A10/CUSA/MAAC

A10

Our friends in the A-10 tip-off tomorrow night from Brooklyn. Richmond won the regular season title but is far from a lock to dance. 81st in KenPom, an early exit here and they will be on the wrong side of the bubble methinks.

Dayton is your highest KenPom team at 28. Counting Richmond, 6 other teams are top-100 KenPom teams but none higher than 81. The bottom wasn’t great but the league was 8th in KenPom conference standings.

When you ask what realignment has done to these leagues, this is a good example of the bad. Dayton is a lock and if they win the conference tournament, it’s a 1-bid league (probably). The pick is Dayton because they’re the most balanced team that can score. Pulling for the Spiders but don’t trust the offense.

Conference USA

Speaking of leagues and realignment, a nickel for every CUSA member you can name. The league moved its tourney to Huntsville, AL this year. I guess that makes sense?

Anyway, Sam Houston State won the regular season title by a game over Louisiana Tech. Tech is the only KenPom top-100 team (90) and my nephew allegedly goes to school there and are the pick. Man, this league is a mess.

MAAC

Sigh, my favorite league continues to struggle. Only 3 top-200 KenPom teams. The regular season champ Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Saint Peter’s. 

Q swept Saint Peter’s and split with Fairfield. Fairfield is the higher KenPom team and beat Yale. Q lost to Yale. None of these teams have a positive ADJEm.

All games in Atlantic City, so drop a dime on Fairfield as they’re the pick.