Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Picking winner of each conference tournament for 2022-23 season

By Bryan Mauro

Xavier Musketeers guard Souley Boum (0) and Xavier Musketeers guard Colby Jones (3) walk back to the bench during a timeout in the second half of a college basketball game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati. The Villanova Wildcats won, 64-63.Villanova Wildcats At Xavier Musketeers Feb 21 0152
Xavier Musketeers guard Souley Boum (0) and Xavier Musketeers guard Colby Jones (3) walk back to the bench during a timeout in the second half of a college basketball game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Xavier Musketeers, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati. The Villanova Wildcats won, 64-63.Villanova Wildcats At Xavier Musketeers Feb 21 0152 /
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NCAA Basketball
NCAA Basketball Dayton Flyers forward Toumani Camara David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

Atlantic 10

Dates: March 7th-9th and 11th-12th

Barclays Center

Top Seed: VCU Rams

Winner: Dayton Flyers

Dayton was a team that many thought should have gotten in the tournament last year as they were one of the only teams to have beaten the National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. Ultimately it was the bad losses that proved to be the undoing for Dayton. Heading into this season many had the Flyers as the best mid-major not named Gonzaga. The Flyers faltered a tad out of the gates but the beauty of the season is that you have time to make it up and that is exactly what Dayton has done.

They head into Championship week with one of the best defenses in the country. They don’t allow much especially from the three-point line and from inside the paint. Dayton wants you to take terrible shots and clean up the rebounds and get out in transition. DaRon Holmes II is one of the premier big men in the entire country and once he gets a chance to showcase his talent in the NCAA tournament the whole country is going to know who he is. Just a little preview that Holmes flat-out dominates games. He is one of my favorite players to watch in the entire country.

Sleeper: Duquesne Dukes

In the preseason the Atlantic 10 looked like an easy multiple-bid league, but as the year wore on, the bad losses started to pile up for some teams that looked more like a dream as opposed to a reality. The conference also does not have too many good wins and it will be a one-bid league once again this year. Duquesne has had a successful season already as they are one of the most improved teams in the country this season and head to the Atlantic 10 tournament looking for much more than a feel-good story.

The Dukes are capable, they have been one of the most consistent teams in the league all season and have avoided huge losing streaks. The Dukes are led by an elite scorer in Dae Dae Grant and they surround him with a lot of other transfers who are all playing very well. Duquesne plays extremely fast, loves to get out in transition, and makes a lot of threes. They are very hard to prepare for and if they are hitting shots may be hard to beat for some teams. Duquesne has a roster that is very capable of winning this thing. If Richmond did it last season why not Duquesne this season?

Big West

Dates: March 7th, March 9th-11th

Dollar Loan Center

Top Seed: UC Irvine Anteaters

Winner: UC Irvine Anteaters

With a quick show of hands, who has watched a game from a Big West team this season?  These games are always going to be harder to watch for the average person because they are on so late at night. If you have yet to watch a Big West game do yourself a favor and watch UC Irvine play. They are a team who has been at the top of the conference for a while now and they are always a threat to make the NCAA tournament. This is another pick that I do not have a ton of confidence in.

The league tournament in the Big West does have a tendency to have some early round upsets. The Anteaters are extremely well-coached and do not seem like a team that is going to be upset-prone, especially when their star Dawson Baker is rolling early. They have the ability to overwhelm a lot of their opponents. UC Irvine should be back in the NCAA tournament.

Sleeper: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

It has been a while since Hawaii has been in this position in the Big West. The Rainbow Warriors are a legitimate threat to the top seeds in the tournament and a lot of it has to do with how they play. Hawaii and head coach Eran Ganot play at one of the slowest paces in the country and on offense, they like to get their stars Noel Coleman and Kamaka Hepa the ball with room to work and usually a matchup mismatch. The Rainbow Warriors run an efficient offense, but defense is where they win all of their games.

Hawaii confuses teams so much on the defensive end that they have allowed the fewest three-point attempts in the county, and they bait the offense into thinking they can go 1 on 1 until the defense collapses and a bad shot is forced. The other thing to note here is that Hawaii is one of the hardest places to play in the league. They may have the best home-court advantage in all of college basketball. Unfortunately for them, the tournament is not in Hawaii but the defense seems to always travel well.

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