NCAA Basketball: Picking winner of each conference tournament for 2022-23 season
By Bryan Mauro
Sun Belt
Dates: February 28th, March 2nd, 4th-6th
Pensacola Bay Center
Top Seed: Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Winner: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
Let us all just stop and take a minute to understand just how good of a season the Golden Eagles are having. They had won 24 games combined over the last three seasons in the Conference USA. In the first go around in the Sun Belt Southern Mississippi has surpassed the 24-win mark in one season. Head coach Jay Ladner is going to be in the running for the National Coach of the year. The Golden Eagles are also the first top seed I have picked to win their league tournament so far.
Honestly, given the way this tournament usually goes, I will likely be wrong. The Golden Eagles have one of the nation’s best defenses and they also have one of the country’s most efficient offenses. They won’t light the nets on fire as some of the other teams in the league can, but the Golden Eagles are so fundamentally sound on the defensive end that they should still be able to win the tournament. Austin Crowley, a transfer from Ole Miss, has come and taken the Sun Belt by storm and when paired with Mercer transfer Felipe Haase forms the best duo in the league. Southern Miss better be at their best though because this league is too deep to try and just show up and win.
Sleeper: South Alabama Jaguars
I do not reasonably think that anyone besides the top four teams on Southern Mississippi, Marshall, Louisiana, and James Madison can win the league, but this tournament is always something special. In that case, I say why not South Alabama, especially with the way they are playing heading into the tournament? South Alabama has seen everything finally click over the last few games and they have been crushing teams. That includes a 30-point victory over league-leading Southern Mississippi.
The Jaguars play a heavy three-point style on offense and one defense does not allow teams to get open looks from downtown. It is all starting to work out for South Alabama as their threes are starting to fall. Every team has a tough night shooting but when the shots don’t fall can the Jaguars do enough to make a run in the tournament? The Sun Belt is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Patriot League
Dates: February 28th, March 2nd, 5th, and 8th
Campus Sites
Top Seed: Colgate Raiders
Winner: Colgate Raiders
At this point, we should all just pencil Colgate into the NCAA tournament as the representative from the Patriot League. There are not many schools that have shown the type of domination that the Raiders have in the Patriot League. They are the best team with the best players, and they lead the league in just about every category. Colgate is loaded with shooters everywhere and loaded with depth. They can insert anyone into their lineup and still be successful.
Colgate currently leads the Patriot League and the nation in three-point shooting, they are second in the country in offensive efficiency, and third in the country in assists. They share the ball so well and the five-out system with great shooters everywhere makes them almost impossible to guard. Oliver Lynch-Daniels is shooting over 50% from deep this year and is just one of many players you cannot leave open. Colgate is likely not going to get challenged in their league tournament this year, just like most other years recently.
The one thing to keep an eye on is how many brackets pick them to win a game in the NCAA tournament. They almost beat Wisconsin in the first round last year and when their offense is clicking they can beat anyone. Colgate winning would be a big deal for Hamilton, New York.
Sleeper: American Eagles
As we just talked about the utter domination by Colgate, so how could there be a sleeper? Well, believe it or not, Colgate has lost a game in the league and American was the team to beat them. There was a point in the season where the Eagles looked like the best team in the Patriot or at the very least a team who could push Colgate at the top of the league. They did beat Georgetown in the non-conference season and both of the games against Colgate have been one-point games.
American plays a completely opposite style from Colgate, which also makes them hard to prepare for. The Eagles play at the slowest pace in the country, and they play that style no matter what, they will force offenses into playing slow and that is part of the reason so many teams have had a ton of trouble with American. The Eagles ended the Patriot League regular season on a huge losing streak, but the conference tournaments are a new season, and look for them to make some noise.