Conference Tournaments, March 2

Two more leagues kick off their tournaments this Wednesday. Let’s dive in.

BIG SOUTH

The Big South tournament will be taking place in Charlotte, NC. The league is split into two divisions. In the North, Longwood coasted to the top with a 15-1 record. They’re 158th in KenPom.

In the South, the more familiar Winthrop finished 14-2. They lost in their only game against Longwood this year, 92-88 on the road. They’re 163rd in KenPom. The best KenPom team is Gardner-Webb, 156th, who finished 2nd in the South and went 11-5. 

Winthrop has the only top-100 KenPom win of the year which was a victory over Furman of the SoCon. This being the case, they’re the pick.

OHIO VALLEY

Let’s begin by saying Murray State deserves an at-large regardless of how this plays out. They’re 28-2 and went 18-0 in their last season in the OVC before moving to the other Valley. They have 3 Top-100 KenPom wins out of league and are ahead of current Big 14 leader Wisconsin in KenPom and well ahead of Big East Champ Providence. 26th in KenPom should make them a lock.

The only other schools with winning conference records were Belmont and Morehead State, who went 15-3 and 13-5 respectively. Belmont is 80th in KenPom and Morehead is 127. Both would be potential bracket busters. Like Murray State, Belmont will be moving to the MVC next year as well.

Murray State has beaten Belmont by 33 and 22 but struggled more against Morehead State, winning by 11 and 4. If there’s an upset, Morehead State seems more likely to pull it off. However, the Racers are the pick.