Conference Tournament Kick-Off

It's March 3rd - and that means it's time for the start of conference tournaments!

We are at the official beginning of the road to the Final Four – where you can win your way in and survive and advance.

Today, three conference tournaments kick off: Big South, Ohio Valley, and the Horizon League.

So what to watch for?

Big South:
I think the most intriguing match-ups come in the Big South. Radford took the #1 seed, but they’ll be fighting off the likes of VMI and Liberty.
VMI (2 Seed) is one of the highest scoring team in D-1 scoring 90+ points 19 times this season (and put up 100+ 10 times, including 111 in a win at Kentucky!). They play Coastal Carolina who they spilt the season series with (W, 103-102, L, 100-97).
Liberty (3 Seed) features a familiar name: Seth Curry. Yup, Steph Curry’s Brother. They play Gardner Webb – where in the last meeting, visiting Liberty won in a 2OT thriller 95-90.
It would be a fun storyline if either VMI with their scoring, or the Other Curry brother at Liberty made a trip to the Tourney. Highest seed hosts these game, with the #1 seed hosting the semis and the highest remaining seed hosting the championship – although no team losing here would be in contention for an automatic bid. Championship game: March 7th.

Ohio Valley:
I’ll be honest, this conference bores me. Not a whole lot here other than Tennessee-Martin is the number 1 seed and could be a good 14/15 seed story line come tourney time. They have the 56th best “adjusted offense” according to KenPom.com.
These games are hosted by the higher seed until the Semis, which are held at the Summet Center in Nashville. Championship Game: March 7th.

Horizon League:
The bottom dwellers face off and beat up on each other for two rounds before getting a shot at the 1 seed Butler and the 2 seed UWGB. Watch to see if both Cleveland State and Wright State advance, as they have given Butler fits. If Butler losses, they’ll likely get two seeds from the Horizon, taking one of the coveted at-large bids. Opening rounds hosted by higher seed, with the rest of the tournament being held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy.

Gotta love “Survive and Advance”… next update tomorrow.