This is the first of two posts looking at conference tournaments, the second will come out in one week's time. This post will be diving into the conferences beginning their tournaments this week, giving our thoughts and predicted winners. At the bottom of the post you'll find the schedule of when all the tournament finals will take place. Note that conferences are listed in alphabetical order and that conference who start this week but whose final is next will have winner predictions in Vol. 2, except for the Southern Conference.
Conference Profiles
Times Listed are in EST
American East
- Championship Info: Saturday 3/14 @ 11 AM - ESPN
- Tournament Dates: 3/7, 3/10, 3/14
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites
- Thoughts: This league feels like it has a clear winner for the conference tournament. Vermont won the league this year and they did so handily. While the Catamounts are the clear favorite, obviously in March anything can happen. If it isn't the fighting Ben and Jerry's, the next best guess at the champions would be Stony Brook or Hartford. Quick notes: There is no set bracket for the American East. Rather the lowest remaining seed plays the highest and so forth.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Vermont Catamounts
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Vermont Catamounts
Atlantic Sun
- Championship Info: Sunday 3/8 @ 3 PM - ESPN
- Tournament Dates: 3/3, 3/5, 3/8
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites
- Thoughts: The Atlantic Sun seems to come down to a two-horse race. The Liberty Flames were one of the last remaining unbeaten teams in the country, not losing until their game against LSU right before New Year. North Florida was neck and neck with the Flames all season long, splitting the season's series and sharing the regular season title. Don't count out Stetson or Lipscomb, but it just feels like the final game will be Flames vs Ospreys round three.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Liberty Flames
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Liberty Flames
Big South
- Championship Info: Sunday 3/8 @ 1 PM - ESPN
- Tournament Dates: 3/3, 3/5-6, 3/8
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites
- Thoughts: The Big South will be another two-horse race. Radford and Winthrop are both 20 plus win teams that finished tied atop of the conference. Gardner-Webb is a dangerous team that can compete with these two for the crown, but the Highlanders and Eagles seem like the favorites here.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Winthrop Eagles
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Radford Highlanders
Colonial
- Championship Info: Tuesday 3/10 @ 7 PM - CBS Sports
- Tournament Dates: 3/7-10
- Tournament Location: Washington D.C.
- Thoughts: The Colonial will be a sneakily competitive conference tournament. There isn't a ton of space between the top team in the league, Hofstra, and the middle of the conference. The Pride, William & Mary, Towson, Charleston, and Delaware are all legit contenders to win this tournament.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: William & Mary Tribe
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Hofstra Pride
Horizon
- Championship Info: Tuesday 3/10 @ 7 PM - ESPN/2
- Tournament Dates: 3/3, 3/5, 3/9-10
- Tournament Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Thoughts: The question is will this conference have the Wright stuff or will the Norse be riding into the Horizon. Sorry, I couldn't pass up that opportunity. Wright State ended up winning the regular season by two games over Northern Kentucky, the difference being that the Raiders swept the series season over their rivals from an hour away. Obviously, anything can fly in March, but these two are the clear favorites to play for the tournament bid.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Northern Kentucky Norse
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Wright State Raiders
Missouri Valley
- Championship Info: Sunday 3/8 @ 2 PM - CBS
- Tournament Dates: 3/5-8
- Tournament Location: Saint Louis, Missouri
- Thoughts: Each year, Arch Madness is one of my favorite conference tournaments. There are a lot of storylines going into this one. Northern Iowa is a very good team and has a chance to make the Big Dance if they have a good showing but don't end up winning. Their main competitor for the conference crown is Loyola Chicago, one of the best Cinderella stories in recent years. Finally, you have an Evansville team who beat Kentucky early in the year but ended up losing every conference game.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Northern Iowa Panthers
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Northern Iowa Panthers
Mountain West
- Championship Info: Saturday 3/7 @ 5:30 PM - CBS
- Tournament Dates: 3/4-7
- Tournament Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Thoughts: The main question for the Mountain West is can anyone hand San Diego State their second loss of the year. The Aztecs went into late February undefeated until losing to UNLV, but other than that one blip, not many teams have competed with them. Utah State has an outside chance of making the tournament, but hard to see anyone topping SDSU.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: San Diego State Aztecs
- Troy's Predicted Winner: San Diego State Aztecs
Northeast
- Championship Info: Tuesday 3/10 @ 7 PM - ESPN/2
- Tournament Dates: 3/4, 3/7, 3/10
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites
- Thoughts: This is about to be me standing on a soapbox for a minute, so bear with me. Merrimack won the conference's regular-season, yet due to this year being their first in Division One, they are not allowed to play in any post-season tournaments. Who benefits from this? Why would you punish the school and its students just because they are new? The Warriors were the best team in the NEC but they won't get to display this on the national stage for arbitrary reasoning. Rant over. The tournament winner will probably be either St. Francis (PA) or Robert Morris. Also, there are two schools in the NEC that are named St. Francis, what's up with that?
- Grant's Predicted Winners: St. Francis (PA) Red Flash
- Troy's Predicted Winner: St. Francis (PA) Red Flash
Ohio Valley
- Championship Info: Saturday 3/7 @ 8 PM - ESPN 2
- Tournament Dates: 3/4-7
- Tournament Location: Evansville, Indiana
- Thoughts: The OVC should be a very interesting conference tournament to watch. The conference finished with a two-way tie and the only reason why it wasn't three-way was that Murray State and Austin Peay played in the final regular-season game. Throw Belmont in the mix and the semis and finals of the tournament should be very interesting.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Belmont Bruins
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Murray State Racers
Patriot
- Championship Info: Wednesday 3/11 @ 7:30 PM - CBS Sports
- Tournament Dates: 3/3, 3/5, 3/8, 3/11
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites
- Thoughts: The Patriot league features a school called American University, it has both the Army and the Navy, and Boston, where the Patriots play. There is no more appropriately named conference on Earth. Unfortunately, the favorite to win the conference tournament is a school that's less Patriotically named and more toothpaste related. Colgate seems to be the team to pick to go dancing.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Colgate Raiders
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Colgate Raiders
Southern
- Championship Info: Monday 3/9 @ 7 PM - ESPN
- Tournament Dates: 3/6-9
- Tournament Location: Asheville, North Carolina
- Thoughts: The Southern might be the best conference tournament outside of the Power-6 conferences. There are multiple teams (East Tennessee State, Furman, and UNC Greensboro) in the league that could pull off upsets in the Big Dance. There are also teams in the middle that can certainly win the Southern tournament. For teams on the bubble, you strongly want East Tennesee State to win this thing. The Buccaneers have a strong case for an at large birth if they don't take the tournament title.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: UNC Greensboro Spartans
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Furman Paladins
Summit
- Championship Info: Tuesday 3/10 @ 9 PM - ESPN 2
- Tournament Dates: 3/7-10
- Tournament Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Thoughts: Once again we have a two-team race to take this tournament title. In a battle of the Dakota States, it'll be a question if it's North or South. The two schools split their season series. You can take the Jackbunnies or the Bison but it would be surprising if the winner is a team other than SDSU or NDSU.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
- Troy's Predicted Winner: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Sun Belt
- Championship Info: Sunday 3/15 @ 2 PM - ESPN 2
- Tournament Dates: 3/7, 3/9, 3/11, 3/14-15
- Tournament Location: Campus Sites and New Orleans, Louisiana (Semis & Finals)
- Thoughts: In this weirdly spaced tournament there are a lot of options to go dancing. Arkansas Little Rock does seem like the best team in the league even if there isn't a ton of difference in the conference standings.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Georgia State Panthers
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Arkansas Little Rock Trojans
West Coast
- Championship Info: Tuesday 3/10 @ 9 PM - ESPN
- Tournament Dates: 3/5-7, 3/9-10
- Tournament Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
- Thoughts: The late-night darlings of the WCC will take the court in Vegas with two seeming locks to make the Big Dance and one team trying their best to get back in the discussion. Gonzaga and BYU are trying to bolster their bids at seeding for the national tournament while Saint Mary's is trying to get on the right side of the discussion.
- Grant's Predicted Winners: Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Troy's Predicted Winner: Gonzaga Bulldogs
Championship Game Schedule
Saturday 3/7
- Mountain West - 5:30 PM - CBS
- Ohio Valley - 8 PM - ESPN
Sunday 3/8
- Big South - 1 PM - ESPN
- Missouri Valley - 2 PM - CBS
- Atlantic Sun - 3 PM - ESPN
Monday 3/9
- Southern - 7 PM - ESPN
Tuesday 3/10
- Colonial - 7 PM - CBS Sports
- Horizon - 7 PM - ESPN
- Northeast - 7 PM - ESPN 2
- Summit - 9 PM - ESPN 2
- West Coast - 9 PM - ESPN
Wednesday 3/11
- Patriot - 7 PM - CBS Sports
Saturday 3/14
- American East - 11 AM - ESPN 2
- Mid-Eastern - 1 PM - ESPN 2
- Metro Atlantic - 4 - ESPN U
- Big 12 - 6 PM - ESPN
- Southwestern - 6 PM - ESPN U
- Big East - 6:30 PM - FS1
- MAC - 7:30 PM - ESPN 2
- Big Sky - 8 PM - ESPN U
- Atlantic Coast - 8:30 PM - ESPN
- Conference USA - 8:30 PM - CBS Sports
- Southland - 9:30 PM - ESPN 2
- Western - 10 PM - ESPN U
- PAC 12 - 10:30 PM - FS1
- Big West - 11:30 PM - ESPN 2
Sunday 3/15
- Ivy League - Noon - ESPN 2
- Atlantic 10 - 1 PM - CBS
- Southeastern - 1 PM - ESPN
- Sun Belt - 2 PM - ESPN 2
- American - 3:15 PM - ESPN
- Big Ten - 3:30 PM - CBS
To stay up to date on the newest Head in the Game articles (and general sports commentary), follow @headingameblog on Twitter. You can also find us on Twitter @T_RoyStory (Troy) and @G_Tingley (Grant)
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