The WCC was chalk yesterday with Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga winning, but it really felt like March was back for BYU +6.5 bettors such as myself. Those pricks from Provo decided to come all the way back to cut it to 3 after trailing by 26 to get me invested…just to miss a couple free throws and commit a foul with .9 on the clock. Saint Mary’s hits 1 of 2 and covers by 7. Tragedy. This is the grind of March, and it’s only just begun. I’m sure I’ll be screaming at my tv for 18 year old kids to make their free throws all month long.
I’m not sure why some of these smaller conferences even try to compete with the bigger conferences for the spotlight this week. Big West, MAAC, WAC, SWAC should all start theirs last week to give us wall to wall mid-major action. I won’t complain about more basketball, though. 5 conferences start play this week! Let’s dive in.
ACC
Maybe the most disappointing conference this season, the ACC has 3 locks for the tournament with Miami, Duke, and Virginia. There are several bubble teams who could get in without winning the tournament such as Pitt, Clemson, and NC State. Before their two game skid, I liked NC State as a dark horse to win the tournament, but I’m not sure if they can win a rock fight against Virginia if they make it to the semifinals. Unfortunately, I like Duke to get through their half of the bracket, and I think they’ll face Virginia in the finals with the Cavaliers cutting down the nets. If you want a dark horse, I would sprinkle Pitt. They’ll beat Georgia Tech or Florida State easily. If they can get past Duke, they’ve already beat both Miami and Virginia. Hungry dawgs run faster. They have 3 senior guards who lead their team in minutes.
A10
This has also been a disappointing conference which has raised the question if VCU doesn’t win the tournament, will they be a multi-bid league. Their non-conference schedule includes wins over Pitt and Vanderbilt, but that’s about it. Luckily for the Rams, I don’t see anyone matching up with them. Dayton poses the biggest threat, but St. Bonaventure also beat them at home. They both might be worth sprinkles if you’re not feeling chalky.
Big West
This is a really good basketball conference with 7 teams that could realistically win it all. I like the #1 seed and perennial Big West championship contender UC Irvine with a Cal State Fullerton sprinkle. Spin a wheel with the 6 teams who have a bye to the quarterfinal and you can land on a potential champ.
MAAC
It’s Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels and everyone else, but Rider has already beaten them once and gave them a scare in the final game of the season. I like the Gaels, but Rider is worth a sprinkle.
WAC
This is another mid-major conference that has an argument for multiple bids; unfortunately the conference’s best win was Sam Houston beating Utah on the road. Utah Valley won the regular season championship and is the best shot blocking team in the nation, averaging 6.7 per game thanks in large part to 7 footer Aziz Bandaogo. Unfortunately, the WAC is ass backwards and has Sam Houston as the number 1 seed based on resume seeding points…whatever that this. That screws over Utah Valley a bit as they’re projected to play Tarleton, a team they lost to by 19 points, in the quarterfinals. I really like Southern Utah’s draw, they’ll play a Stephen F. Austin and Utah Valley, two teams they’ve already beat before getting to the finals. They have two senior guards, Harrison Butler and Tevian Jones who lead their team in minutes. Tarleton has seemed to beat the shit out of everyone in the conference, but are inexperienced and have been inconsistent…maybe still worth a sprinkle?
A big day today, but a HUGE day tomorrow with 9 conferences starting play. I gotta get to studying. Love you, bye.
The Morning Flush 