NCAA Basketball: Predicting 2019-20 conference tournament winners
By Bryan Mauro
ACC: Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles entered the year unranked and it was hard to fathom how that could have happened. I know rankings are arbitrary and don’t have any effect on who makes the tournament or who hoists the trophy in early April. Even still, Florida State had one of the best teams on paper and are showing now that they also have one of the best teams on the court as well.
Leonard Hamilton is doing a masterful coaching job again and is getting this team firing on all cylinders heading into the stretch run of the ACC season. Led by Trent Forrest and sophomore Devin Vassell, Florida State is currently on pace for their best season of all time. Florida State lost a lot from their Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen teams, yet here they are again looking poised to return to the second weekend for the third year in a row. This year will be different as they look to pick up their third ACC title in school history.
Sleeper: Syracuse Orange
It is never a smart idea to bet against Jim Boeheim in March. This feels like a year the Orange limp to the finish and rise and surprise everyone with a miracle run to the ACC finals and then a miracle run to the final four. Hasn’t the season been crazy enough already? The 2-3 zone gets taken up another notch come tournament time and Elijah Hughes and Buddy Boeheim are going to take Syracuse on their backs and get this team back into the tournament.
America East: Vermont Catamounts
Rinse and repeat, every season head coach John Becker has his team in a position to win the leagues auto-bid, and every year the Catamounts enter the NCAA tournament as a trendy pick for an upset. This year will be no different as head coach John Becker has a solid team around his stars. Anthony Lamb and Stef Smith, those two are the players Vermont has relied on all year.
The one thing to watch for with Vermont is their ability to play defense they currently allow 58.6 points per game and that is the fifth-best scoring defense in the country. The Catamounts are in a class of their own in the America East again and are well on their way to hosting the tournament at their building, again. Is anyone else sensing a theme here? The Catamounts may not be challenged at all on their way to the America East crown.
Sleeper: Albany Great Danes
The Great Danes have all the makings of a sleeper to win this tournament and make the NCAA tournament. They are built a lot like the UMBC team that upset Vermont and then made history by beating Virginia in the NCAA tournament. Albany is led by two experienced guards in Senior Ahmad Clark and Sophomore and two-year starter Cam Healy. Vermont will be a tough out but if the Great Danes guards can get going, Albany could shock the conference and win the auto-bid for the America East. In a one-bid league like the America East that would send Vermont to the NIT.