Two new conference tournaments begin today (Saturday), but more importantly the first three spots in the Big Dance Card will be filled.
All Times EST
Summit League Tournament
Tournament Site: Sioux Falls, SD
Saturday, March 5: Quarterfinal Round
G 1: #1 Oakland vs. #8 Southern Utah 7PM
G 2: #2 Oral Roberts vs. #7 North Dakota State 9:30 PM
Sunday, March 6: Quarterfinal Round
G 3 #4 I P F W vs. #5 North Dakota State 7 PM
G 4 #3 I U P U I vs. #6 Missouri-Kansas City 9:30 PM
Monday, March 7: Semifinal Round
G 5: G 1 Winner vs. G 3 Winner 7 PM
G 6: G 2 Winner vs. G 4 Winner 9:30 PM
Tuesday, March 8: Championship Game at 9PM on ESPN2
G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner
Hot Team: Oral Roberts has won eight consecutive games by an average margin of 12.6 points per game. This includes a key win over IUPUI that clinched the second seed.
Oakland enters the tournament riding a five-game winning streak. The Golden Grizzlies won 15 of their final 16 regular season games.
Not Hot: Missouri-Kansas City lost its last three games, but they were to three of the top four teams in the league.
Team Nobody Wants To Play: South Dakota State is only one hour from Sioux Falls, and the Jackrabbits will fill the arena. Oakland would much rather play four-seed I P F W in the semifinals. If SDSU wins their quarterfinal game, look for them to give Oakland fits in a semifinal match.
Oakland as Favorite: The Golden Grizzlies finished 17-1 in league play, so they must be considered solid favorites. Their lone league loss came at IUPUI, and in their 18 conference games they had a +14.2 scoring margin.
Our Pick: We will stick with the favorite to win here, even though we believe they will struggle to win their semifinal and final game.
Sunbelt Conference Tournament
Tournament Site: Hot Springs, AR (using Summit Arena and Convention Center Court)
Saturday, March 5: Opening Round
G 1: #3E Western Kentucky vs. #6W Louisiana-Monroe 7:45 PM (Convention Center)
G 2: #4W North Texas vs. #5E Troy 7:30 PM (Summit Arena)
G 3: #3W Denver vs. #6E Florida International 9:45 PM (Summit Arena)
G 4: #4E South Alabama vs. #5W U A L R 10PM (Convention Center)
Sunday, March 6: Quarterfinal Round
G 5: G 1 Winner vs. #2W Louisiana-Lafayette 7:30 PM (Summit Arena)
G 6: G 2 Winner vs. #1E Florida Atlantic 7:45 PM (Convention Center)
G 7: G 3 Winner vs. #2E Middle Tennessee 10 PM (Convention Center)
G 8: G 4 Winner vs. #1W Arkansas State 9:45 PM (Summit Arena)
Monday, March 7: Semifinal Round (Summit Arena)
G 9: G 5 Winner vs. G 6 Winner 7PM
G10: G 7 Winner vs. G 8 Winner 9:30 PM
Tuesday, March 8: Championship Game (Summit Arena)
G11: G 9 Winner vs. G 10 Winner at 7PM on ESPN2
Hot Team: Louisiana-Lafayette has won 11 consecutive games, but seven of those wins were by five points or less or in overtime. The Ragin’ Cajuns defeated both division winners in that stretch
Not Hot: Denver dropped from first to third when they lost their last three games and six of their final eight. The Pioneers had won eight consecutive games in midseason, but they lost their offensive touch down the stretch.
Team That Nobody Wants To Play: After starting conference play 0-4, Western Kentucky righted the ship and won eight of their last 12 conference games. The Hilltoppers greatly underachieved, and with two studs in Steffphon Pettigrew and Sergio Kerusch, WKU can beat anybody in the SBC.
Florida Atlantic As Favorite: The Owls started 8-0 in league play before faltering a bit down the stretch. We do not feel strongly that FAU can win three games in three days. In fact, we believe they will not even be around for the championship game.
Our Pick: When UL-Lafayette takes on Western Kentucky in the quarterfinal round, we believe the winner of that game will upset FAU in the semifinal round and go on to win the league’s lone bid to the Dance.
The First Three Bids Go Out Today
The league championship games are on tap for Saturday. Let’s look at the scores from Friday with the schedule for the three conference championship games.
Big South Conference— 4:00 PM on ESPN2
#3 UNC-Asheville (18-13) at #1 Coastal Carolina (28-4)
UNCA beat Charleston Southern 72-63 and High Point 62-45. Coastal Carolina beat Gardner-Webb 83-72 and VMI 89-81
Atlantic Sun Conference—6:00 PM on ESPN2
Site: Macon, GA
#1 Belmont (29-4) vs. #6 North Florida (15-18)
Belmont defeated Kennesaw State 72-57 and Mercer 80-72. North Florida defeated Jacksonville 68-64 and East Tennessee 59-55
Ohio Valley Conference—8:00 PM on ESPN2
Site: Nashville
#2 Morehead State (23-9) vs. #4 Tennessee Tech (20-11)
Morehead State beat Austin Peay 68-49. Tennessee Tech beat UT-Martin 83-59 and Murray State 64-59.
Scores From Other Conference Tournaments
Colonial Athletic Association
#9 Georgia State 58 #8 UNC-Wilmington 52
#5 Drexel 75 #12 Towson 69
#7 Delaware 60 #10 Northeastern 58
#11 William & Mary 72 #6 James Madison 68
Quarterfinal Round—Saturday
#1 George Mason vs. #9 Georgia State
#4 Virginia Commonwealth vs. #5 Drexel
#2 Old Dominion vs. #7 Delaware
#3 Hofstra vs. #11 William & Mary
Horizon League
#3 Cleveland State 73 #6 Wright State 59
#4 Valparaiso 88 #5 Detroit 78
Semifinal Round—Saturday
#1 Milwaukee vs. #4 Valparaiso
#2 Butler vs. #3 Cleveland State
M A A C
#9 Marist 73 #8 Niagara 61
#7 Siena 68 #10 Manhattan 66 OT
Quarterfinal Round—Saturday
#1 Fairfield vs. #9 Marist
#4 St. Peter’s vs. #5 Loyola (MD)
#3 Rider vs. #6 Canisius
#2 Iona vs. #7 Siena
Missouri Valley
#1 Missouri State 58 #8 Southern Illinois 56
#5 Creighton 60 #4 Northern Iowa 57
#2 Wichita State 70 #10 Bradley 56
#3 Indiana State 52 #6 Evansville 50
Semifinal Round—Saturday
#1 Missouri State vs. #5 Creighton
#2 Wichita State vs. #3 Indiana State
Southern Conference
#5N UNC-Greensboro 71 #4S Davidson 64
#3N Appalachian State 65 #6S Georgia Southern 57
#3S Furman 61 #6N Samford 48
#4N Elon 85 #5S Citadel 74
Quarterfinal Round—Saturday
#1N Western Carolina vs. #5N UNC-Greensboro
#2S Wofford vs. #3N Appalachian State
#2N Chattanooga vs. #3S Furman
#1S College of Charleston vs. #4N Elon
West Coast Conference
#8 Loyola Marymount 72 #5 Portland 68
#6 Pepperdine 84 #7 San Diego 81
Quarterfinal Round—Saturday
#4 Santa Clara vs. #8 Loyola Marymount
#3 San Francisco vs. #6 Pepperdine
Ivy League Results (Princeton and Harvard)
Harvard 79 Penn 64
Princeton 77 Dartmouth 55
Princeton is now 11-1. Harvard is now 11-2. The two teams square off in Cambridge tonight. If Princeton wins, the Tigers clinch the Ivy League title. If Harvard wins, then Princeton must win at Penn Tuesday night to force a playoff for the Ivy League title.
The Pi-Rate Ratings 