The most important conference tournament action happening today will take place in the Horizon League, Ohio Valley, Patriot League and Summit League, all quarterfinals' games, putting pool picks at risk for everyone. But the most important of all of them will be the Atlantic Sun semifinals being played today. I had time to break down each conference below, so we know what to watch for today and how it impacts our pool. Also, we finally have conference tournament games being played all day, with the earliest starting at noon CST and the latest tipping off at 8:00 PM CST. 😍
Atlantic Sun
The Atlantic Sun semifinals begin this evening, and we are guaranteed at least 2 losses in our pool if the favorites win, and potentially a massacre if the overall number 1 seed Lipscomb is upset. At 6:00 PM CST (2) North Alabama will play (4) Jacksonville, we have 4 people on the 2-seed and The Diddlers all alone on the 4-seeded dolphins. At 7:00 PM CST the pool favorite that 66% of the picks are on (1) Lipscomb will play Cinderella (6) Queens, and B.I. is all alone on Queens. The championship game will be played on Sunday as our very first championship matchup will be set.
Horizon League
The entire Horizon League will be in action today, giving us 8 teams playing in 4 games in quarterfinals action. Our pool has seeds 1-5 covered which means guaranteed losses will occur today. The match-up to watch in this league is (4) Youngstown State vs. (5) Purdue Fort Wayne because 6 people are on the 4-seed Penguins while 4 people are on the Mastodons of Fort Wayne. This game will certainly cause the standings to move, with Novakiii at risk to be the first person with 2 losses. Our picks are spread out pretty well in this league, with the pool favorite (3) Milwaukee only receiving 33% of our picks. Even though it is early, this is a conference that can determine our pool winner since we have so much variety.
Ohio Valley
A popular bonus pool pick will play in the Ohio Valley conference quarterfinals today when (4) Little Rock takes on (8) UT Martin at 6:40 PM CST. 10 of our 30 pool picks back Little Rock, but they are not a lock because they are only 3 point favorites tonight against a hot UT Martin team. At 8:30 PM CST (3) Tennessee State will play (6) Lindenwood, and we do have 1 person, Cox, on Tennessee State. Everyone can escape this conference without a loss tonight and move to the semifinals.
Patriot League
All 8 teams will be playing this evening as the Patriot League heads to the quarterfinals round of its conference tournament. (1) Bucknell is the big favorite in our pool with 60% of the picks, but we are fairly well spread across 5 different teams in this conference. Novakiii is the theme of this blog, he is on (6) Army West Point and depending how the night breaks for him, this could give him a third loss. If his night goes well, the 7 people who picked (3) Colgate will all suffer a loss. It's hard to root against the Army!
Summit League
As the Summitt League moves into the quarterfinals today we will see the 1 and 2 seeds in action, but not the 3 and 4 seeds, which is an odd way to set up a conference tournament bracket. At 6:00 PM CST (1) Omaha plays (8) Kansas City, and amazingly only 2 people in our pool picked Omaha. Then at 8:30 PM CST (2) St. Thomas takes on (7) Denver, and similarly, only 4 pool picks are backing the 2-seed. History shows us that 5 of the last 7 conference tournaments the 1-seed has won, but most of us have ignored that and reached for bonus points.
Finally, as I previously mentioned, my favorite two conferences tip off today, the Missouri Valley and West Coast. Arch Madness is always really fun, and the West Coast conference is played at the Orleans Arena, giving us our first glimpse of Vegas! The first-round action in these conferences won't impact our pool, but it will still be fun to watch. Good luck to everyone today, I hope your losses are kept to a minimum and enjoy all the games! 🏀
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