NCAA Basketball: Predicting all 32 autobids for 2022 NCAA Tournament

Big West

Winner: Long Beach State 49ers

I have not watched much of the Big West this year, I live in the Midwest and their games are very rarely on TV, especially national TV. This league does have some wins over power schools from the Pac 12 and a win over the leader of the Mountain West. Long Beach came out of nowhere this year to show they were the class of the league and at one point had one of the longest winning streaks in the country at 11 in a row.

The 49ers win in a very unorthodox way, they rarely shoot threes, and they take the second most foul shots per game of anyone in the country. Head coach Dan Monson also starts a big man and four guards which allows him to maximize his matchups and get into the lane. Three of the starting guards shoot over 80% from the line and guard Joel Murray averages 16 points per game and shoots 90% from the line. Long Beach is going to be a 16 but they return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2011-2012 season.

Sleeper: UC Riverside Highlanders

The Highlanders are also an extremely unorthodox team who is hard to prepare for. Riverside is one of the best defensive teams in the country and they make it hard to score for the entire 40 minutes. The one thing about the Highlanders is that they also don’t score much. They keep games low scoring and love to play in the 60’s.

Riverside plays slow and is deliberate in the half-court, and they are adept at taking a team out of their comfort zone and forcing them to play at the pace the Highlanders want them to. Those types of things can be factors in the conference tournaments because teams are trying so hard to not make mistakes because the games mean more. The Highlanders don’t have the offensive talent of some of the top teams but when they are locked in on defense, I would pick them over any team in this league.

Colonial

Winner: Hofstra Pride

The top three teams in the league are a lot better than everyone else and I am choosing Hofstra given their experience and, in my opinion, they have the most talent in the league. Towson is going to be a formidable opponent as they are in the midst of their best season ever and Wilmington who has finished in last the last handful of seasons is another team that can challenge Hofstra.

The Pride play really fast under first-year head coach Speedy Claxton. Claxton has a very three-heavy offense who loves to get out in transition and get up a shot as fast as possible. They are one of the most efficient teams in the country and have already beaten a power five this year. Hofstra is going to do a lot of damage in this tournament and may run a few teams out of the gym. Aaron Estrada scores early and often and is a great passer who is going to set up his teammates as well. The Pride is very dangerous.

Sleeper: Drexel Dragons

The Colonial tournament was a mess last year as there were upsets all over. Drexel came out on top, and they have a lot of those players back again this year. The Dragons know how to win in this tournament and that is going to be a factor when things get tipped off. Drexel doesn’t have anywhere near the talent of some of the other teams in this league, but they can only hope that the tournament is madness like it was a season ago.

The Dragons don’t do anything special, but they do have a dominant big man in James Butler and a great guard in Cam Wynter. As mentioned, they have a good portion of their team back from last year’s tournament team. Drexel has won this before and when Wynter and Butler dominate a game they can beat anyone.