Feel free to skip to the bottom of each section if you just want to know who your Big Ten rooting interests are.

Ohio Valley Conference tournament preview

The Ohio Valley Conference tournament has four rounds on consecutive days. The top 4 seeds get a bye, the top two seeds get a double bye and only 8 out of 10 conference teams get to participate. All tournament games are played in Evansville, Indiana at the Ford Center. Interestingly, the women’s tournament takes place at the same time and location (which is why you only see two games/day on the men’s side) and an admissions fair for high school students interested in all ten OVC universities takes place Thursday at the Ford Center.

The odd thing about the OVC bracket is that while they take only 8 of 10 teams, they don’t exclude the two teams that are ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Both Lindenwood and Southern Indiana qualified for the OVC field.

In the past five tournaments the OVC has received a 7, 14, 11 (and 12), 12, and 15 seed. Although the two bid OVC was a possibility with Murray State and Belmont in the conference, those two programs have fled for the greener grass of the Missouri Valley Conference and the OVC is now a one bid conference and probably the recipient of a 16 seed.

The favorite

Morehead State Eagles (17-10, 14-4) - Morehead is the slowest team in the conference, but also the best team and program now that their primary competition has left. They aren’t unbeatable but they are the only remaining program that has been here recently. They last made the tournament in 2021.

Other contenders

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (12-16, 11-7) - It’s not often you find contenders with overall losing records but welcome to the OVC. Tennessee Tech has one thing going for them: they can shoot the three ball well (37.5%). If they make a run, they shot well enough to make up for their warts. The Golden Eagles have not been to the tournament in 60 years. They lost to Loyola Chicago in the opening round of the 1963 tournament 42-111.

Tennessee Martin Skyhawks (14-13, 10-8) - The Skyhawks have been in the Ohio Valley Conference since the 1992/93 season and never won the OVC auto bid. They play quick and showed themselves capable of beating Morehead State when they toppled them back on December 31.

Tennessee State Tigers (14-13, 10-8) - The Tigers play a lot of games very quickly daring opponents to shoot early in the shot clock. They were a very successful D2 program in the 70s, but have not made the NCAA D1 tournament since 1994.

Chaos option

Lindenwood (8-20, 6-12) or Southern Indiana (13-15, 9-9). Neither program is eligible for the NCAA tournament this season as they are in their first of a four year transition period. If one of these schools reaches the final, their opponent will get the auto bid win or lose. If both make the final, the #1 seed Morehead State will take the prize.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

Murray State went 30-2 (18-0) in the regular season, received a 7 seed, beat San Francisco in the first round, and then lost to Saint Peter’s. sigh. Murray State is now in the MVC.

Never made the tournament club

Tennessee Martin (20 seasons), Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville (14 seasons), Lindenwood (ineligible), Southern Indiana (ineligible)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• Beloved (by Illini fans) former Iowa assistant Bruce Pearl once coached at Southern Indiana. SIU is now in their first year of D1 basketball, something that arguably would have never happened if Bruce Pearl wasn’t so beloved by Illini fans as he is.
• Indiana beat Morehead State 88-53
• Iowa beat Southeast Missouri State 96-89
• Illinois beat Lindenwood 92-59 and met Kansas at Lindenwood for their secret scrimmage back in October
• Indiana Hoosiers beat Little Rock 87-68 during the Hoosier Classic
• Illinois Fighting Illini beat Eastern Illinois 87-57
• Ohio State beat Eastern Illinois 65-43
• Eastern Illinois beat Iowa Hawkeyes 92-83
• The conference last received two bids in 2019. Although the conference has semi regularly made the Round of 32, they haven’t been able to break thru to the Sweet 16 in the past 20 years. That’s unlikely to change with the departures of Murray State and Belmont.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Potential NIT teams: Root for Morehead State. They have the guaranteed NIT spot.

Everyone else: Doesn’t matter. The top of the conference isn’t getting an at-large. If you are a 1 or 2 seed concerned about losing to a sub 200 caliber team, you have bigger issues. Only Morehead State has made the tournament in the last 20+ years though, so if you want some new blood root for any of the 5 other eligible programs.

Picks

BoilerUp89: Morehead State is a favorite for a reason. They get a double bye to the semifinal and are the best team in the conference. They certainly can lose (and their glacier pace makes them susceptible to upsets) but they’ve won 11 of 12 and have the easiest path.

MNW: Every teenager’s favorite OVC school is the favorite, but there’s a lot of parity on down—like BU89 detailed above, you have to get down to the last team in, Lindenwood, to find a sub-.500 conference record.

While UT-Martin, SIUe, and SEMO all play top-20% in terms of pace, only the pride of Cape Girardeau succeeded in really getting Morehead out of their rhythm. I’ll take the Redhawks for shits and giggles, with an eye on the Screamin’ Eagles pulling off a stunner in their hometown of Evansville.

Big South tournament preview

The Big South tournament is a four round tournament with a rest day between the first and second rounds. All rounds take place at Bojangles Coliseum located in Charlotte, North Carolina and all ten Big South teams get to participate.

In the past five tournaments the Big South has received one 12, one 13, one 14, and two 16 seeds. UNC-Asheville might be able to sneak onto the 15 seed line, but the 16 seed is the most likely outcome for the conference as a whole.

The favorite

UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (22-7, 16-2) - The Bulldogs won the conference by a full four games and have lost just once in 2023. They shoot an absurdly high 39.5% from three but don’t take that many threes. Asheville last made the NCAA tournament in 2016.

Other contenders

Longwood Lancers (18-11, 12-6) - The Lancers made their first NCAA tournament last season when they went 15-1 in Big South play. Longwood hasn’t been nearly as good this season, but they are super upperclassmen heavy (no freshman and just one sophomore that is hurt), so don’t be shocked if the guys that won the conference tournament last year flip the switch on when it counts.

Radford Highlanders (16-13, 12-6) - Radford looked like strong contenders in January but lost four of their final six games down the stretch to fall out of the Big South race. Their best outside shooter (and former #15 overall ranked recruit in the 2019 class Bryan Antoine) has missed the last three games with an injury while the head coach was arrested for a DUI in February. If Antoine plays (and apparently no media organization wants to report on whether he will), Radford can make a push for the tournament crown. If he can’t go, fade Radford. The Highlanders last made the tournament in 2018.

Chaos options

Presbyterian Blue Hose (3-26, 1-17) - Perennial back of the pack Presbyterian, is the longest of long shots in the conference tournament. They have not won a game since December 29th against Campbell.

Campbell Camels (11-17, 8-10) - The Camels are leaving for the Colonial next season and have not won the Big South conference tournament in their second stint with the conference. Campbell was previously in the Big South from 1985-1994 when they won in 1992. They left for the Atlantic Sun and have been back in the Big South for the last decade but apparently didn’t like it any better than the first time around.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

Longwood made the tournament for the first time ever after going 15-1 in Big South play, received a 14 seed, and lost to Tennessee 56-88.

Never made the tournament club

South Carolina Upstate (15 seasons), High Point (23 seasons), Presbyterian (15 seasons)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• High Point is coached by former Minnesota Gopher’s head coach Tubby Smith’s son G.G.
• Barclay Radebaugh has been the head coach of Charleston Southern since the 2005/06 season. He is yet to win the conference tournament, won the conference regular season just twice, and only has five winning seasons during this time frame. I’m just saying Ohio State fans should be more patient with Holtmann.
• Penn State Nittany Lions defeated Winthrop 93-68.
• Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Charleston Southern 82-56.
• The Big South last won a tournament game in 2018 when 16 seed Radford defeated LUI-Brooklyn in the play-in round. The conference last won a 1st round game in 2007 when 11 seeded Winthrop defeated Notre Dame 74-64.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Potential NIT teams: Root for UNC-Asheville. Same reasoning as every other conference.

Everyone else: Pick your favorite story line. You could root for Longwood so you can make jokes, High Point or Winthrop because you liked their current coach’s dad, or Campbell because you would always start your coaching career as them on the NCAA basketball video game.

Picks

BoilerUp89: I’m personally rooting for Winthrop as the Eagles are coached by Skip Prosser’s son Mark and the first college basketball game I went to Skip was coaching Xavier against Rhode Island, but I suspect Asheville will win. Longwood is a decent back up pick but Asheville has lost just one game since the calendar turned to 2023.

MNW: If you want to watch a genuinely fun player, check out UNC Asheville for their 6’10” forward Drew Pember:

The Knoxville native didn’t make it at Tennessee, instead transferring to UNC-A, putting on some size, growing out some sweet hair, and just balling out. I watched the Bulldogs’ 2OT win at UCF in November, and he’s worth the price of admission: 20.4 ppg, shoots the three really well, can get to the basket, plays defense...he’s someone who, if the Bulldogs make the Dance, will get plenty of love on the broadcasts. Gimme Asheville in the Big South.

Northeast tournament preview

The NEC tournament is three rounds, with two days of rest between rounds. NCAA ineligible Stonehill will not be participating, but NCAA ineligible Merrimack will as the #1 seed. The NEC starts letting teams compete in their conference postseason in year 4 of their D1 transition. Should Merrimack win the conference tournament, the tournament runner-up will represent the NEC in the NCAA field. The tournament takes place at campus sites of the higher seeds and is reseeded after every round.

The NEC representative is almost certainly going to be a 16 seed just like they have been for the last five years. The Northeast conference hasn’t avoided the 16 seed line since 2011.

The favorite

Merrimack Warriors (13-16, 12-4) - There is no pressure on Merrimack as they don’t get to go to the NCAA tournament if they win. They are also the only team in the conference that plays any defense (helping overcome their 362nd KenPom ranked offense). This is Merrimack’s 4th year in the D2 to D1 transition period and first year they are allowed to participate in the NEC tournament.

Other contenders

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (15-14, 10-6) - The Knights swept Merrimack in the season series. Although they’ve lost 4 of their last 7, they’ve all been close and they have the only top 250 KenPom offense in the conference at 160. FDU last made the tournament in 2019. Back in 1985, they gave Michigan a real scare in the 1st round of the tournament.

St. Francis (PA) Red Flash (10-17, 9-7) - Saint Francis PA (not to be confused with conference mate Saint Francis NY), have made the tournament just once, way back in 1991. They are in a decent position here to compete for their second bid as it is both a small field and there is no obvious frontrunner with Merrimack being ineligible.

Chaos option

Long Island Sharks (1-25, 1-15) - Long Island won just one Division 1 game all year against Sacred Heart. The fact that they sit just 10 games away from a national championship is beautiful. Best known for their 1951 point shaving scandal, Long Island last made the NCAA tournament in 2018 as the Long Island Brooklyn Blackbirds. Long Island Post and Long Island Brooklyn merged in 2019 to form one athletics program.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

Bryant moved onto the America East conference this year after an ugly fight marred championship game win against Wagner last season. A brawl in the stands interrupted play in the second half with just 4 minutes and change. Bryant’s star player Peter Kiss repeatedly taunted Wagner players and fans throughout the game, Bryant students harassed Wagner players, and for reasons that remain unclear Bryant called a timeout up 36 points with 4:37 to play.

The 16th seeded Bryant was banished to the play-in round where they lost to de facto home team Wright State.

Never made the tournament club

St. Francis NY (84 seasons), Sacred Heart (23 seasons), Merrimack (ineligible), Stonehill (ineligible)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• Merrimack has won the conference regular season for the second time during their D1 transition.
• Rutgers beat Sacred Heart 88-50
• Rutgers beat Central Connecticut 83-49. Playing two NEC teams is why I mock your non-conference strength of schedule Rutgers. It’s also why you better beat Minnesota to secure your tournament bid.
• Minnesota Gophers beat St. Francis NY 72-54
• The Patriot League last won a NCAA tournament game in 2016 when the Bill Carmody led Holy Cross won a play-in game as a 16 seed against Southern. The conference last won a Round 1 game against Duke in 2012 when Lehigh smacked around Duke 75-70.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Root for Never Made the Tournament Club co-founder St. Francis (NY). None of these teams are likely to pull an upset in the NCAA tournament (all ranked sub-300), so the best we can do here is hope that St. Francis finally ends their drought. St. Francis has been within one win just three times.

Picks

BoilerUp89: Fairleigh Dickinson. They swept Merrimack in the regular season. Although they’ve been hit or miss down the stretch they aren’t getting blow out in any games and have the best offense in the conference.

MNW: Yep, it’s the Fightin’ Chess Pieces. But we gotta talk about how bad this conference is. If there was any poster child for why every conference shouldn’t get an auto-bid, it’s the NEC. They have a sweet free streaming app (works on Roku and Firestick), though, that I’d recommend you all check out:

Not only are the best teams in the NEC bad, though, they’re boring. Wagner and Merrimack both sit on the ball, as do Stonehill and Central Connecticut.

If I’m gonna root here, it’s for the chaos. So go Sharks: for one because they’re awful (the literal worst team in D1 per Kenpom, and that’s including Hartford, which is playing Independent this year and going down to D-III next year), but for two because they play the 15th-fastest tempo in college hoops. Give me them, NMTC members St. Francis (NY) or Sacred Heart, and then Fairly Dickin’, Son, in that order.