Southland Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview, predictions

Southland Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Kevon Harris #1 of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks celebrates against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first half in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

4 of 6

LUBBOCK, TX – NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Mike McConathy of the Northwestern State Demons (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Could there be two bids in the Southland?

When looking at the bracketology for the Southland Conference it is clear that not only is it auto bid or bust, but if anyone else besides Stephen F. Austin wins the tournament, they are destined for the bottom two lines of the bracket dependent on the outcomes of other tournaments leading up to Selection Sunday.

The question for the Lumberjacks is how high of a seed can they get should they finish the job in Katy, Texas. Depending on which bracketologist you look at, the Lumberjacks are residing around the No. 12 and No. 13 seed lines, with our own Busting Brackets guru Lukas Harkins, Stephen F. Austin is the No. 12 seed in the Midwest region with a first-round matchup with No. 5 BYU. As is always the case early on in the NCAA Tournament, depending on their opponent, the Lumberjacks could be one of the more popular upset picks, with a lot of people being reminded of their upset of Duke.

An interesting question for Stephen F. Austin is if they do get tripped up in the conference tournament, do they have a case to make for an at-large bid? Unfortunately, despite what would be a gaudy record the metrics, most notably a 78 NET ranking and one of the worst strength of schedules in the sport,314th an at-large bid would seem unlikely.