Busting Brackets
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CAA Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Holden Walter-Warner

BALTIMORE, MD - MARCH 07: Flags of the schools line the wall during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament between the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks and the Hofstra Pride at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - MARCH 07: Flags of the schools line the wall during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament between the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks and the Hofstra Pride at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 21: Head coach Joe Mihalich of the Hofstra Pride (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 21: Head coach Joe Mihalich of the Hofstra Pride (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Bracketology

The CAA is historically a one-bid league and there are no teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble this year, so that will remain the case in 2020. Normally the CAA gets respect around the 13- or 14-seed line, but many projections have the conference champion falling even lower than that.

In our latest bracketology, Hofstra is hanging on as a 14-seed, projected to play Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That would invite some fun storylines, as Wildcats head coach used to be the coach of the Pride back in the day.

Hofstra is the top CAA team in the NET rankings, sitting at No. 122 through Tuesday’s games. Northeastern isn’t too far behind Hofstra, but William & Mary is over 40 spots back at No. 163, suggesting the Pride beating the Tribe in the tournament final wouldn’t do much to improve their overall resume in the eyes of the selection committee.

With the usual surprises across the conference tournament field, it seems likely Hofstra will hang on to a 14-seed if they win the league, with most of the top teams in the CAA likely to end up along the same seed line if they pull out the autobid. If one of the bottom half of teams somehow wins the tournament, however, a 15-seed feels more probable.