It’s just about that time of year again! In a week’s time fans of college basketball will be submitting their brackets to his or her friend’s bracket pool in hopes of having ultimate bragging rights when they correctly pick that no. 15 seed to upset that no. 2 seed. It is the time of year that all young players dream about being a part of; March Madness is finally upon us. But before the bracket is released on Sunday, all major conference teams will be playing in their conference tournament while jockeying for position in the NCAA Tournament. Everybody wants a seat at the table; some teams want to solidify their position at the head of the table while many others find themselves playing musical chairs with the last few seats. At the end of the day, many teams are in need of big move in their conference tournament:
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Connecticut
It all starts and ends with the defending national champions, who without dynamic guard Shabazz Napier struggled to a 17-13 record this season. They find themselves as the 6th seed in the AAC tournament and will open up their run at 8:00PM EST on Thursday against last place South Florida. With that said an AAC tournament run that will have to end in a tournament championship if they wish to be defending their title as part of the NCAA Tournament this March.
Tulsa
Unlike UConn, Tulsa finds themselves on the bubble and in need of a few quality wins to make the tournament. Starting as the no. 2 seed, they will tip-off at 7:00PM EST on Friday against the winner of the game between Tulane and Houston. They also have positioned themselves so that they do not have to face SMU until the finals, which is good for a team that may only be a win or two away from clinching their spot in the field.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Miami (FL)
After finishing the ACC regular season in 6th, the Hurricanes will begin their conference tournament run at 9:00 on Wednesday taking on Virginia Tech, who are coming off of their victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday afternoon. To say their season has been a roller coaster ride may be a major understatement. The Jekyll and Hyde of the ACC can boast a win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, while also holding a 72-44 home loss to Eastern Kentucky on their resume. Miami will likely be able to clinch their spot if they are able to make it through Notre Dame in Thursday’s game but if they can get hot and go even further, they could raise their seeding drastically.
Virginia
Yes, you read that right. No need to adjust your computer screen. The two-time reigning ACC regular season champions and defending tournament champions who finished the regular season 28-2 need a good week in Greensboro. Since losing leading-scorer Justin Anderson to injury (and an emergency appendectomy, which you have no idea how that will affect his play when he comes back), Virginia’s offensive efficiency has taken a huge hit and need Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes to step up on this end of the floor. If they cannot take a big leap forward, then Virginia’s best offense may be to find a way to tighten up their already stifling defense. No matter what happens this weekend, Virginia is very likely to be named a No. 1 seed come Sunday evening. Not to mention a two-point loss at Louisville is far from the and of the world. However, they need to build some positive momentum this weekend if they wish to make a very deep tournament run. Their ACC tournament begins on Thursday against the winner of the game between Clemson and Florida State at noon.
BIG EAST
St. John’s
This could be a very big postseason for the Steve Lavin era in Queens. All-conferece studs Sir’Dominic Pointer and D’Angelo Harrison both graduate after the season and have yet to make the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s will more than likely end up in the NCAA Tournament field, but they should try to get back some of that momentum that they had before last weekend’s 105-68 loss at the hands of Villanova. The more games they win, the better their seed will be and may be the difference between playing Kentucky, Virginia, Duke, Iowa St. or Utah. St. John’s will have a big chance to move up Friday night when they will likely face Villanova in a game that is very much like a home game for the Red Storm. In order for that date though St. John’s will have to get by Providence on Thursday at 2:30PM EST in order to set that appointment.
Xavier
Much like St. John’s, the Musketeers come into the Big East tournament looking for positioning. The window is closing fast for them as well given that Matt Stainbrook, one of the most underrated bigs in the country, is playing his final games in an Musketeer jersey. A few wins in the Big East tournament will mean a much more favorable matchup for Xavier in the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeer’s will play Butler at 9:30PM EST on Thursday in the Big East Quarterfinals.
BIG TEN
Indiana
A team that was comfortably in the tournament just about two weeks ago Indiana is now finding themselves firmly on the bubble. The NCAA Tournament will surely miss the Hoosiers’ up-tempo style of play if they are absent. Their only win in the last five games was during a visit to league-laughingstock Rutgers. If they manage to lose to Northwestern, who they already lost to once, in their first game of the Big Ten tournament (6:30PM EST on Thursday) the Hoosier’s will be in serious danger despite wins over SMU, Butler, Maryland, and Ohio State.
Purdue
The Boilermakers are the classic case of a team that struggled in the non-conference, only to storm back during conference play. Purdue’s 8-5 non-conference record included losses to North Florida and Gardner-Webb. They then managed to storm through Big Ten play, compiling a 12-6 record. The only real problem comes with the fact that the only really big win came over an inexperienced Ohio State. team at home. Barring a loss to a bad team though, Purdue will likely have their spot in the dance. As a result of their 4th place finish, they do not play in the Big Ten tournament until Friday against Iowa, Nebraska, or Penn State.
BIG 12
Oklahoma St.
The most mercurial team in the conference has found themselves sliding down to a position on the bubble over the last few weeks. They have lost 5 of their last 6 games (including losses to conference cellar-dwellars TCU and Texas Tech) and need to right the ship. A quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma (9:00PM EST on Thursday) won’t be a deal breaker but add it onto their recent play, it could be danger time in Stillwater. They hold probably the best tandem of players in Phil Forte and Le’Bryan Nash in the conference in one of the best in the nation, but a third guy needs to step up for them to go anywhere in the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments.
Texas
The Longhorns find themselves on the bubble after a tough run through Big 12 play and no quality wins. Their struggles were largely a result of the best conference in college basketball beating up on itself. Texas needs to find a way to make noise during the Big 12 tournament if they want to find them a spot in the brackets on Sunday. The Longhorns will begin their run on Wednesday at 9:00PM EST against Texas Tech, but the big game will probably be the one on Thursday against Fred Hoiberg’s Cyclones of Iowa State with a likely bid on the line.
PAC 12
Stanford
One of the most prolific and underrated scorers in conference history in the form of Chasson Randle will likely not end his career in the NCAA Tournament. He will have to take the Cardinal to a Pac 12 Tournament Championship in order to gain a ticket to the dance. His last stand begins Wednesday at 11:30PM EST against Washington where Stanford will find themselves with a game against one of the best defensive teams in the nation in the Utah Utes.
UCLA
The Bruins did not do themselves any favors when they went on a five game losing streak spanning December and January. The catch when it comes to that is three of those games were against top 10 teams in the Nation (Gonzaga, Kentucky, and Utah). After that run, Steve Alford led his team all the way to a fourth place finish in the Pac 12. UCLA will likely have to defeat the winner of USC vs. Arizona St. at 2:30PM EST Thursday and then go on to defeat Arizona in the semifinals to insure themselves a spot in the tourney.
SEC
Ole Miss
Ole Miss, the team that by far had the best chance to beat Kentucky in Rupp is on the bubble, but will likely to get in. The Rebels are in need of gaining positive momentum headed into the tournament and need to put a good run together to insure that they are not playing in the first four. They’ll begin their SEC tournament at 9:30PM EST on Thursday against the winner of South Carolina and Missouri. A loss in that game may put Ole Miss in danger, but the saving grace behind this all may be that they would not have to face Kentucky until the championship game if they manage to make it that far.
LSU
Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey (great name, I know) are the tandem of bigs that are going to lead the Tigers back into the NCAA tournament since 2009. LSU has been fairly consistent all year long when it comes to breaking the season up into segments. However, each one of those segments has some form of bad loss; whether that be to Missouri, Mississippi State, or Auburn. They found themselves a buzzer-beater short of beating Kentucky and will (yes, will) get another shot at the Wildcats if they can win Friday at 2:30PM EST over Texas A&M, Mississippi St., or Auburn.
h/t: Rant Sports (Photo)
