NCAA Basketball: Busting Brackets Bracketology
By Doug Winkey
14 Seeds: Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas-Little Rock, Belmont, UAB
Stephen F. Austin is currently locked in a dead heat with rival Southland team Houston Baptist. The Lumberjacks do have the benefit of two straight NCAA appearances, but have a couple bad losses to Northern Iowa and Tulane. This will likely come down to the Southland title game, with SFA’s greater experience as the deciding factor.
Belmont is a good bet to represent the Ohio Valley. Their resume isn’t spectacular, but they split with Valparaiso from the Horizon conference. The Bruins do have good losses to Arizona State, Evansville, BYU, and Middle Tennessee that show they were aggressive in scheduling tough opponents. I’m particularly excited to see 6’7” forward Evan Bradds and his 18 points and almost 10 rebounds take the court against a tournament opponent.
UAB looks to be back to play spoiler yet again this season. They have done well in Conference USA this year, posting an 8-1 record. Their best win is against Middle Tennessee, the 77th best team in RPI right now. They do have a bad loss to Western Kentucky, but they should not have much trouble winning their conference tournament to secure an automatic bid.
Arkansas-Little Rock is two games up on the next best team in the Sun Belt right now. They have some good wins against San Diego State and Tulsa with one good loss to Texas Tech and one bad to Arkansas State. Big thing here is that ALR holds one of the best defenses in America. They only allow 58.3 points per game.
Next: 13 Seeds