Friday, March 2, 2012

Conference Tournament Fodder

Brian previewed three of the more intriguing conference tournaments that are beginning today. All 3 of them have teams capable of springing upsets, Iona, VCU/Drexel & Davidson (Whose road got easier with a College of Charleston loss, today).

Also, all 3 conference have a history of producing upsets in the tournament.

The Colonial has been knocking off teams since the mid-to-late 80s. Navy and David Robinson just misssed making a Final Four when Navy was part of the Colonial. Richmond, as a Colonial member has upsets over Auburn, Indiana and Syracuse. They also beat South Carolina as a 14 seed in 1998. Old Dominion as a 14 seed beat Villanova in 3 ovt's. in 1995 led by the indomitable Petey Sessoms. Of course, we all know of the recent success of George Mason in 2006 and VCU last year. Probably the finest moment was in 2007 when VCU throttled Duke.

The MAAC has a little success as giant killers as well. Siena knocked off Vandy in 2008 as a 13 seed. Manhattan did the double dip in the 90s, knocking of Florida and Oklahoma in seperate tournaments as a 12 and 13.

Davidson made an Elite 8 in in 2008 before coming up just short to eventual champ, Kansas. In 1997, the Southern had two teams spring upsets in the first round when College of Charleston dumped Maryland and UT-Chattanooga made a Sweet 16 beating Georgia and Illinois before losing to Providence.

FACT: Richmond is the only school to have recorded wins in the NCAA tournament as a 12, 13, 14 & 15 seed.

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