Basketball Conference Tournaments: Wednesday Morning Open Thread

There’s basketball on, and it’s not even noon ET.

THAT’S how great college basketball’s conference championship season is.

We’ve got the Big Ten Tournament tipping off at 5pm GTZ; in the meantime, here’s what to look for across the college basketball landscape as teams jockey in the eyes of the Sesame Street gang bracketology experts to punch tickets to the remaining auto-bids and at-large spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Big Sky Championship — Round 1

CenturyLink Arena, Boise, ID

This might be the most under-the-radar of the conference championships—the Big Sky rates out even with the Summit and Horizon leagues, just behind the Sun Belt, C-USA, and Ivy League. I realize that might be damning with faint praise, but it’s certainly something.

Most importantly, this game is played on the greatest of all the networks: PlutoTV. It’s free television where my subscription gets stuck on the James Bond re-run channel or the Doctor Who Classic channel, but includes random MLS, Stadium, and Big Sky features from time to time. Put the app on your Roku, or just watch it on your laptop. [I realize that sounds like spon-con, but just know that it is not—no one cares enough about what I think to pay me for that pseudo-endorsement.]

Anywho, here’s who’s on today:

• [9] Sacramento State Hornets vs. [8] Weber State Wildcats (10:30am CT, PlutoTV, Sac -4)
• [10] Idaho Vandals vs. [7] Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1pm, PlutoTV, SUU -11.5)
• [11] Idaho State Bengals vs. [6] Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (3:30pm, PlutoTV, NAU -4)

ACC Tournament — 2nd Round

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

Not much to say about this. It’s in Greensboro, it’s dumb, and UNC won yesterday, prompting a lot of “THEY’RE THE BEST 14-SEED EVER” takes from paid ESPN basketball-knowers, just as a reminder of how fucking stupid sports are.

• [9] Miami-Florida Hurricanes vs. [8] Clemson Tigers (11am, ESPN, Clem -3)
• [13] Pittsburgh Panthers vs. [5] N.C. State Wolfpack (1pm, ESPN)
• [10] Boston College Eagles vs. [7] Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6pm, ESPN2, ND -9)
• [14] North Carolina Tar Heels vs. [6] Syracuse Orange (8pm, ESPN2)

Atlantic 10 Championship — 1st Round

Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

• [13] Saint Joseph’s Hawks vs. [12] George Mason Patriots (12pm, ESPN+, GMU -4.5)
• [14] Fordham Rams vs. [11] George Washington Colonials (2:30pm, ESPN+, GW -3)

Fordham’s only two wins in Atlantic 10 play are over the Colonials. This is terrible. Find better things to do.

Pac-12 Tournament — 1st Round

T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

I don’t really know what we’re doing here anymore. Utah was originally supposed to be an NCAA Tournament team, and Oregon State has Tres Tinkle, but after that I have absolutely nothing to tell you about this game. We’re just marking time until Northwestern-Minnesota. Let’s just get through it together.

• [9] Utah Utes vs. [8] Oregon State Beavers (2pm, Pac-12, ORSt -3.5)
• [12] Washington Huskies vs. [5] Arizona Wildcats (4:30pm, Pac-12, UA -5)
• [10] California Golden Bears vs. [7] Stanford Cardinal (8pm, Pac-12, Stan -10)
• [11] Washington State Cougars vs. [6] Colorado Buffaloes (10:30pm, Pac-12, CU -8)

Southland Tournament — 1st Round

Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, TX

On at the same time as the Big Ten Tournament tonight, you’re not watching this.

• [8] Texas A&M Corpus-Christi Islanders vs. [5] Northwestern State Demons (5pm, ESPN+)
• [7] McNeese State Cowboys vs. [6] Lamar Cardinals (7:30pm, ESPN+)

MAAC Championship — Quarterfinals

Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

Man, did you all miss a slapper of a game in Marist-Niagara last night. That game-winning layup to make it 56-54, Niagara...Greg Paulus nearly fell over, it hit him so hard.

• [9] Manhattan Jaspers vs. [1] Siena Saints (6pm, ESPN3)
• [7] Iona Gaels vs. [2] Saint Peter’s Peacocks (8:30pm, ESPN3)

C-USA Championship — 1st Round

Ford Center at the Star, Frisco, TX

NEVER FORGET THAT THIS TOURNAMENT PLAYS TWO GAMES SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE SAME BUILDING!

That’s about all I have about the C-USA Tournament—it literally takes the form of a youth basketball tournament, only played in a convention center where the main arena is divided into two courts. It is amazing, and more people outta know about it. Except that it all goes to Jerry Jones. That’s less fun. But it happens!

• [9] Florida Atlantic Owls vs. [8] Old Dominion Monarchs (6pm, ESPN+)
• [12] Rice Owls vs. [5] Florida International Panthers (6:30pm, ESPN+)
• [10] UTSA Roadrunners vs. [7] UAB Blazers (8:30pm, ESPN+)
• [11] UTEP Miners vs. [6] Marshall Thundering Herd (9pm, ESPN+)

My pick for this tourney: The winner of Louisiana Tech vs. Western Kentucky. The 3-2 matchup, Tech lost both regular-season games to WKU. I like them to get off the slide against the ‘Toppers and win the whole thing—assuming they can survive the looming #1 seed, North Texas.

Big East Tournament — 1st Round

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Go Marquette.

• [9] St. Johns Red Storm vs. [8] Georgetown Hoyas (6pm, FS1)
• [10] DePaul Blue Demons vs. [7] Xavier Musketeers (8:30pm, FS1)

SEC Tournament — 1st Round

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN

• [13] Georgia Bulldogs vs. [12] Ole Miss Rebels (6pm, SECN, Miss -3.5)
• [14] Vanderbilt Commodores vs. [11] Arkansas Razorbacks (8pm, SECN, Ark -9)

Big 12 Tournament — 1st Round

Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO

• [9] Iowa St. Cyclones vs. [8] Oklahoma State Cowboys (6pm, ESPNU, OKSt -6.5)
• [10] Kansas State Wildcats vs. [7] TCU Horned Frogs (8pm, ESPNU, TCU -1.5)

Sun Belt Conference Championship — Quarterfinal

• [5] Georgia Southern Eagles at [4] Georgia State Panthers (6pm, ESPN+)
• [6] Appalachian State Mountaineers at [3] Texas State Bobcats (7pm, ESPN+)

MEAC Tournament — Quarterfinal

LOOK AT YOU, HOWARD. The Bison may have gone 4-27 (1-15) over the regular season, but with a 70-63 win over South Carolina State at the Norfolk Scope, the real HU—rated at 350 by Kenpom—has vaulted its way into the MEAC quarters. Good for them. [All these games are still hidden by FloSports’ paywall.]

• [8] Delaware State Hornets vs. [1] North Carolina Central Eagles (5pm, Flo)
• [10] Howard Bison vs. [2] North Carolina A&T Eagles (7pm, Flo)

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That’s about all we’ve got for you! If you’re looking for Big Ten Tournament content, it’s up right now—and we’ve got a game thread coming for you this afternoon!

In the meantime, talk about the morning and early afternoon action here. And check out PlutoTV! You won’t be sorry.