Conference Tourneys March 1

Three more conferences tournaments begin on Wednesday. Time for a quick look.

Big South

The Big South invades Charlotte for their tournament this year. Three teams are currently above 200 in KenPom. They include league champ, UNC-Asheville at 148 who is one of two teams amongst conference brethren with a positive AdjEM. They won the league by 4 games and should be prohibitive favorites.

Longwood is also a positive AdjEM and 160 in KenPom but we’re swept by Asheville. Radford is 180 in KenPom. Winthrop has been the best offense during league play and has a win over Asheville.

Asheville is the pick and can probably be a pain for someone for awhile in a game in the opening round.

NEC

The NEC, the worst KenPom division in D1, also begins tomorrow night. All games will be played on campus sites. Merrimack won the league and still has an overall losing record. They have won 8 in a row.

All teams are in the 300’s, so it’s “wide-open”. Wagner has the best KenPom number at 315, one spot ahead of Merrimack and they have a road win over them as well. They’re the pick, even at 8-8 in league. Play-in fodder.

Ohio Valley 

The OVC kicks off tomorrow from Evansville, IN and will be the first league to put a team into the dance.

There is no Murray State or Belmont anymore, so the OVC has lost a bit of its luster. Morehead State won the regular season title by 3 games and is 241 in KenPom. There are a handful of teams between that number and 300 in KenPom, so Morehead State isn’t a lock.

Morehead State has won 11 of 12 and is the pick but this thing has the potential for chaos.