NCAA Basketball: Picking winner of each conference tournament for 2022-23 season
By Bryan Mauro
Big 12
Dates: March 8th-11th
T-Mobile Center
Top Seed: Kansas Jayhawks
Winner: Baylor Bears
Baylor isn’t going to be a one-seed this year, but they have a team who can make the final four and they are going to do it playing vintage Baylor basketball. The Bears have the best backcourt in the country and those guards anchor the defense as well as do the bulk of the scoring. Baylor takes a ton of threes, makes a lot of them, and gets fouled a lot. As always the Bears are one of the top offensive teams in the country as they score over 78 points per game and they have so many guys who can hurt you on that end of the floor. The Bears’ interior defense is not as good as this year and in conference they have allowed almost 60% from inside the arc. That doesn’t mean that Baylor is worse on the defensive end, rather than the Big 12 is that good.
This league does still have an outside shot at getting every team in the NCAA tournament. The Bears are going to be looking for some redemption after a quick second-round exit last year. Baylor is good again and they are ready to go on their vintage run that they go on every year.
Sleeper: Texas Tech Red Raiders
I never wanted to truly write off Texas Tech as a team who had no shot of winning the conference tournament or making the NCAA tournament as an at-large. The roster had way too much talent and they were too well-coached. It seems that the start of the season was a direct result of some key injuries for Texas Tech and now they have all of their players healthy including star big man Fardaws Aimaq who has changed the course of the season for the Red Raiders. The All-American big man returned at the end of January, and since that point, Texas Tech has gotten itself firmly back on the bubble and do look like a team who is capable of winning this league. Texas Tech already shoots a high percentage from the floor, takes good shots, and now with Aimaq back in the fold has improved their defense.
Texas Tech now has two of the most dominant big men in the league in Aimaq and Kevin Obanor. Each of those players is great at rebounding, can step out and hit threes, and shoot a high percentage from the floor and the free throw line. The Red Raiders may need some help come NCAA tournament time and a deep run into the conference tournament will be something that will help. A healthy Aimaq, Obanor, and point guard DeVion Harmon make Texas Tech a threat to grab the automatic bid into the tournament.
Big East
Dates: March 8th-11th
Madison Square Garden
Top Seed: Marquette Golden Eagles
Winner: Xavier Musketeers
Excuse me while I gush about Xavier for a while. They are 40 minutes of fun and they play at one pace and that is fast. They have guys who can shoot everywhere and pass the ball better than any team I have seen in a long time. The other thing helping the Musketeers is their experience. They are one of the oldest teams in the country with 4 of their 5 starters plus their sixth man all seniors and the other player is a junior. They have a ton of experience and now with a confident coach, they have the pieces to make a deep run into March. There is not much that Xavier doesn’t do well on offense, they shoot 50% from the floor, 55% from inside the arc, and 40% from deep.
They have a big man who is one of the best shooters in the country and the one thing that separates Xavier from the rest of the pack is they pass the ball better than any other team in the country. The ball never stays in the same spot and Xavier usually has three primary ball handlers on the floor at all times. They work the ball inside out and almost always get a wide-open shot. Stopping them on offense is impossible. Hopefully, you can score enough points to keep some pressure on them to score points otherwise Xavier should win the league tournament easily.
Sleeper: Villanova Wildcats
Do not think for one second that I have forgotten about the Wildcats. They didn’t start the year off very well but they are getting it going at just the right time. Villanova also was able to get healthy and the heart and soul of the team Justin Moore finally returned from his ruptured Achilles in last season’s Elite Eight win. The struggles of the Wildcats early on in the season can be explained by the adjustment period from a legendary coach in Jay Wright to a new head coach in Kyle Neptune. The other thing helping Villanova is Neptune has not changed the way the team plays at all. They still play slow, press on the defensive end, and shoot a ton of threes on the offensive end.
This version of the Wildcats does not have the shooters that previous teams have had. Eric Dixon, Caleb Daniels, and freshman phenom Cam Whitmore have all started getting more comfortable with each other as the year rolls on and in the last few weeks of the season, Villanova already beat Xavier and Creighton and is primed to make a huge run in the conference tournament.