How many tournaments are there still to preview? At what point do I say I’m done with previewing conference tournaments for the rest of this year?

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

Colonial Athletic Association tournament preview

Thirteen teams will battle it out across five straight days in Washington DC for the Colonial’s auto bid. The opening round features just one game, and the top four seeds get an additional bye.

In the past five tournaments the CAA winner has received a 15, 16, two 13s, and one 12 seed. The conference has not received an at-large bid since 2011 when both George Mason and VCU made the tournament in addition to Old Dominion. Most bracket projection sites have Charleston as the first auto bid team after the at-larges. Charleston could be looking at a 11 or 12 seed and Hofstra is more likely looking at a 13 or 14. I suspect any other winner is a 15 or 16 seed.

The favorites

Charleston Cougars (27-3, 16-2) - Led by head coach Pat Kelsey (yes, the guy I proposed for the Maryland job last year), Charleston has a shot of getting an at large bid. They won the Charleston Classic tournament (beating an 8 team field that included Penn State), but their back to back losses against Hofstra and Drexel as the calendar turned from January to February may doom them to the NIT if they can’t win the Colonial tournament. The Cougars play fast, shoot a lot of threes, and if they make the tournament are fully capable of pulling an upset or two. Charleston last made the tournament in 2018.

Hofstra Pride (22-8, 16-2) - Although they won’t get nearly the press of Charleston, Hofstra is actually the #1 seed in the Colonial bracket by virtue of winning the head to head game. The Pride have plenty of shooters, force opponents to work for a good shot, and have won 11 straight games. The Pride are coached by former NBA backup Speedy Claxton but they have not made the tournament since 2001: the year after Claxton was drafted.

Other contenders

Towson Tigers (20-11, 12-6) - Towson split the season series against Hofstra and played Charleston close in both their games. They get offensive rebounds at an elite rate, shoot threes at a 37.2% clip, and play a slow, deliberate pace that will keep them in games. Towson hasn’t been dancing since 1991.

UNC Wilmington Seahawks (20-9, 12-6) - Wilmington may be a bit of a paper tiger as they lost all four of their combined games against Charleston, Towson, and Hofstra. They do however have three senior starters and seniors often show up big when its win or go home time. Wilmington was last in the Big Dance in 2017.

Chaos option

William & Mary Tribe (10-19, 7-11) - Bill and Mary have gone 0-9 in conference championship games that would send them to the Big Dance. Out of the four founding members of the NMTC, they are the one that makes the least amount of sense.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

Delaware Blue Hens made the tournament as a 15 seed before losing to eventual Final Four team Villanova 60-80.

Never made the tournament club

founding member William & Mary Tribe (84 seasons), Elon Phoenix (25 seasons)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• Jameer Nelson Jr. - son of Jameer Nelson - is a junior for Delaware. This makes me old as I remember watching his father play at the Cintas Center.
• Purdue Boilermakers beat Hofstra 85-66.
• Iowa Hawkeyes beat North Carolina A&T 112-71.
• Indiana Hoosiers beat Elon 96-72 and helped destroy twitter.
• Illinois Fighting Illini beat Monmouth 103-65.
• Despite several close calls in recent years, the conference has not won a tournament game since James Madison defeated LUI Brooklyn in the play-in game back in 2013 and hasn’t won a first round game since VCU upset Wichita State in 2012.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Bubble teams: With only 3 losses all season, Charleston is firmly on the bubble. Yes, there is precedent to leave a 4 loss team out. Still, bubble teams are rooting hard for Charleston - the only potential at-large team in this field.

Potential NIT teams: Root for Hofstra

Picks

BoilerUp89: Charleston. I’m a believer in Pat Kelsey as an up and coming head coach and he’s won conference tournaments before (at Winthrop).

MNW: I have no opinions on the CAA. Because their regular-season TV contract is with FloHoops, I catch the 2-3 games on CBSSN and that’s about it. This year I maybe saw a Hofstra game once. So I’ll take them, though I recall at one point Charleston was ranked.

Summit League tournament preview

The Summit League has a five day, four round tournament that plays just two games a day. As a result, the quarterfinals are spread across two days. The top two seeds get to play the winners of Round 1 without a rest day and then potentially (assuming they win) get a day off to rest before the semifinals. It’s an interesting format which likely maximized their streaming exposure in addition to giving their top teams an added boost. All games are played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In the past five tournaments the Summit auto-bid has received a 12, 13, 15, and two 16 seeds. The Summit League has been a one bid league for the past twenty years but there is a very small possibility that changes this season as Oral Roberts enters the postseason 23-4. Oral Roberts is likely looking at a 12 seed. Everyone else is probably in 15-16 seed territory.

One added wrinkle, is that St. Thomas is playing in the Summit tournament despite being ineligible for the NCAA postseason. If the Tommies were to somehow win the Summit tournament, the auto-bid would go to regular season champion Oral Roberts.

The favorite

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (23-4, 18-0) - The Golden Eagles went a perfect 18-0 in Summit League play this season and their only losses came to Saint Mary’s, Houston, Utah State, and New Mexico.

The reason they aren’t getting serious at-large bid consideration is that they have just 1 top 100 win (at home versus Liberty) and they played FOUR non-D1 schools that don’t count on their resume. 27-4 would look a lot better than 23-4. A good comparison though would be last season’s South Dakota State who entered the tournament 28-4 (18-0, Summit tournament champs) and received a 13 seed. The Jackrabbits had worse losses (Idaho, sub 100 Washington), but better wins (Washington State, Bradley) and were placed firmly behind the bubble despite winning their conference tournament. Oral Roberts would be wise to follow their lead and they are a good offense that would be fun to watch in the Big Dance.

Other contenders

South Dakota State Jackrabbits (17-12, 13-5) - The Jackrabbits receive the other top seed in this tournament and just played Oral Roberts to a 4 point loss on Saturday. If anyone is going to pull off the upset, this is the best bet. Unlike Oral Robert's, they are playing close to home.

North Dakota State Bison (12-16, 11-7) - The Bison started the season 0-8 against D1 teams and were blown out by Oral Roberts in their first matchup. They did however split the season series with the Jackrabbits and played ORU to just an 8 point loss on the road two weeks ago.

Chaos options

St. Thomas Tommies (16-13, 9-9) - The Tommies are in the second year of their NCAA transition but are already the best Division 1 basketball team in the state of Minnesota.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

South Dakota State received a 13 seed, lost to Providence 57-66, and kept head coach Eric Henderson around. Henderson will presumably be near the top of the Gophers wish list next season.

Never made the tournament club

Western Illinois Leathernecks (41 seasons), Kansas City Roos (35 seasons), Denver Pioneers (24 seasons since moving back up), South Dakota Coyotes (14 seasons, Mike Daum haters), Omaha Mavericks (11 seasons), St. Thomas Tommies (ineligible)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• The current Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts came to them from Omaha where he had eliminated their football and wrestling programs.
• Wisconsin Badgers beat South Dakota 85-59
• Illinois Fighting Illini beat Kansas City 86-48
• Nebraska Cornhuskers beat Omaha 75-61 to ensure they would sweep the Omaha metro area
• Iowa Hawkeyes beat Omaha 100-64
• The Summit League last won a tournament game in 2021 when 15 seeded Oral Roberts beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 75-72 in OT. The Golden Eagles proceeded to beat Florida to make the Sweet 16 before falling by 2 points to Arkansas.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Bubble teams: Root for Oral Roberts if you want to be overly safe.

Potential NIT teams: Root for Oral Roberts.

Potential 3 to 5 seeds: Root against Oral Roberts. This makes the tournament field that much weaker.

Picks

BoilerUp89: Oral Roberts has the nation’s longest active win streak. I project that to continue until the NCAA tournament.

MNW: Yeah, it’s Oral Bob’s House of Learnin’ all the way here, but South Dakota State is always close to home and seems to get a boost in these tourneys. I’ll take the Oral-Bs over the Jackrabbits, but not by much.

Southern Conference tournament preview

All ten SoCon teams will battle it out over four days at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina to determine a champion. It’s a fairly straightforward tournament format with no real surprises.

In the past five tournaments the SoCon winner has received a 13, 13, 7, 13, and 13 seed. I had forgotten about that 2019 Wofford team. While it’s safe to say that Wofford team and the 2008 Davidson team (led by some guy named Stephen Curry) would have been at-large teams, they won the SoCon tournament in their respective seasons and the SoCon has not been a multiple bid league in the past twenty years. That’s unlikely to change this year as the top teams are looking at a 14 seed, and the rest of the pack is looking at a 15 seed.

The favorites

Furman Paladins (21-7, 15-3) - Furman has been near the top of the Southern Conference for years now under Bob Richey but have been unable to break thru in the tournament. That includes last season’s tournament final heartbreaker in which they lost to Chattanooga in overtime 63-64. Furman shoots a lot of threes but when they have an off shooting night they are susceptible to a loss. The top two players in the SoCon play for the Paladins in Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell. Furman has not made the tournament since 1980.

Samford Bulldogs (18-9, 15-3) - Samford was swept by Furman in the regular season, but otherwise were nearly flawless. Their three point defense is rather poor which probably accounts for their losses to Furman. Samford last made the tournament back in 2000.

Other contenders

UNC Greensboro Spartans (18-11, 14-4) - Advanced metrics actually like Greensboro better than Samford and they did beat Furman on the road this season. While Furman and Samford have the top two offenses in the SoCon, Greensboro has the top defense and there is a fairly large gap between them and the next best defense. Greensboro last represented the SoCon in 2021.

Chaos option

The Citadel Bulldogs (9-21, 5-13) - The Citadel has never made the tournament despite being in Division 1 every season that the NCAA has had a tournament. Some would say this is karma for their participation on the wrong side in the Civil War and I’ll note here that the school was originally known as the South Carolina Military Academy with two campuses (Citadel in Charleston and Arsenal in Columbia). General Sherman burned the Arsenal to the ground and it never reopened. The Union also occupied the Citadel in 1865 and it did not reopen until 1882.

Last year’s NCAA dancer

Chattanooga received a 13 seed but narrowly failed to pull off the upset over Illinois in round one losing 53-54.

Never made the tournament club

founding member The Citadel (84 seasons)

B1G connections and other fun conference stats

• Mercer head coach Greg Gary is a former Purdue Boilermakers assistant. Like most former Painter assistants (with the exceptions of Lutz and Shrewsberry), Gary hasn’t been terribly successful.
• Penn State Nittany Lions beat Furman 73-68
• Maryland Terrapins beat Western Carolina 75-51
• The conference last won a NCAA tournament game in 2019 when 7 seeded Wofford beat Seton Hall 84-68 before falling to Kentucky 56-62.

Too Long, Didn’t Read B1G Rooting Interests

Potential NIT teams: Root for Furman, they are ensured a NIT bid if they fall short in the SoCon tournament.

Picks

BoilerUp89: I’m going to go with Samford here and predict that Furman’s SoCon tournament woes continue another year.

MNW: My Paladins are due. Gimme Furman.