Here I will list the dates for each conference tournament. I will also give a few nuggets of information that may help you when debating some wagering on these tourneys.
America East: March 1-10
All games played @ Hartford Civic Center until the championship which is played at the school with the highest seed. This conference will likely come down to 2 schools, #1 seed Stony Brook and #2 seed Vermont – the teams split their regular season meetings. #3 seed BU did not play well vs. the top two seeds this year, while #6 Hartford will have some home-court advantage in first two rounds, but are unlikely to be capable of capitalizing on it.
Atlantic Ten: March 6-11
The bottom two teams will not take part in the conference tournament (Fordham and Rhode Island most likely), and the first round featuring seeds #5 to #12 will take place on campus of higher seed before moving to Atlantic City for the QF’s and beyond. This tournament is usually extremely interesting and exciting, with lower seeded teams making runs routinely to later portions of the event – over the last 5 seasons, of the 10 title game berths, only one was a #1 seed (Temple in 2010) and only one was a #2 seed (Temple in 2008) – the rest featured anywhere from #3 seeds to last year #9 Dayton reaching the final. Temple has played in 3 of the last 4 (winning all 3), while Richmond has appeared in the last 2 finals winning last season. Quite a few A10 teams feel they can win this tourney and seal a bid to the big dance, which will surely make for some exciting hoops.
ACC: March 8-11
All 12 conference teams will participate in this tournament which will take place in Atlanta. The top 4 seeds receive byes with seed #5-#12 battling it out to advance to QFs. Duke, North Carolina and Florida State will receive byes for sure, with likely Miami or Virginia receiving the fourth and final. This tournament has in recent history been dominated by higher seeds, and especially Duke as the Blue Devils have won the last 3 years. The one seed has appeared in 4 of the last 5 winning 3 of the 4, while only two of the 10 title game berths were filled with seeds below #4 - #7 Georgia Tech in 2010 (lost) and #10 NC State in 2007 (lost). Figure to see more of the same this year, with Duke and UNC favorites to meet again in the final, just like in 2011.
Atlantic Sun: February 29 – March 3
This 8 team tournament (the bottom two teams Stetson and Kennesaw State miss out) will take place in Macon, GA, the home of #2 seed Mercer Bears. #1 seed Belmont is looking to earn back to back (and four of the last six auto bids from this conference) NCAA Tournament bids after crushing North Florida by 41 in last year’s title game, while Mercer has designs on winning their first conference tournament since 1985. Mercer lost to Belmont twice during regular season, but only by a combined 5pts including a 1pt home loss last week to close regular season. I really believe this will come down to those two teams playing in the championship game Saturday – even though recent history in this tournament has seen the #6 seed playing in back to back title games, and the #5 seed ETSU winning it in 2010.
Big 12: March 7-10
All 10 teams will play in the Big 12 conference tournament that takes placed in Kansas City, Missouri – it will tip off with a doubleheader between #8 Texas A&M vs. #9 Oklahoma followed by most likely #7 seed Oklahoma State facing #10 Texas Tech. This tournament has been absolutely dominated by Kansas recently as the Jayhawks have cut the nets down in 5 of the last 6 editions. The only year they failed to win it was 2009 when #3 Missouri beat #9 Baylor in the title game – and that was also the only time in the last six years either of those teams made the final. Kansas vs. Texas has been the final in 4 of the last 6. In the last 6 years, the #1 seed has reached final in 5, #2 seed in 4, #3 seed in 2 – so of the 12 berths in the title game over last 6 years only one was occupied by a non top 3 seed – aforementioned #9 Baylor in 2009. Expect more chalk to dominate this year’s edition, as another #1 Kansas vs. #2/#3 Missouri matchup would be great for us fans – and seems very likely based on each team’s play this year, and the way this tournament seems to shake out each season.
Big East: March 6-10
Always one of the best sporting events of the season, the Big East tournament takes place in Madison Square Garden, and features all 16 conference teams over 5 nights of action. The week starts on Tuesday pitting the bottom 8 teams, with the winners moving on to face the #5-#8 seeds on Wednesday, with the winners of those games to face the #1-#4 seeds who earn double byes right into the QF round. With the strength of the conference on an annual basis, along with the fact 16 teams are contending for the championship we do see lower seeds advancing deeper in this tournament compared to some of the other power conferences. Over the last 5 years we have seen winners with seeds: #9, #3, #1, #7, #1; and the last two seasons pitted #9 vs. #3, and #8 vs. #3 in the final. Louisville has appeared in 2 of the last 3 finals, and Georgetown has reached the final game in 3 of the last 5 seasons. When the bracket is finalized I will post more on this tournament, but early returns seem to favor teams in the #3 to #6 range at making some noise, and as a “player” finding some value.
Big Sky: March 3-7
The Big Sky will commence with seeds #3-#6 facing off in the first round at campus of higher seed, before moving to Weber State’s campus for the SFs and Championship Game. This tourney figures to be two horse race between Weber State, and Montana – which would be a rematch of the 2005 and 2010 Championship games both won by Montana by 1 and 2 points. Those two schools have combined to win 15 of the 36 tournaments held – and I have a hunch that # will move to 16 on March 7.
Big South: February 27 – March 3
This tournament takes place on campus sites, each game hosted by the higher remaining seed. UNC-Asheville comes into this year’s edition winning the regular season championship by 4 games, which slots them as a very strong favorite especially considering the setup of this tournament with games being played on campus. UNCA is looking to go back to back, while 2nd place Coastal Carolina looks to appear in their third straight championship game, having lost the last two. CC has not won the tournament since 1993, which was their third in four years.
Big Ten: March 8-11
The Big Ten tournament takes place in Indianapolis and features all 12 members of the conference, with the top 4 seeds receiving byes into the QF round. Over the last five years the #1 seed has dominated this tournament winning four times. Over the last ten years the #1 or #2 seed has won nine editions, with only #3 Purdue in 2009 cutting the nets down. Although the favorites have cut the nets down we have seen a lot of lower seeds advance to reach the final game, as the last 4 years has seen a pair of #6 seeds , a #5 seed and a #10 seed lose in the title game. Since the tournament started again 14 years ago only 4 times was the loser a #1 or #2 seed; nine times it was a #4 seed or higher and half the time it was a #5 seed or higher. Another key angle to mention is Michigan State’s lack of success in this tourney – MSU has not appeared in the title game since winning it in 2000 – clearly Izzo values the time off before heading to the NCAA Tournament. On the flip side Ohio State has won the last 2, 3 of the last 5, and played in 5 of the last 6 finals. What does that mean for the 2012 edition? I would think there is some value on a team like Indiana/Purdue who will most likely handle a Nebraska/Penn State opener, and also would avoid Michigan State and Ohio State until the SF round; or the #4 seed that could face Michigan State in the SF round.
Big West: March 8-10
This tournament takes place in Anaheim, CA, and has an interesting tweak to it as they reseed the teams following each round, and no teams get a bye in any round. #1 seed Long Beach State is the prohibitive favorite to win their first BW conference tournament since 2007, while UCSB is looking to win their third straight auto-bid – the Gauchos beat LBST in each of the last two seasons in the final game. The #2 seed has not had any luck in this tournament recently not reaching the final in at least the last four years (this year that seed will be CS Fullerton or UCSB). With the last two seasons ending in disappointing championship game losses I do not see many ways The Beach doesn’t take the championship this season.
Colonial: March 2-5
The CAA Tournament takes place in Richmond, VA and features all 12 conference teams with the top 4 receiving byes into the QF round. There is a ton on the line this year for a few teams where good performances in the tourney could lead to at-large selections (VCU, Drexel), and a couple others (George Mason, Old Dominion) believing they have a legitimate chance at cutting the nets down and swooping in to secure the auto-bid. Of note, Old Dominion is the two time defending champion, while VCU & George Mason have played in 3 of the last 5 finals. This will certainly be one of the better conference tourneys around during Championship Week, especially potential SF round of Old Dominion vs. Drexel and VCU vs. George Mason on Sunday March 4.
Conference USA: March 7-10
The CUSA tournament takes placed in Memphis at the Fed Ex Forum and features all 12 conference teams, with the top 4 receiving a bye into the QF round. Memphis has traditionally dominated this tournament over the last 6 years since the exodus of teams to the Big East as they have won 5 of the last 6 – 2010 was the only year they did not win, as that year they were the #2 seed and were upset by #7 Houston, and the Cougars went on to win the tourney – so yes, this championship clearly goes thru Memphis. The Tigers are the clear class of CUSA, but there are a handful of teams I could see making a run and facing off with Memphis in the title game – and all it takes is one game to shock the world, and its not as if Memphis is the typical juggernaut we have become used to seeing. This is one tournament where taking a flyer on some mid to high seeds could work to your advantage – and there is always the opportunity to hedge your bet IF your “long shot” can just MAKE a title game appearance.
Horizon: February 28 – March 6
The Horizon is always one of my favorite “under the radar” conferences to follow during the regular season, and will also be a fun tourney to watch as it tips off early in Championship Week, and will feature some very solid games and rivalries. The setup for this tournament is a little different as each team makes it, the bottom 8 seeds play 4 games at the home of the higher seed for the right to advance to the QF where those 4 winners will play each other for the chance to face the top 2 seeds who receive a double bye into the SF. Not only that, the QF and beyond are played at the winner of the regular season, and this year that would be Valparaiso. I really like that format a lot, one of my favorite. I talked a little about this tournament in the latest bracket projection I posted yesterday, but to reiterate these teams, especially 1 thru 8 are stacked very close together. One thing that really stands out however as far as the past 5 Horizon tourneys is the fact #1 has played #2 in 4 of the last 5 finals – the only matchup that wasn’t #1 vs. #2 was #1 vs. #3 in 2009. Does that mean we are overdue for a longer shot to make a run? Or does it mean the double bye really gives an edge to the better teams? One thing is for sure, Butler of the last two seasons won this conference tournament and was a Final Four team – there doesn’t appear to be a FF team in this group, so maybe this is the year a longer shot makes a deep run. I do like an extra small play on Wisconsin-Green Bay @ 50/1 to win the championship as I like the way their bracket shapes up potentially facing a gauntlet of Youngstown State/Detroit/Cleveland State to reach the final – remember, when taking long shots you can always hedge so long as your team reaches even just the SF round.
Ivy: no conference tournament, but we could see a 1 game playoff between Penn and Harvard
MAAC: March 2-5
The MAAC Tournament, not to be confused with the MAC Tournament mentioned just below, takes place in Springfield, Massachusetts and is contested involving all ten conference members with two play in games between four lowest seeds to earn right to take on the top 2 seeds in the QFs. Siena has owned this tourney of late winning 3 of the last 4, only falling short last year when #4 St. Peters beat #2 Iona in the final. The #2 seed has lost in the final in each of the last 4 seasons, while the #1 seed has won 3 of the last 4. That is typical of what we see in these low major conferences – the best teams during the regular season usually have a talent edge on the lower finishing teams, and have more success in the conference tournament. This season the MAAC is a little more bunched although Iona is a legit, solid club who is looking for their conference leading 8th tournament title Monday. But Fairfield, Manhattan and Loyola Maryland will all be heard from, and all believe they are worthy of the conference’s auto-bid.
MAC: March 5-10
The MAC starts a new format this season for their conference tournament, but all 12 schools continue to participate. Seeds #5-#12 will play 1st round games at campus sites, with the four winners advancing and playing each other in the 2nd round when the tourney moves to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The two teams that survive those games will face the #3 & #4 seeded teams in the QF round, with the two winners of those games moving on to face the top two seeds in the SF round, who will both be waiting after receiving a double bye into the SF round. One other important note about this bracket is the MAC has two divisions – the West has only one team above .500 in league play – and with the new format the winner of the West is only guaranteed the 4 seed at worst – where in previous years they were guaranteed the 2 seed. What is interesting here is you will have a team like Kent State from the East who has a better record than the West division champ but will be forced to play as the #5 seed which means TWO MORE GAMES because of the format! WOW! This is another mid-major, like the Horizon, that has a lot of good, similar teams that will make for a fantastic tournament. This tournament has not seen a #1 seed win the auto-bid since Kent State in 2008, and no #2 seed has played for the championship since Akron in 2007 – one has to wonder if trends such as that played into the restructuring of the conference tournament that seemingly favors the higher seeds with the double bye into the SF round. What’s more, Akron has played in the championship game 5 straight years – as #6, #3, #5, #3, #2 seeds! With Akron sitting on top of the regular season standings one has to believe they are a decent bet at making the title game for the 6th straight year. But who may join them? Seems like their opponent would have to come from the East division, with Ohio and Buffalo leading the way – Kent State also has a lot of talent, but playing the extra two games may be too much to overcome. Keep in mind the last three years the winning team had seeds of #6, #9, #5.
MEAC: March 5-10
The MEAC tourney takes place on the campus of Wake Forest and traditionally the winner takes part in the “play in game” for a chance to play a #1 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hampton is the defending champ, while Morgan State has played in the last four championship games going 2-2. The #1 or #2 seed has won this tournament in each of the last three seasons. This year Savannah State and Norfolk State will not only be the top 2 seeds but are the class of this conference and should face off in the final.
Missouri Valley: March 1-4
All 10 teams from this conference make the postseason tournament that is played in St. Louis, Missouri with the bottom 4 teams playing an opening round game for the right to face the top 2 seeds in the QF round. This year the MVC has a pair of very strong, lock NCAA Tournament clubs in #1 Wichita State and #2 Creighton – then a big drop off to the next level of teams. And we have seen that theme play out more times than not in the MVC Tourney – the #1 seed has made the final in the last 5 years, and no seed below #3 has faced them in that game. So, we typically see chalk here, and I see no reason whatsoever we will not see that once again this year – do you think Creighton is a little pumped to get another shot at Wichita State?
Mountain West: March 8-10
All 8 teams make the tourney that takes place in Las Vegas over 3 days with no byes – most straightforward bracket out there I think. Recently San Diego State has appeared in the last 3 finals, winning the last two – and two of their opponents (BYU last year, Utah in 2009) are no longer in the conference. Hometown UNLV has appeared in 3 of the last 5 finals, winning twice, but not cutting the nets down since 2008. This year there are three teams who will be dancing in UNLV, New Mexico & San Diego State who all have designs on winning the championship – while a few upstarts like Colorado State & Wyoming have dreams of snatching the auto-bid for themselves. Of the 8 teams in the conference only those top 3 have won this event before, and I fully expect that to occur once again.
Northeast: March 1-7
The top 8 teams out of the 12 in the conference make the postseason tournament, with games played on the campus of the higher seed, no byes. In addition, teams are reseeded after the first round for the SFs. This tournament over last 3 years has been dominated by the higher seeds as the #1 seed has won 2 of last 3, the #2 seed won in 2010, and no seed below #3 has appeared in title game since 2008 when #4 took down #3. This year #1 LIUB and #2 Wagner have been the class of the conference, and should reach the final where LIUB will be looking to complete the hat trick against their rival.
Ohio Valley: February 29 – March 3
8 of the 11 OVC teams advance to the conference tournament that takes place in Nashville, Tennessee. Seeds #5-8 face off in the first round with the winners advancing to face the #3 & #4 seed in QFs. The winners of those two games advance to the SFs where they will face double bye rested #1 and #2 seeds, with that pair of winners facing off the next night in the final. Murray State has been one of the best stories in college basketball this year as they were the last team that remained undefeated, not losing their first game till February. They won this conference by four games, and anyone else winning this tourney would be very surprising. In recent history both the #1 and #2 seeds have won this tourney twice in the last five years, with #4 Morehead State taking the title in 2009. Morehead State has appeared in the last three championship games, winning two including last year – as the #3 seed this year they will have their work cut out for themselves, but they have only played the #1 and #2 seed once each this year and lost both by 6pts or less. They may be a decent sleeper selection depending on the odds you can get.
Pac 12: March 7-10
Taking place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Pac 12 tournament features all 12 league members taking part in the event spread across four days. Seeds #5-12 play in the first round with the four winners advancing to face the top 4 seeds in the QFs. This will be the 11th version of the event since it started back up after an 11 year hiatus, and over the last 10 we have seen 6 different schools hoist the trophy and receive the auto-bid. This year’s favorite in my opinion is Cal, and they are one of four legacy Pac 12 teams that have not won this event – Arizona State, Washington State and Oregon State are the other three. Washington is coming off back to back tournament titles the last two seasons and will once again be a high seed and amongst the favorites. Over the last five years the one seed has only hoisted the trophy once, the 2008 UCLA Bruins. What’s more, the #2 seed has only appeared in one of the last six championship games, a loss in 2008 by Stanford. Since the #1 seed UCLA win in 2008 #6 USC and back to back #3 Washington teams have won. Colorado and Utah will be participating for the first time this season.
Patriot: February 29 – March 7
All 8 member schools will take part in their postseason tournament, using a straight #1-8 seeding structure, no byes, and games hosted at the campus of the higher seed. The #1 seed has won this tournament at least the last four years, with Bucknell the defending champ and Lafayette coming off back to back championship game losses. This year the auto-bid will once again go through Bucknell, and although Lehigh and American will have designs on winning it, the Bison appear to be on their way to another NCAA Tournament.
SEC: March 8-11
All 12 schools make the postseason tournament with seeds #5-12 playing in the opening round, and those 4 winners joining seeds #1-4 in the QF – the tournament this year returns to New Orleans for the first time since 2003 when Kentucky won. Speaking of Kentucky, the Wildcats have completed dominated this tournament winning 12 of the last 20! Only two other schools have won more than 1 in that time period, Mississippi State & Florida (who won 3 straight years 2005-2007); and only two other schools have won once Arkansas in 2000 and Georgia in 2008. Kentucky sits at a perfect 14-0 thus far in conference play and figures to be another tough out, while Florida and Vanderbilt both have a legit shot at taking the Wildcats down should they advance to meet.
Southern: March 2-5
The SoCon, as it is affectionately known in the Deep South, has a similar setup to the SEC mentioned above, but the seeding is slightly different because it has two divisions – it is basically set up how the SEC was the last few years before they switched from two divisions to one for basketball this year. Eight teams play in the opening round, and the four winners advance to face the top two seeds from each division. The South division champion has won the tournament 4 of the last 5 seasons with the only outlier being the 2008 Chattanooga team. Wofford has won the last two editions. Davidson had the best regular season in this conference going 16-2, and figures to be a big favorite to return to the dance in 2012.
Southland: March 7-10
All 12 teams make the bracket, with the top 2 seeds in each division receiving a bye into the QF round, and the bottom 4 seeds in each division facing off in the first round. This tourney takes place in Katy, TX for the fifth straight season in 2012. There has not been a repeat winner of this tournament since Louisiana Monroe won 4 straight from 1990-1993. Texas San Antonio is the defending champion, but their rivals Texas Arlington are the clear cut favorite in 2012 after posting a 14-0 record during the regular season so far. In recent history we have not seen the favorites perform too well in this tournament as a pair of 7 seeds has stolen the auto-bid in two of the last four years. A #2 seed has only reached the final once in at least the last five years, and a #5 seed or worse has played in 3 of the last 4 editions. What does it all mean? If UTA is not able to cut the nets down themselves, this tourney is wide open for a lot of teams to snag that auto-bid, and a likely date in Dayton for an opening round game.
SWAC: March 7-10
Taking place in Garland, TX for the second straight season, the SWAC tournament features the top 8 teams from regular season play (bottom 2 stay home) in a standard format. Mississippi Valley State has locked up the #1 seed as they currently sit 17-0 in regular season play and will be the prohibitive favorite. However, that being said, the #1 seed has only cut the nets down once in at least the last four years, the 2009 Alabama State team. We have seen a pair of #2 seeds and a #4 seed winning the other championships in those four years; and we have also seen #4, #5 and #6 seeds lose in the title game.
Summit: March 3-6
The Summit tourney returns to South Dakota for the fourth straight year as Oakland looks to win for the third straight time. Similar to the SWAC, the top 8 teams make the bracket in a standard format, with the bottom two teams (South Dakota, UMKC) staying home. Oakland or Oral Roberts has won 6 of the last 7 versions, with the lone outlier being a North Dakota State win in 2009 – and we could see that trend continue again this year with OR as the #1 seed, and Oakland the #3. Those two teams have dominated this tournament as at least one has appeared in every championship game since 2004, and they have played each other three times in the final including last year. What’s more, the #1 seed has won this auto-bid in 6 straight years – the last time the #1 seed did not cut the nets down was in 2005, when #7 Oakland beat #1 Oral Roberts. Expect a lot of chalk here.
Sun Belt: March 3-6
The Sun Belt takes place in Hot Springs, AR and typically features all 12 conference teams. However, this year Louisiana Monroe is ineligible because of a low APR rating – so the bracket was adjusted to feature seeds #6-11 playing in the first round, with those 3 winners facing seeds #1-3 in the second round, and seeds #4-5 also facing each other in the second round. North Texas, this year’s #5 seed, has lost in the final each of the last two years. Over the last five years only twice has a #1 seed won the auto-bid, along with a pair of #5 seeds and one #3 seed. So once again that means no #2 seed has won the conference final, which oddly enough seems to be a theme across many of these conferences. Middle Tennessee is this year’s #1 seed and is seeking their first Sun Belt title, while #2 seed Arkansas Little-Rock is looking to go back to back.
COPYRIGHT: THE SPORTSBOSS, 2012
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