Thursday, March 2, 2023

Conference Tourneys March 3

Friday sees two conference tournaments starting. The Colonial and SoCon begin respectively.

Colonial 

The CAA tournament will be played in Washington D.C. Insert your own jokes. Charleston was the early season darling and finished 16-2 in league. However, it is Hofstra is the 1-seed on the strength of a head-to-head win. Charleston is 71 in KenPom and Hofstra is 91.

Only two other teams are KenPom top-200. They are Towson at 137 and UNC-Wilmington at 172. The league wants one of the top-2 win. Charleston’s 2 losses in league were by a combined 5 points. They’re the pick but if it’s Hofstra, they can win a game in March.

SoCon 

The SoCon also kicks off Friday from Asheville, NC. After some years of multiple good mid-majors, the league was not nearly as good this season. Furman and Sanford shared the regular season title but Furman earned the 1-seed by virtue of a season sweep that included a decisive 14-point win at Samford this past Saturday. 

Furman is 89 in KenPom. They’ve been top-100 KenPom since 2018 but have been stifled in the conference tournament. Samford is 129. UNC-Greensboro is 108th in KenPom and the 3-seed. They finished 1-game out of 1st and are the only other team with a positive AdjustedEM.

The next best team is Chattanooga at 201 KenPom. One of the top 3 should win and like the CAA, that’s what they want. The pick is Furman to breakthrough 

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