NCAA Basketball: Predicting winners for all 2021 conference tournaments

Southland

Champion: Abilene Christian Wildcats

Welcome to the conference dominated by the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks recently. The Lumberjacks have a post-season ban so they are not eligible for the tournament. Even if they were, they are still not the best team in this league anyway.

The Wildcats have been all year and they do it in a way that not many other teams do. They play slow and they grind out games with relentless defense and their offense is extremely balanced with four guys averaging at least nine points. They show well on the offensive side of the ball averaging about 77 points per game but they allow less than 60 points per game and their defense has caused every team they have played a fit.

They get after it on the defensive end and no one in the Southland has proven they can score on them consistently which is why they are the favorite to win the tournament.

Sleeper: Incarnate Word Cardinals

Looking at the metrics it would not tell you that the Cardinals are a sleeper. They don’t light up the scoreboard and they are not built to ever blow anyone out. They are a sleeper in this league for two reasons. They have a star player who has carried this team all year in Keaston Willis.

Willis is one of the best scorers and overall players in the conference and he is going to impact a few games in the conference tournament. The second reason is that Incarnate Word is a fantastic three-point shooting team. They make about 40% of their three-point attempts overall and that number is even higher in conference play.

Given how slow the Cardinals play and the fact they only take about 20 three’s a game shows how much their shooting can change a game. If they are hitting shots they are going to be in every game they play.

Sun Belt

Champion: South Alabama Jaguars

At the time of this writing, South Alabama has won eight games in a row and are starting to assert their dominance over the Sun Belt as a whole. It isn’t hard to play like the best team when you have one of the best players in the league as well. Western Michigan transfer Michael Flowers was not even going to be eligible this year until a waiver at the start of the season made him eligible.

The Jaguars are happy he became eligible because he makes South Alabama an NCAA tournament team and likely champion in the Sun Belt. This league is nicknamed the Fun Belt because of what happens every year in their conference tournament. Top seeds rarely win the league and often it is won by a team no one expects to win it so hopefully, South Alabama can break the trend.

Sleeper: Little Rock Trojans

Little Rock entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the Sun Belt and some felt they had enough to sneak in as an at large. However, they have drastically underachieved and now find themselves with an overall losing record on a current 6-game losing streak. Little Rock still has one of the best players in the league in big man Ruot Monyyong and preseason conference Player of the Year favorite Markquis Nowell is no longer listed on the roster.  The Trojans are likely not done yet.

Given the way this tournament usually goes don’t be surprised if Little Rock plays their best basketball of the year and gets themselves into the NCAA tournament, they certainly have the talent to belong in that field.