Busting Brackets
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Summit League Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Jason Burgess

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA - FEBRUARY 16: A general view shows a game between the North Dakota State Bison and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Scheels Center on February 16, 2019 in Fargo, North Dakota. The Jackrabbits defeated the Bison 78-77. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA - FEBRUARY 16: A general view shows a game between the North Dakota State Bison and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Scheels Center on February 16, 2019 in Fargo, North Dakota. The Jackrabbits defeated the Bison 78-77. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Tyson Ward #24 of the North Dakota State Bison (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: Tyson Ward #24 of the North Dakota State Bison (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Teams to watch 

Favorites – North Dakota State, South Dakota State

As I stated, the conference has been dominated by North Dakota State and South Dakota State and the two teams that split the season series with each team protecting their home floor with the margin of victory in the two games being seven points. The Summit League is a conference where defense is basically an afterthought.

The Bison are the top team on defense and by a big margin, surrendering 66.4 per game and South Dakota State is behind them at 70.3 points, which is 3rd in the conference. Offensively, both teams can score with South Dakota State putting up 78 per game and the Bison are netting 74.4, and with each team having three players averaging double figures, these two teams should be considered the favorites to take home the title.

Top Contenders – South Dakota and Omaha

The Jackrabbits and the Bison aren’t without their challengers though, look no further than the two teams that have been the runners-up the last three seasons, the Omaha Mavericks and South Dakota Coyotes. If I were to rank the two threats, I would put South Dakota slightly ahead of Omaha in this regard given their 1-3 record against the top two teams and a sweep of Omaha.

The Coyotes are 2nd in the conference with 79.9 points per game and are led by their starting five who all average double figures and senior forward Tyler Hagedorn who averages 18.1 points and 6.9 rebounds which both lead the team. The 6-10 big man is versatile offensively, shooting nearly the same from three-point land (51.5%) as he is from the field (54.3%).

For the Mavericks, they are much more balanced with seven players that are averaging at least seven points per game and are led by guard KJ Robinson who scores 15.3 points and forward Matt Pile who is the man in the middle with a team-high 9.7 rebounds and 11.9 points.

Possible darkhorse – Oral Roberts

If there is a dark horse in this tournament, look no further than the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Paul Mills’ team is one of the highest-scoring teams in the sport with their 80.6 points per game which is the 9th best number in the sport. The Golden Eagles finished the season going 5-3 over their final eight games and their three losses in that time have all been by single digits. They go with an eight-man rotation, half of them averaging double figures and a team that leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (12) and turnovers forced (13.59), a deep run for the Golden Eagles should come as not much of a shock.