Punching Tickets: Northeast and Big Sky Conference

Add Arkansas Little-Rock, Butler, and Oakland to the list of conference champions, as all three officially punched their ticket to the Big Dance last night. Some of the power conferences have begun play in their tournaments, but we’ve two more spots up for grabs in the Northeast and Big Sky Conference tonight.

Here’s a look at the matchups:

Northeast

Robert Morris (18-13) vs. Long Island (26-5) – 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2

Long Island enters this one having won 12 straight, and their overall record is very impressive. One of those five losses though was to this Robert Morris team, who is coming in with an eight-game winning streak of their own. The Colonials will want to make this a low-scoring game, as Long Island is sixth in the nation in points per game, and I just can’t see Robert Morris winning a game that’s in the 80’s. We saw what an explosive scoring team like Oakland could do last night, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Blackbirds can make a similar statement in this game.

Big Sky Conference

Montana (21-9) vs. Northern Colorado (20-10) – 9:00 PM ET, ESPN2

These two teams split the season series, but Northern Colorado seems to be playing better basketball right now. They are led by Devon Beitzel who averages around 21 points per game. He’s scored at least 22 points in his last 10 games, including a 32-point outburst in the season finale against Sacramento State. I just feel like Northern Colorado will win this game because they are better on the offensive end of the floor, and Montana’s 12-point first half against Weber State in the semis sort of proves that point.

Who are you picking in tonight’s conference championship games?

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