3/12: Conference Tournament Previews
By Michael Schneid
What to watch for as several major conference tournaments begin today....
AAC:
Temple vs UCF (Winner plays Cincinnati)
Rutgers vs South Florida (Winner plays Louisville)
Temple might be the best team of these four, despite finishing last in the conference. Dalton Pepper can score. Central Florida has a significant size advantage over Temple.... A South Florida loss probably spells the end of Stan Heath's days in South Florida. Rutgers has the talent to win but haven't played a complete game all year. Neither team stands much of a chance to pull off an upset in tomorrow's games. The biggest question is how many people will show up in Memphis tonight to watch these four teams?
ACC
Wake Forest vs Notre Dame (Winner plays Pittsburgh)
Miami vs Virginia Tech (Winner plays NC State)
Georgia Tech vs Boston College (Winner plays Clemson)
Notre Dame makes their ACC tournament debut against a team that beat Duke, UNC, and NC State yet still finished 12th. Whoever wins that first matchup can beat Pittsburgh tomorrow...Miami won this tournament last year but probably does not have the magic to do it again. They should beat the Hokies today though.... GT and BC represent two teams who had very disappointing seasons. GT coach Brian Gregory said his team needs more toughness in the future. BC played a brutal schedule despite having some talent. Give the nod to BC and maybe they upset Clemson tomorrow.
Big 12
Oklahoma State vs Texas Tech (Winner plays Kansas)
Baylor vs TCU (Winner plays Oklahoma)
Both Oklahoma State and Baylor were on the bubble a few weeks ago, but both teams seem to be solidly in the field of 68 for now. The return of Marcus Smart has been key for the Cowboys turnaround and they face the team Smart got suspended against. In our conference championship predictions we picked Oklahoma State to beat Baylor in the finals... both teams should win with relative ease today and than move on to the top two teams tomorrow.
Big East
Butler vs Seton Hall (Winner plays Villanova)
Depaul vs Georgetown (Winner plays Creighton)
Remember when the Big East tournament was the greatest? These kind of games used to happen Tuesday night and than there would be games all day Wednesday and Thursday. Now Thursday afternoon are the only day games, and that includes the "home" team St. John's (at 2:30). This night is saved by the possibility that Seton Hall and Georgetown has fans at MSG tonight. Butler makes their Big East tournament debut but Fuqan Edwin will be too much as Seton Hall should get the win. Georgetown should easily take care of Depaul, who has only won one Big East tournament game in their nine years in the conference (against Cincinnati). Georgetown could give Creighton trouble tomorrow, with the Blue Jays unfamiliar with the bright lights of NYC and MSG.
PAC-12
Utah vs Washington (Winner plays Arizona)
Colorado vs USC (Winner plays California)
Oregon vs Oregon State (Winner plays UCLA)
Stanford vs Washington State (Winner plays Arizona State)
The PAC-12 is the only major conference today with major bubble ramifications as the ACC, AAC and SEC have no likely tournament teams playing today and the Big East only has one very long shot and the Big 12 has two. Three of the PAC-12's four games feature tournament-hopeful teams.
Utah had a good season and Washington was disappointing. Expect Washington to end the season with a thud and for Utah to get the win, before losing to Arizona tomorrow.... Andy Enfeld did not have an immediate impact on USC, as the Trojans still finished last in the PAC-12. Colorado should and needs to win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive... Oregon is likely in the field of 68 after beating Arizona over the weekend but a loss to their rival Beavers could put them right back on the bubble...Stanford should beat the Cougars in another must win. We project Stanford and Oregon to pull off upsets tomorrow over Arizona State and UCLA respectively.
SEC
Auburn vs South Carolina (Winner plays Arkansas)
Vanderbilt vs Mississippi State (Winner plays Ole Miss)
The Auburn/South Carolina game can go either way. Both teams have been very disappointing but USC recently beat Kentucky and Frank Martin, despite his faults, can coach....Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt can also coach. He has played most of this year with one of his pre-season projected starting 5 and managed to win 7 SEC games. I would say the 'Dores get another SEC win and could pull off the upset tomorrow over Marshall Henderson.
Bonus - Atlantic 10
One of the most piuzzling tournament set ups is the Atlantic 10, which takes place in Brooklyn, NY. Tonight, George Mason plays Fordham in the 12 vs 13 matchup. The winner will play 5th seeded Dayton tomorrow. Luckily for the conference committee, Fordham is in NYC and might get fans there. But there probably is no need to play one game tonight. They could have played this on campus Monday night with the winner advancing to Brooklyn. Or they could have found a way to re-format the tourney so that more than 1 game takes place on day 1. The Atlantic 10 tournament does start tonight but it is a very unusual and uneventful (with all due respect to George Mason and Fordham) start.
What to watch for as several major conference tournaments begin today....
AAC:
Temple vs UCF (Winner plays Cincinnati)
Rutgers vs South Florida (Winner plays Louisville)
Temple might be the best team of these four, despite finishing last in the conference. Dalton Pepper can score. Central Florida has a significant size advantage over Temple.... A South Florida loss probably spells the end of Stan Heath's days in South Florida. Rutgers has the talent to win but haven't played a complete game all year. Neither team stands much of a chance to pull off an upset in tomorrow's games. The biggest question is how many people will show up in Memphis tonight to watch these four teams?
ACC
Wake Forest vs Notre Dame (Winner plays Pittsburgh)
Miami vs Virginia Tech (Winner plays NC State)
Georgia Tech vs Boston College (Winner plays Clemson)
Notre Dame makes their ACC tournament debut against a team that beat Duke, UNC, and NC State yet still finished 12th. Whoever wins that first matchup can beat Pittsburgh tomorrow...Miami won this tournament last year but probably does not have the magic to do it again. They should beat the Hokies today though.... GT and BC represent two teams who had very disappointing seasons. GT coach Brian Gregory said his team needs more toughness in the future. BC played a brutal schedule despite having some talent. Give the nod to BC and maybe they upset Clemson tomorrow.
Big 12
Oklahoma State vs Texas Tech (Winner plays Kansas)
Baylor vs TCU (Winner plays Oklahoma)
Both Oklahoma State and Baylor were on the bubble a few weeks ago, but both teams seem to be solidly in the field of 68 for now. The return of Marcus Smart has been key for the Cowboys turnaround and they face the team Smart got suspended against. In our conference championship predictions we picked Oklahoma State to beat Baylor in the finals... both teams should win with relative ease today and than move on to the top two teams tomorrow.
Big East
Butler vs Seton Hall (Winner plays Villanova)
Depaul vs Georgetown (Winner plays Creighton)
Remember when the Big East tournament was the greatest? These kind of games used to happen Tuesday night and than there would be games all day Wednesday and Thursday. Now Thursday afternoon are the only day games, and that includes the "home" team St. John's (at 2:30). This night is saved by the possibility that Seton Hall and Georgetown has fans at MSG tonight. Butler makes their Big East tournament debut but Fuqan Edwin will be too much as Seton Hall should get the win. Georgetown should easily take care of Depaul, who has only won one Big East tournament game in their nine years in the conference (against Cincinnati). Georgetown could give Creighton trouble tomorrow, with the Blue Jays unfamiliar with the bright lights of NYC and MSG.
PAC-12
Utah vs Washington (Winner plays Arizona)
Colorado vs USC (Winner plays California)
Oregon vs Oregon State (Winner plays UCLA)
Stanford vs Washington State (Winner plays Arizona State)
The PAC-12 is the only major conference today with major bubble ramifications as the ACC, AAC and SEC have no likely tournament teams playing today and the Big East only has one very long shot and the Big 12 has two. Three of the PAC-12's four games feature tournament-hopeful teams.
Utah had a good season and Washington was disappointing. Expect Washington to end the season with a thud and for Utah to get the win, before losing to Arizona tomorrow.... Andy Enfeld did not have an immediate impact on USC, as the Trojans still finished last in the PAC-12. Colorado should and needs to win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive... Oregon is likely in the field of 68 after beating Arizona over the weekend but a loss to their rival Beavers could put them right back on the bubble...Stanford should beat the Cougars in another must win. We project Stanford and Oregon to pull off upsets tomorrow over Arizona State and UCLA respectively.
SEC
Auburn vs South Carolina (Winner plays Arkansas)
Vanderbilt vs Mississippi State (Winner plays Ole Miss)
The Auburn/South Carolina game can go either way. Both teams have been very disappointing but USC recently beat Kentucky and Frank Martin, despite his faults, can coach....Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt can also coach. He has played most of this year with one of his pre-season projected starting 5 and managed to win 7 SEC games. I would say the 'Dores get another SEC win and could pull off the upset tomorrow over Marshall Henderson.
Bonus - Atlantic 10
One of the most piuzzling tournament set ups is the Atlantic 10, which takes place in Brooklyn, NY. Tonight, George Mason plays Fordham in the 12 vs 13 matchup. The winner will play 5th seeded Dayton tomorrow. Luckily for the conference committee, Fordham is in NYC and might get fans there. But there probably is no need to play one game tonight. They could have played this on campus Monday night with the winner advancing to Brooklyn. Or they could have found a way to re-format the tourney so that more than 1 game takes place on day 1. The Atlantic 10 tournament does start tonight but it is a very unusual and uneventful (with all due respect to George Mason and Fordham) start.
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