History: “Arch Madness” has been one of the most anticipated mid-major tournaments. With teams like Creighton (12 titles), Tulsa (4), Wichita State (4), and Loyola-Chicago (3) no longer around, it has lost some of its luster but remains an event to look forward to. Despite its reputation, the Missouri Valley has received multiple bids o
NCAA Basketball 3/7: The Bubble
A look at the NCAA Tournament bubble. Team records and NET rankings are through games on Wednesday, March 6th. The bubble comes down to four things, if you want to simplify your life: Win some Quad 1 games; Don’t lose Quad 3/4 games; Beat a few good opponents on the road/neutral court; Play a respectable […]
Conference Tournament Preview: Patriot League
Note: The first round of the Patriot League played out on March 5th. I missed it, but none of the contenders played. History: Recent history has been all about Colgate, winners of three straight championships. Furthermore, the Raiders have played in the last six championship games, winning four of them. They are now tied with Bucknell and Holy Cros
Conference Tournament Preview: Northeast Conference
History: The Northeast Conference was never known for its NCAA Tournament accolades until last season when FDU defeated Purdue in a 16-vs-1 contest. More on that in a second. Robert Morris, no longer in the league, is the all-time Northeast Conference Tournament winner with nine titles. In the last six years, the league has produced six different c
Conference Tournament Preview: Big South
History: Winthrop is the king of the Big South, winning 13 of the 38 championships in history. Their longest reign of terror was between 1999 and 2010, when they won the tournament nine times, with a singular NCAA Tournament win in 2007. No team from this conference has won a main-bracket NCAA Tournament game since. Returning […]
Conference Tournament Preview: Ohio Valley
History: The conference that gave us the Belmont – Murray State rivalry for years (Murray State won this tournament 18 times before moving to the Missouri Valley) looks different nowadays. 11 teams compete in the conference, with Morehead State’s the current leader with five titles. Murray State won an NCAA Tournament game out of this c
Conference Tournament Preview: Horizon League
History: Even though they both left the league eons ago, Butler (7) and Xavier (6) are the top two in conference tournament titles. The active leaders are Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky (4). Nobody from this league has won an NCAA Tournament game since 2011, when Butler made it to the National Championship game. Returning Champion: Northern Kentuc
Conference Tournament Preview: Sun Belt
History: Georgia State has won this title three times in the last five seasons, though they will not be the favorites to win in 2024. The last time the Sun Belt winner won an NCAA Tournament game was in 2016, when Little Rock knocked off Purdue, 85-83, in two overtimes. Little Rock has since left the conference. Western […]
Conference Tournament Preview: A-SUN
One of the best parts of the college basketball season is the conference tournaments. I especially love watching the tournaments where only the winner goes to the NCAA Tournament. When Bobby Knight used to say that everyone should be invited to the NCAA Tournament, I always felt that the conference tournaments accomplish that (it is […]
NCAA Basketball 3/2: The Bubble
A look at the NCAA Tournament bubble. Team records and NET rankings are through games on Friday, March 1. NET, not my bubble preference is how I rank the teams. I have to rank by something, and using the NCAA’s tool seems like a good start. ACC In: North Carolina [22-6 (14-3), Quad 1: 7-4; […]