CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
The SR Crew continues to give you an analysis of some of the top conference basketball tournaments that will be going on around the country this week. This is something that most of the local sports talkers won't be talking about.
For the Crier's loyal followers, e-mails will be sent out with selections on the morning of the various tournament games along with explanations. By perusing the ratings below, using our standard rules by comparing them to the actual point spread, you can probably anticipate the Crier's selections, but there may be a surprise or two depending on late information.
The Big East Conference, Atlantic-10 Conference, and Mid-American Conference are covered here. These tourneys all start on Tuesday, March 8.
TUESDAY, MARCH 8
BIG EAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
March 8 – 12 at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
The top four seeds get byes through the first two rounds. Seeds 5-8 get a bye through the first round. In the March 9 second-round games: #8 seed Georgetown plays the Connecticut/DePaul winner; #5 seed St. John’s plays the Seton Hall/Rutgers winner; #7 seed Cincinnati plays the Villanova/South Florida winner, and #6 seed West Virginia plays the Marquette/Providence winner.
In the March 10 quarterfinals, #1 seed Pittsburgh plays Georgetown, Connecticut, or DePaul; #4 seed Syracuse plays St. John’s, Seton Hall, or Rutgers; # 2 seed Notre Dame plays Cincinnati, Villanova, or South Florida; and #3 seed Louisville plays West Virginia, Marquette, or Providence.
Please see the early conference tournament ratings below. For example, Cincinnati over Villanova on a neutral floor would be “Cincinnati by 3”. Granting an additional two-point edge to any team playing in a home floor would be one additional preliminary adjustment:
PITTSBURGH, EVEN
SYRACUSE, Minus-3
NOTRE DAME, Minus-3
LOUISVILLE, Minus-4
WEST VIRGINIA, Minus-4
ST. JOHNS, Minus-5
CINCINNATI, Minus-5
CONNECTICUT, Minus-7
VILLANOVA, Minus-8
GEORGETOWN, Minus-8
MARQUETTE, Minus-9
SETON HALL, Minus-12
RUTGERS, Minus-13
PROVIDENCE, Minus-14
SOUTH FLORIDA, Minus-16
DEPAUL, Minus-24
In this most-imposing conference, with as many as eleven teams highly-likely to get a "Big Dance" bid, a healthy Pittsburgh remains the class, on their best day, though the Orange and Irish are right there, and the overachieving ‘Ville cannot be discounted – and the Panthers tend to perform well here.
After their midseason hiccup, Syracuse is back, and also specializes in Garden parties.
Uber-experienced Dame can play at any pace, though they’d rather not run on the road.
This is one of Rick Pitino’s best pacing jobs with the Cards, and they’re not done yet.
West Virginia looks to relive last year’s glories, while Johnnies will enjoy definite home-court advantage in the Famous Arena.
Improved Cincy’s demonstrated early-season was no fluke in their recent surge.
UConn has serious issues with zone defenses.
‘Nova and G-Town have multiple critical injuries.
Marquette’s a game bunch, but beaucoup minutes on too few sets of legs may be starting to tell.
Projected Final: St. John’s vs. West Virginia
FIRST ROUND GAMES
CONNECTICUT over DEPAUL by 17
Blessed relief for Huskies, who face conference cellar-dweller who couldn’t cope, even with hot frosh Cleveland Melvin. Now, Melvin’s out for the year, and what UConn fears, Blue Demons can’t execute. CONNECTICUT, 78-61
SETON HALL over RUTGERS by 1
St. John’s hasn’t won at Seton Hall in over a decade – so what’s new? Was surprised by Pirates’ win over Marquette, but final regular-season weekend is traditionally tricky. Still wouldn’t mind taking a trey with Knights, against worst three-point-shooting outfit in Big East, laden with characters – not character. SETON HALL, 70-69
VILLANOVA over SOUTH FLORIDA by 8
Stud Wildcat G Corey Stokes aggravated left hammy in last Thursday’s practice and was held out against Pittsburgh. He’s possible for this, but we'll review ‘Nova’s entire sickbay list carefully, up against tall, underachieving Bulls. VILLANOVA, 64-56
MARQUETTE over PROVIDENCE by 5
You wonder if only a couple of days of rest will be enough for the Golden Eagles, who’ve been battling on while consistently-shorthanded. Running wild with Friars would probably not be a good idea. MARQUETTE, 77-72
ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
March 8 at campus sites, and
March 11-13 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
The top four teams get a first-round bye. For Friday’s quarterfinals, top seed Xavier plays the La Salle/St. Bonaventure winner; #4 seed Duquesne meets the George Washington/St. Joseph’s winner; #2 seed Temple plays the Rhode Island/St. Louis winner, and #3 seed Richmond encounters the Dayton/Massachusetts winner.
Please see the early conference tournament ratings below. For example, Duquesne over George Washington on a neutral floor would be “Duquesne by 2”. Granting an additional edge to any team playing on its home floor would be one additional preliminary adjustment:
XAVIER, Even
TEMPLE, Minus-1
RICHMOND, Minus-4
DAYTON, Minus-6
DUQUESNE, Minus-7
ST. BONAVENTURE, Minus-9
GEORGE WASHINGTON, Minus-9
RHODE ISLAND, Minus-9
ST. LOUIS, Minus-11
MASSACHUSETTS, Minus-15
LA SALLE, Minus-15
ST. JOSEPH'S, Minus-18
A healthy contingent of Owls would top this collection – maybe. But in Temple’s current infirm condition, have no choice but to rank wholly-deserving Xavier the pick of this litter. Tu Holloway and friends worked out the kinks in the pre-conference season, then took the league by storm.
Richmond has distinguished itself with its consistency, though stylistically, Dayton could pose them a problem in the quarters.
Duquesne has slipped markedly in recent weeks, and will need to turn on a dime here to redeem themselves.
The Bonnies and GW have both enjoyed comforting seasons, but haven’t been nearly as effective, away from home.
The rest have numerous and/or severe deficiencies.
Projected Final: Xavier vs. Richmond
FIRST-ROUND GAMES
ST. BONAVENTURE* over LA SALLE by 8
Mark Schmidt’s done another solid job with the Bonnies, but the Explorers appeared to be putting it together the last couple of weeks. Concerned about possible stiff lay price on fave. ST. BONAVENTURE, 68-60
GEORGE WASHINGTON* over ST. JOSEPH’S by 11
The Hawks escaped an elimination game with inert Charlotte, but favorite play may work with vastly-improved Colonials, at a fair price. GEORGE WASHINGTON, 72-61
RHODE ISLAND* over ST. LOUIS by 3
DAYTON over MASSACHUSETTS* by 7
The Flyers acquitted themselves well against GW, though the Colonials played at a slower pace than Dayton prefers. There should be no such problems in this spot, even at this site. DAYTON, 74-67
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
March 10-12 (Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH)
The top four programs get a first-round bye. In Thursday’s quarter-finals, top seed Kent State will play the Buffalo/Central Michigan winner; #2 seed Western Michigan will clash with the Bowling Green/Northern Illinois winner; #3 Miami-Ohio will play the Akron/Eastern Michigan winner, and #4 Ball State will battle the Ohio/Toledo winner.
Please see the early conference tournament ratings below. For example, Akron over Miami-Ohio on a neutral floor would be “Akron by 1”. Granting an additional two-point edge to any team playing on its home floor would be one additional preliminary adjustment:
KENT STATE, Even
BUFFALO, Minus-3
AKRON, Minus-3
OHIO U, Minus-4
MIAMI-OHIO, Minus-4
BALL STATE, Minus-5
WESTERN MICHIGAN, Minus-6
BOWLING GREEN, Minus-9
CENTRAL MICHIGAN, Minus-12
NORTHERN ILLINOIS, Minus-12
EASTERN MICHIGAN, Minus-14
TOLEDO, Minus-19
It’s been a depressed year for the MAC as a whole, with scant relief in sight.
Kent State’s the clearcut power, and has been since their cluster of talented hands are all present and accounted for, though their defensive shortcomings need addressing.
Buffalo's well-balanced, for what they are, and Akron’s frequently defensively-menacing, especially against the 3-ball.
Ohio’s going good, and travels well.
It’s tough to envision anyone else doing sustained damage.
Projected Final: Kent State vs. Miami-Ohio.
FIRST ROUND GAMES
BOWLING GREEN* over NORTHERN ILLINOIS by 3
AKRON* over EASTERN MICHIGAN by 11
BUFFALO* over CENTRAL MICHIGAN by 9
OHIO U.* over TOLEDO by 15
THE CRIER/SR CREW
HMW
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