NCAA Basketball: Predicting winners for all 2021 conference tournaments
By Bryan Mauro
Conference USA
Champion: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Every year there is one conference tournament that brings about complete chaos and nothing goes according to plan. This year that tournament is going to be the Conference USA championship, of course, I have no inside knowledge of this but something tells me this tournament is going to be chaos.
Why though? The amount of talent in the conference is extremely high and they are likely going to get two bids if someone other than Western Kentucky wins the league. Enter the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are an experienced team who get most of their production from a sophomore and a freshman.
Tech plays great defense and head coach Eric Konkol is one of the best young coaches in the game. The Bulldogs are more than capable of beating Western Kentucky which should hopefully secure two bids for Conference USA.
Sleeper: UTSA Roadrunners
UTSA plays fast and shoots a ton of threes. They live up to their roadrunners’ nickname. The Roadrunners have one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball in senior guard Jhivvan Jackson. Jackson pairs with another prolific scorer in Keaton Wallace. Those two seniors account for 36 points per game between the two of them.
This UTSA team is different from the others because they are actually playing a little bit of defense and they have a better supporting cast around their two stars. Jackson is fun to watch and many have seen him get hot and carry his team to a win before. He will need to be playing his best in this tournament but since it is likely to be chaos, it’s anyone guess what will happen.
Horizon League
Champion: Cleveland State Vikings
Just looking at stars you would all think this is a crazy prediction for the Vikings to win the Horizon League Tournament and head to the NCAA Tournament. However, head coach Dennis Gates has found something that works, because Cleveland State has been the best Horizon league team all season and has won a lot of games this year.
The Vikings don’t do anything flashy and they have to play a slow grind-it-out style to win many games but they are really good at their style and coach Gates has gotten his guys to buy into it. D’Moi Hodge is a JUCO transfer who has a tendency to shoot the lights out. The Vikings are good but are going to need to prove they can win when it counts.
Sleeper: Detroit Mercy Titans
Anytime a team has a player who can do what Antoine Davis can do, they are never out of it. Davis is one of the best pure shooters and scorers in the league. The Titans as a whole are one of the best shooting teams in the entire country. They take and make a ton of threes per game, make all of their free throws, and have a big man in Bul Kuol who finishes around the rim.
Detroit Mercy is never out of a game when they are making shots. If Davis gets hot like so many have seen him do before, he can carry this team a long way into March.