Busting Brackets
Fansided

Green Bay hosts Cleveland St. in key Horizon League matchup

By John Parker

facebooktwitterreddit

Friday nights generally aren’t great for college basketball fans, but this week there’s an exception. Cleveland State heads to Wisconsin to take on the Green Bay Phoenix in a contest that will have major implications on the Horizon League‘s regular season race. Both teams are 10-3 in conference, and trail league leader Valparaiso by a game. With Valparaiso heading to Cleveland State next week, the winner will be poised to clinch a share of the Horizon League title. Thanks to the league’s tournament structure, the winner will also be in a great position to put itself two Horizon League tournament wins away from the NCAA Tournament.

More from Horizon League

Nov 19, 2014; Madison, WI, USA; Green Bay Phoenix guard Keifer Sykes (24) attempts to move the ball around Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky (left) and guard Traevon Jackson (12) at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Green Bay 84-60. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

The Horizon League gives a significant advantage to teams that perform well in league play when tournament time rolls around. The league champion gets a double bye into the league semifinals.  With a victory, the top seed plays the championship game on its home court. Whoever finishes second gets to join the champ in watching the first two rounds of the tournament. The third and fourth seeded teams get a bye into the league quarterfinals. If the top seed is knocked out of the tournament in the semifinals, the highest remaining seed hosts the championship game.

Cleveland State will be in excellent position to clinch a double-bye with a victory: the Vikings would lead Green Bay by a game in the standings and would hold the tiebreaker even if they fell back into a tie. As a result, a weekend sweep of Green Bay and Milwaukee would guarantee a top two finish and the double-bye, while making next Friday’s game against Valparaiso a battle for the top seed in the tournament.

Green Bay’s fate isn’t quite as certain with a victory, but the win would still leave the team likely to earn a double-bye. In this scenario, the Phoenix would be a game ahead in the standings and would have the easier remaining schedule. Cleveland State travels to fifth place Milwaukee on Sunday and finishes its season by hosting league leading Valparaiso. Green Bay travels to league bottom feeder UIC over the weekend, and closes out the year at home against fourth place Oakland. While Oakland is a dangerous team, it’s 3-0 at home against the league’s top three teams and 0-2 on the road.

Last year’s Horizon League Championship, where fifth seed Milwaukee knocked off third seed Wright State, was an anomaly. Since the Horizon League began giving its top two seeds a double-bye in 2005, it was just the third time that a team seeded lower than second won the tournament. It was also the first time since the bracket was restructured that a team seeded lower than third even played in the championship game. Given these facts, it’s easy to see how tonight’s game could go a long way towards determining the Horizon League’s NCAA Tournament representative.

Next: Previewing Saturday's Big Day Of Basketball in the SEC

More from Busting Brackets