We add three more conference tournaments to the active list today. The America East, Missouri Valley, and Northeast Conference tournaments commence; this brings the active tournament list to eight.
All Times EST
America East Conference Tournament
Tournament Site: 1st Three Rounds at Hartford, CT
Championship Game Played On Home Court Of Higher Seeded Finalist
Thursday, March 3: Opening Round
G 1: #8 Maryland-Baltimore County (5-24) vs. #9 Binghamton (7-22)
Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round
G 2: MD-Balt. Co./Binghamton Winner vs. #1 Vermont (22-7)
G 3: #4 Albany (16-15) vs. #5 Stony Brook (13-16)
G 4: #2 Boston U (18-13) vs. #7 New Hampshire (12-17)
G 5: #3 Maine (15-14) vs. #6 Hartford (10-19)
Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round
G 6: G 2 Winner vs. G 3 Winner
G 7: G 4 Winner vs. G 5 Winner
Saturday, March 12: Championship Game
G 6 Winner vs. G 7 Winner at Higher Seed at 12 Noon on ESPN2
Hot Team: Boston U has won eight games in a row by an average of 12.1 points per game. Included in that streak is a road win at top seed Vermont. The Terriers swept the Catamounts this year and may have to make it three out of three to get to the Big Dance.
Not Hot: The bottom three seeds enter tournament play coming off multiple game losing streaks, but the big news here is that Vermont dropped its last two games after winning the previous ten in a row.
Team Nobody Wants To Play: Stony Brook underachieved all season. Expected to contend for the conference title, the Seawolves finished a disappointing 8-8 in league play. Stony Brook would have won three or four more conference games had Tommy Brenton not suffered a knee injury before the season began.
Vermont as Favorite: The Catamounts have an easy quarterfinal game, but they will be in for a rough game in the semifinals. If they win there, they may have to face Boston U for a third time after losing twice to the Terriers. We do not consider Vermont as the clear-cut favorite in this tournament; in fact, we believe that Boston U, Maine, and Albany are almost co-favorites with the Catamounts.
Our Pick: We like Maine to upset the top two seeds and steal the automatic bid. The Black Bears play competently on the road, and they have the best offense in the league.
Missouri Valley Conference
(Arch Madness)
Tournament Site: St. Louis
Thursday, March 3: Opening Round
G 1: #8 Southern Illinois (12-18) vs. #9 Illinois State (12-18)
G 2: #7 Drake (13-17) vs. #10 Bradley (11-19)
Friday, March 4: Quarterfinal Round
G 3: G 1 Winner vs. #1 Missouri State (23-7)
G 4: #4 Northern Iowa (19-12) vs. #5 Creighton (18-13)
G 5: G 2 Winner vs. #2 Wichita State (23-7)
G 6: #3 Indiana State (17-13) vs. #6 Evansville (15-14)
Saturday, March 5: Semifinal Round
G 7: G 3 Winner vs. G 4 Winner
G 8: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner
Sunday, March 6: Championship
G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner at 2:00 PM on CBS
Hot Team: Missouri State won their last six conference games and lost only the bracketbuster game at Valparaiso in that time frame.
Not Hot: Northern Iowa was in contention for an at-large bid at 18-6 when the Panthers lost at Drake. NIU concluded the regular season losing six of seven games.
Team Nobody Wants To Play: Missouri State may be the top seed, but Wichita State has performed much better on the road this year.
Missouri State as Favorite: The Bears are on a roll, but they cannot be considered a prohibitive favorite. This league has several teams talented enough to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Even #10 Seed Bradley is capable of winning this tournament. The Braves won five of their final eight games.
Our Pick: Wichita State has a strong defense, plus what we think is the easier path to the Championship Game than Missouri State. Northern Iowa knows they must win the tournament to gain re-admittance to the Big Dance. A prospective semifinal match between UNI and MSU could be one of those memorable games that drain the winner and leave them with little left in the tank for the Championship Game. We’ll pick the Shockers.
Northeast Conference
All Games Played At Home Court Of Higher Seed
Thursday, March 3: Quarterfinal Round
G 1: #8 St Francis (PA) (9-20) at #1 Long Island (24-5)
G 2: #5 St. Francis (NY) (15-14) at #4 Central Connecticut State (18-11)
G 3: #7 Mount St. Mary’s (11-20) at #2 Quinnipiac (21-8)
G 4: #6 Wagner (13-16) at #3 Robert Morris (16-13)
Sunday, March 6: Semifinal Round
(Tournament Re-seeds after Quarterfinals
Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed
2nd Lowest Remaining Seed at 2nd Highest Remaining Seed
Wednesday, March 9: Championship Game
Semifinal Winners Meet At Higher Seed’s Home Court At 7:00 PM on ESPN2
Hot Team: How about four hot teams? LIU won their last ten games and 18 of their final 19. Quinnipiac won nine of their final ten, losing only at LIU. Robert Morris won their final six games by an average of 11 points per game. St. Francis (NY) won their final four games after losing two close games to LIU.
Not Hot: Central Connecticut had a shot at second place until they lost their last three games. The Blue Devils had been hot in the middle of the schedule, winning 13 of 15 games.
Team That Nobody Wants To Play: Robert Morris is the two-time defending conference tournament champion, and in Karon Abraham, they have a sharpshooter that can light it up when he is on. Can he be on for three straight games? We think not.
Long Island as Favorite: The Blackbirds can score as ably as any team in the nation, and they won 13 of 16 games away from home. They are decided favorites in this tournament, and they know they will be confined to the NIT if they do not secure an automatic bid.
Our Pick: The NEC re-seeds the brackets after the first round (think NFL playoffs), so LIU will could conceivably play the #8, #7, and #6 seeds to get to the NCAA Tournament. Regardless of whether they play the top teams or the bottom teams, they will play at home as long as they stay alive. We do not see much opportunity for an upset, as LIU has a dominating inside presence with Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere.
Tournaments Underway
Atlantic Sun Conference
#1 Belmont 72 #8 Kennesaw State 57
#2 East Tennessee 54 #7 Campbell 53
The quarterfinal round continues Thursday as #3 Jackonsville plays #6 North Florida, and #4 Lipscomb plays the host team in #5 Mercer.
Ohio Valley Conference
#8 UT-Martin 68 #5 Tennessee State 64
#7 Southeast Missouri 65 #6 Eastern Kentucky 49
The Quarterfinal round begins Thursday night as #3 Austin Peay takes on #7 Southeast Missouri and #4 Tennessee Tech faces #8 UT-Martin. The top two seeds, Murray State and Morehead State get a second bye into the Semifinal round.
Patriot League
#1 Bucknell 78 #8 Army 51
#2 American 69 #7 Colgate 53
#6 Lafayette 77 #3 Holy Cross 70
#4 Lehigh 87 #5 Navy 75
The Semifinal Round is Sunday with Bucknell hosting Lehigh and American hosting Lafayette.
The Pi-Rate Ratings 