Wednesday, March 4, 2015

2015 Small & Mid Major Conference Tournament Previews



Here is a quick breakdown of the conference tourneys where it’s likely only the winner of the automatic bid will be taking part in the NCAA Tournament.  I show two teams for each conference: initial team is likely the team that finished regular season in first place while the 2nd team shown in parenthesis has highest SBPI ranking in conference in most cases.  The first # shown is RPI (which is more reactive in nature) while the second # is SBPI (SportsBoss Power Index which is more predictive); SBPI is a better indicator of who is likely to win a game between two teams on a neutral court.

America East: Albany #201/#114 (Stony Brook #160/#111)
                When: March 4, 8, 14
                Where: Campus sites at highest seed
                Format: Eight teams in straight single elimination tournament (UMass-Lowell will not participate due to their transition to Division 1)

Atlantic Sun: Florida Gulf Coast #233/#132 (North Florida #192/#175)
                When: March 3, 5, 8
                Where: Campus sites at highest seed
                Format: Eight teams in straight single elimination tournament

Big Sky: Eastern Washington #218/#89 (Northern Arizona #164/#187)
                When: March 12, 13, 14
                Where: Hosted by Regular Season champion
                Format: Eight teams in straight single elimination tournament (bottom 4 teams in standings will not participate)

Big South: High Point #159/#86 (Charleston Southern #154/#144)
                When: March 4, 6, 7, 8
                Where: HTC Center (Coastal Carolina)
                Format: Bottom 6 teams play 1st round followed by Top 5 & 3 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Big West: UC Davis #256/#73 (UCSB #84/#94)
                When: March 12, 13, 14
                Where: Honda Center (Anaheim, California)
                Format: Eight teams in single elimination tournament (Cal State Fullerton is 9th team in conference that finished in last place & will not participate).  Teams are re-seeded for semifinals
 
Colonial: William & Mary #143/#102 (UNC Wilmington #139/#140)
                When: March 6, 7, 8, 9
                Where: Royal Farms Arena (Baltimore, Maryland)
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st round followed by Top 6 & 2 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Conference USA: Louisiana Tech #116/#55 (Old Dominion #89/#44)
                When: March 11, 12, 13, 14
                Where: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (Birmingham, Alabama)
                Format: Bottom 8 teams play 1st round (Southern Mississippi will not participate due to self-imposed sanctions; Florida Atlantic, who finished in last place, will also not participate) followed by Top 4 & 4 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Horizon: Green Bay #78/#63 (Valparaiso #104/#68)
                When: March 3, 6, 7, 10
                Where: 1st Round at campus site of higher seed; 2nd Round & Semifinals at Valparaiso; Championship at campus site of higher seed
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play in 1st round (Milwaukee ineligible due to APR penalties); those 2 winners move onto 2nd round to face seeds #3 (Oakland) & #4 (Cleveland State); those 2 winners move onto semifinals to face seeds #1 (Valparaiso) & #2 (Green Bay) with winners of those games meeting in championship

MAAC: Iona #172/#54 (Canisius #173/#172)
                When: March 5, 7, 8, 9
                Where: Times Union Center (Siena College)
                Format: Bottom 6 teams play 1st round followed by Top 5 & 3 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

MAC: Toledo #92/#75 (Buffalo #55/#34)
                When: March 9, 11, 12, 13, 14
                Where: 1st Round at campus site of higher seed; remainder at Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland, Ohio)
                Format: Bottom 8 teams play 1st & 2nd Rounds until 2 teams advance.  Those 2 winners face seeds #3 & #4 in quarterfinals; those 2 winners then face seeds #1 & #2 in semifinals (to confirm the top 2 seeds receive byes to semifinals)

MEAC: North Carolina Central #266/#112 (Maryland-Eastern Shore #237/#189)
                When: March 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
                Where: Norfolk Scope (Norfolk State)
                Format: Bottom 8 teams play 1st round (Florida A&M will not participate following finishing in last place) followed by Top 4 & 4 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Northeast: St. Francis NY #209/#168 (Mount St. Mary’s #206/#177)
                When: March 4, 7, 10
                Where: Campus sites at highest seed
                Format: Eight teams in single elimination tournament (Fairleigh Dickinson & Central Connecticut finished in 9th & 10th place and will not participate).  Teams are re-seeded for semifinals.

Ohio Valley: Murray State #147/#66 (Morehead State #108/#222)
                When: March 4, 5, 6, 7
                Where: Nashville Municipal Auditorium
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st Round (Jacksonville State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech & Austin Peay did not qualify); those 2 winners face seeds #3 (Belmont) & #4 (Tennessee-Martin) in quarterfinals; those 2 winners then face seeds #1 (Murray State) & #2 (Eastern Kentucky) in semifinals (to confirm the top 2 seeds receive byes to semifinals)

Patriot: Bucknell #185/#133 (Holy Cross #183/#196)
                When: March 3, 5, 8, 11
                Where: Campus sites at highest seed
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st round followed by Top 6 & 2 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Southern: Wofford #131/#53 (Chattanooga #181/#101)
                When: March 6, 7, 8, 9
                Where: U.S. Cellular Center (Asheville, North Carolina)
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st round followed by Top 6 & 2 winners from 1st round playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Southland: Stephen F. Austin #100/#64 (Sam Houston State #135/#93)
                When: March 11, 12, 13, 14
                Where: Merrell Center (Katy, Texas)
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st Round (Incarnate Word, Lamar, Houston Baptist, Abilene Christian & Central Arkansas all ineligible); those 2 winners face seeds #3 & #4 in quarterfinals; those 2 winners then face seeds #1 & #2 in semifinals (to confirm the top 2 seeds receive byes to semifinals)

SWAC: Texas Southern #272/#141 (Prairie View #302/#275)
                When: March 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
                Where: Toyota Center (Houston, Texas)
                Format: Bottom 2 teams play in 1st Round (Alabama State & Southern are ineligible) with that winner joining the Top 7 seeds in quarterfinals playing in straight single elimination tournament going forward

Summit: South Dakota State #145/#90 (Oral Roberts #133/#158)
                When: March 7, 8, 9, 10
                Where: Premier Center (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
                Format: Eight teams in single elimination tournament (Western Illinois is 9th team in conference that finished in last place & will not participate)

Sun Belt: Georgia State #148/#82 (UL-Lafayette #137/#162)
                When: March 12, 13, 14, 15
                Where: Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, Louisiana)
                Format: Bottom 4 teams play 1st Round (Appalachian State is ineligible; one more school will also not participate); those 2 winners face seeds #3 & #4 in quarterfinals; those 2 winners then face seeds #1 & #2 in semifinals (to confirm the top 2 seeds receive byes to semifinals)

WAC: New Mexico State #158/#120 (UMKC #251/#285)
                When: March 12, 13, 14
                Where: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
                Format: Seven teams take part (Grand Canyon will not participate) with bottom 6 matching up in quarterfinals (#1 seed New Mexico State has bye till semifinals) followed by straight single elimination tournament going forward


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