March Madness: Tuesday’s conference tournament breakdown
We’re onto the second week of conference tournaments, which means we’re already into the second week of “March Madness.” Most of the “lesser” conference tournaments began last week; those are the conferences in which you must win your tourney to even get into the Big Dance. The pressure is immense, and a marvelous regular season can mean nothing. There are a handful of those tournaments this week, too.
Here’s a look at the five tournaments that start Tuesday (including four one-bid-league tourneys), and 11 more begin Wednesday. (Here’s a look at the complete conference tournament schedule. All hail March Madness.)
ACC
When: Tuesday-Saturday (the schedule is here)
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
TV for final: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Regular-season champ: Duke
Format: All 14 teams qualify. Top four seeds get byes to quarterfinals.
Projected NCAA bids: 4-6.
The buzz: This should be one of the most intense conference tournaments, simply because the ACC is down this season and a handful of teams are on the bubble. Indeed, other than Duke, no one is an NCAA lock. Duke has five Quad 1 wins; second-most in the league is fourth-seeded Miami, with four (the ’Canes also have three Quad 3 losses). Second-seeded Notre Dame and third-seeded North Carolina have two Quad 1 wins each. Eighteen of UNC’s 23 wins and 17 of Notre Dame’s 22 have come against Quad 3 and 4 teams. Fifth-seeded Wake Forest has one Quad 1 win; 18 of the Demon Deacons’ 23 wins have come against Quad 3 and 4 opponents. And those generally are considered the five teams with the best shot at an NCAA at-large. Seventh-seeded Virginia Tech, which has a good NET ranking (37th) but just Quad 1 win, likely needs a run to the final to have any kind of shot. Assuming Wake wins its second-round matchup with either Boston College or Pitt, it will meet Miami in what should be a mighty interesting quarterfinal. A Notre Dame-Virginia Tech quarterfinal also would be interesting. In short, if anybody other than Duke loses before the semifinal round, that team will be sweating at least a little bit on Selection Sunday.
The pick: Duke.
Big West Conference
When: Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday (the schedule is here)
Where: Dollar Loan Center, Las Vegas
TV for final: Saturday, 11:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Regular-season champ: Long Beach State
Format: All 10 teams qualify. Top six seeds get byes to quarterfinals.
Projected NCAA bids: 1.
The buzz: COVID impacted the conference schedule. Long Beach State played 15 conference games and won the regular-season title by a game over Cal State Fullerton, which also played 15. But one team played 11 conference games, one played 13, another played 16 — you get the idea. Long Beach State isn’t an especially good offensive team, though in league play the 49ers didn’t turn it over. Defense is the 49ers’ calling card, and against Big West foes, they forced a bunch of turnovers. Fullerton was 7-1 in the league at one point but stumbled a bit down the stretch and finished 11-4. Fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara, which split with Long Beach State, comes in having won eight of nine. The Gauchos’ offense makes them dangerous.
The pick: UC Santa Barbara.
Conference USA
When: Tuesday-Saturday (the schedule is here)
Where: Ford Center at the Star, Frisco, Texas
TV for final: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network
Regular-season champ: North Texas
Format: All 14 teams qualify. Top four seeds get byes to quarterfinals.
Projected NCAA bids: 1.
The buzz: North Texas had won 15 in a row until losing at UTEP on Saturday in the regular-season finale. The Mean Green, who upset Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, still won the regular-season title by two games. UNT plays solid defense, especially on the perimeter, and prefers a slower tempo. UTEP beat UNT 70-68 and was just the second team this season to score 70 on the Mean Green (the other was Kansas, which scored 71). UAB, which had the second-best record in the conference but is seeded third because the league seeds by division, is the other team to keep an eye on. Just like North Texas is by far the best defensive team in the conference, the Blazers are by far the best offensive team. UAB, which has won four in a row and seven of nine, and UNT split the season series, with each winning on the other’s home court. It would be a major surprise if anyone other than one of those two won the tourney.
The pick: North Texas.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
When: Tuesday-Saturday (the schedule is here)
Where: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.
TV for final: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Regular-season champ: Iona
Format: All 11 teams qualify. Top five seeds get byes to quarterfinals.
Projected NCAA bids: 1.
The buzz: Rick Pitino and Iona won the regular-season title by three games. The Gaels are, by far, the best offensive team in the conference, though their 3-point shooting is spotty. Iona has been to the past five NCAA tournaments, and it would be shocking if the Gaels don’t make it six in a row. They have a nice inside-outside combo in 6-9 sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph (12.9 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game), who is from Nigeria, and 6-4 senior Tyson Jolly (14.5 ppg), who played at Baylor and SMU before winding up at Iona. Second-seeded Saint Peter’s, coached by former Seton Hall G Shaheen Holloway, is all about defense. The Peacocks have won five of their past six.
The pick: Iona.
Western Athletic Conference
When: Tuesday-Saturday (the schedule is here)
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas
TV for final: Saturday, 10 p.m. ET,
Regular-season champ: New Mexico State
Format: 10 of the 13 teams qualify. Last-place Lamar did not qualify, and eighth-place Tarleton State and 10th-place Dixie State are in their transition seasons from Division II and ineligible for the NCAA tourney. The top two seeds get byes to the semifinals, while the third and fourth seed get byes to the quarterfinals.
Projected NCAA bids: 1.
The buzz: Three teams — New Mexico State, Seattle and Stephen F. Austin — tied for the regular-season title, and two more teams — Grand Canyon and Sam Houston State — were just one game back. New Mexico State (24-6) earned the No. 1 seed by virtue of tiebreakers, and the Aggies and fourth-seeded Grand Canyon — coached by Bryce Drew and last season’s WAC tourney winner — are the only conference schools in the top 100 in the NET rankings. Stephen F. Austin comes in on a 10-game winning streak, including a victory at New Mexico State. The Lumberjacks are at their best when 6-foot-7, 260-pound F Gavin Kensmil, a native of Suriname who began his career at Iona, is dominating in the paint. During the 10-game winning streak, Kensmil is shooting an astounding 67.2 percent from the floor (84-of-125). New Mexico State’s key guy is Nebraska transfer Teddy Allen (19.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg). A potential darkhorse is No. 6 Abilene Christian, which went to the past two NCAA tournaments as the Southland Conference tourney champs. The Wildcats have won nine of their past 11, with the two losses coming by a combined six points.
The pick: Stephen F. Austin.