Conference Tournaments Begin

I don't have time for a full entry, but I need to post these things before the first Conference Tournaments get underway tonight. Yes, I am going to print out brackets for ALL Conference Tournaments (both a predictions bracket and a results bracket), which is probably going to get confusing very fast. For those of you scoring at home (or even if you're alone) that's 30 conference tournaments to keep track of, 30 brackets to fill out, 30 automatic births into the Big Dance. (The Ivy League has no Conference Tournament. And Cornell makes the field of 65 thanks to their regular season chapmpionship) I could probably only name 20 of these Conferences right now, but that is why I'm diving head first into all this lunacy. Less than 2 weeks until selection Sunday. The Cinderella stories don't start in the NCAA Tournament, they start in these little, under-publicized Conference Tournaments. Let's tip things off. Three Conference Tournaments begin tonight - the Horizon League, the Ohio Valley, & the Big South. My predictions are as follows:

• Horizon League - BUTLER - You only need to look back at my last post to know who I'm picking to win this league. They are clearly the best team here. The interesting thing about the Horizon League Tournament is it's structure. The #3-10 seeds play games today on the higher seeds home court. (Let's get something straight right now, when talking college hoops, 'higher seed' means closer to #1) The winners of those four games will play in the quarterfinals Friday in Indianapolis. The winners of those two games then play the #1 and #2 seeds Saturday in Indianapolis. My point is that the top two teams in the league get a bye until the semifinals! I find that awesome. The championship game is then hosted by the highest remaining seed. Talk about home court advantage. I like this structure, it really rewards regular season play and regular season dominance. #3 Wright State plays #10 Detroit tonight Phil, how great would it be if that "strong" Detroit team knocked off one of your picks. Notable seeds: #1 Butler, #2 Cleveland State, #3 Wright State, #6 Valparaiso.

• Big South - Winthrop - I know nothing about this league except the fact that Winthrop was good enough last year to upset Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Winthrop also lost to Davidson during Bracket Busters week and I don't know if that's good or bad for their resume. Winthrop is only the #2 seed in this tournament, playing second fiddle to #1 UNC Asheville. I should probably be taking UNC Asheville to win it all here due to the fact that I went to Asheville a year and a half ago for a wedding and had a fantastic time, but my gut says Winthrop. Some great names for colleges are involved with this tournament, such as High Point, Coastal Carolina, & Radford. The championship game is played at 11:30 am this Saturday on ESPN2, for those who wanted to know. Notable seeds: #1 UNC Asheville, #2 Winthrop, #3 High Point, #5 VMI (my sleeper in my predictions bracket).

• Ohio Valley - Austin Peay - If I knew nothing about the Big South, I REALLY know nothing about the Ohio Valley Conference. It seems like 23 of the teams in this conference are from Tennessee. Murray State was really the only team that jumped out at me as having made any noise in the NCAA Tournament before. When in doubt, go with the favorite. Notable seeds: #1 Austin Peay, #2 Murray State, #3 Morehead State, #5 Samford.