Green Bay before losing in the finals, and PapaCim and Waters have the Crusaders winning the whole thing.<\/p>\n

Valparaiso 73 – Illinois-Chicago 63
\n<\/em>Freshman forward Alec Peters went 10-11 from the field (2-3 from 3-point land) to lead the Crusaders to a surprisingly difficult 73-63 win over a really bad Flames team.<\/span> Everyone got this one right, including PapaCim and Waters, who kept alive their Horizon champions.\u00a0 GrossSr and Mac keep a finalist alive. <\/span><\/p>\n

#5 Milwaukee vs #8 Detroit<\/strong> Milwaukee was the feel-good story of the Horizon through 14 of their 16 conference games.\u00a0 Then, Wednesday night, they\u00a0suffered the biggest head-scratcher of the season in the Horizon when last-place UIC came into their building and blew them out.\u00a0 They recovered, though, and beat Detroit on the road on Friday to close out the season at 7-9 and grab the\u00a05-seed, despite preseason prognostications picking them to finish\u00a0last.\u00a0 Now, they get a home game against that very Detroit team, who stumbled\u00a0down the stretch, losing their last 3.\u00a0 The Titans can rise up, though, as they are the only Horizon team to beat Green Bay, Wright, and Valpo this year.\u00a0 The winner here will face the winner of the 4\/9 game in Friday’s quarters for a shot at #1 Green Bay on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Considering it’s only the First Tuesday, this is actually a\u00a0sneakily gigantic CTC game in this 3x tournament.\u00a0 Despite a 3-seed difference and homecourt advantage, the majority of the field has Milwaukee getting upset here.\u00a0 Only 10 people (Alexi, Caleb, Colton, Gersh, Lazarow, PapaCim, Scoot, Stri, Stritts, Waters) have UWM here.\u00a0 Colton has them going to the semis; Lazarow and Scoot have them going all the way to the finals.\u00a0 The other 15 people have Detroit in an upset that could net them a quick two dozen points.\u00a0 GrossJr, Lynch, and Teddy\u00a0went a step further and have the Titans winning again in the quarters.\u00a0 Big swing game, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee 83 – Detroit 73<\/em>
\nThe surprisingly excellent season for Milwaukee will continue in the quarterfinals in Green Bay on Friday, as they end a disappointing season for the Titans.\u00a0 The Panthers opened up a big lead in the first half and staved off a couple Detroit runs to advance to the weekend’s festivities, which will include a Friday night game against Valpo.<\/span> This was, as elaborated on above, a huge CTC game that went to the Panthers.\u00a0 Only 10 people hit this, including Colton, who saves a semifinalist, and Lazarow and Scoot, who saved finalists. <\/span><\/p>\n

#6 Oakland vs #7 Youngstown State<\/strong> Oakland’s first season in the Horizon was a year of near-misses and thoughts of what could have been.\u00a0 The roster has a lot of talent, but they understandingly struggled a little dealing with the unknown of new road trips, new styles of play, and just a general uptick in overall talent on the opposing side.\u00a0 They also played a BRUTAL non-conference slate, so maybe the losing carried over.\u00a0 But, they have righted the ship lately and enter the tournament as a bit of a sleeper.\u00a0 They got a HUGE win on Saturday to close out the regular season at Youngstown State to ensure that this 6\/7 matchup would be played in their house, not YSU.\u00a0 The Penguins were up and down as well this year – at times looking like potential title contenders and others look more like bottom-dwellers.\u00a0 Unfortunately for them, they have looked more like the latter lately, losing 5 of their last 6, with the only win an OT win at home over Milwaukee.\u00a0 The winner of this game will travel to Green Bay for a Friday night quarterfinal against #3 Wright State.<\/p>\n

9\u00a0people (Alexi, Chris, GrossJr, Lohse, PapaCim, Stritts, Stumpf, Teddy, Waters) went with the mild YSU upset pick.\u00a0 Lohse and Teddy\u00a0are trying to corner the market on the Penguins, as they have them going to the finals – two rounds further than anyone else has them.\u00a06 people (GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, Mac, Scoot) have Oakland beating Wright State in the quarters, but none have them beating Cleveland State in the semis.<\/p>\n

Oakland 96 – Youngstown State 92 (OT)<\/em>
\nABSOLUTE MADNESS!\u00a0 Travis Bader single-handedly kept his amazing career going by scoring FIVE POINTS IN THE FINAL :02 SECONDS to send the game to OT – and, if you know anything about Oakland basketball over the past four years, you are not surprised at all.\u00a0 Bader – who has scored nearly 2,500 points, including more than 700 3-pointers, in his incredible Golden Grizzly career – dropped 39 in total, including 18-18 from the FT line.\u00a0 Bader and the rest of the Oakland team move on to the quarters in Green Bay to take on 3rd-seeded Wright State.\u00a0 This loss has to be just DEVASTATING for the Penguins, who led by 4 with :08 seconds left, and now they’re heading home with their season over.<\/span> This loss is also devastating to Lohse and Teddy, who had the Penguins going to the Horizon finals.\u00a0 7 others missed out on the mild upset.\u00a0 6 people keep alive the dream of Oakland reaching the semifinals. <\/span><\/p>\n

CTC UPDATE<\/h1>\n

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