NEC and Ohio Valley

NEC
Merrimack won the regular season title but are ineligible to win the conference tournament. It’s their first year as a D1 member. St. Francis finished tied for second with Robert Morris. They are the highest rated KenPom team at 184 eligible for the title. Sacred Heart who finished 4th is the only other team in the KenPom top 200 and they’re 199th.

All games are played at the higher seed.

The Pick: Sacred Heart - St. Francis has the best offense, Sacred Heart is the most balanced team. Unlikely to have a bracket buster come out of this league

Ohio Valley
In the sun comes up in the morning news, Belmont and Murray State shared the regular season championship. They split their regular season matchups. Belmont has won 10 straight as we enter the tournament. These aren’t classic Belmont and Murray State teams. Belmont is 107th in KenPom and Murray State is 136th in KenPom.

The only other KenPom top-200 team is Austin Peay. Those 3 teams are the only teams in the OVC with positive AdjEm. If someone other than one of these 3 teams wins the tournament, they’ll be play-in fodder.

All games are played in Evansville, IN.

The Pick: Belmont