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 Head coach Preston Spradlin of the Morehead State Eagles speaks with Mark Freeman (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Ohio Valley

Dates: March 1st-4th

Ford Center

Top Seed: Morehead State Eagles

Winner: Morehead State Eagles

The Ohio Valley was home to two of the better mid-major programs in the country, but those two programs have now moved on to the Missouri Valley what the Ohio Valley left behind has been one of the more competitive conferences out there, but the result is going to be a 16 seed this year. The Eagles are the most talented team in the league and should win the conference tournament barring anything surprising. Morehead State has won 20 games again and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2020-2021 season.

It has been a vintage Eagles season. Morehead State doesn’t allow much on defense and even getting a shot against them has been a chore for the rest of the Ohio Valley. They allow just a shade over 60 points in conference games. They use their defense to set up their extremely deliberate and efficient half-court offense. Morehead State plays the slowest pace in the league but leads the league in efficiency. They are tough to beat because of the way they play, and it doesn’t appear that any of the teams in the league are even close to as talented.

Sleeper: Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles

Year one in Division 1 for the Screaming Eagles and they have the pieces to make a deep run in the Ohio Valley tournament. Keep in mind that since Southern Indiana is in their transition year, it will not be eligible for the NCAA tournament or the NIT. This is going to be their de facto NCAA tournament. To make a deep run in a conference tournament it is going to help to have some dominant players and Southern Indiana has that. Center Jacob Polakovich has had a few games of over 20 points and over 20 rebounds multiple times this year.

The Screaming Eagles also have something that no other team in the conference has and that is Trevor Lakes, who is one of the best shooters in the country and when he gets going, he can fill it up quickly. If Lakes and Polakovich get hot the Eagles should bring home some hardware. Don’t be surprised if they make some significant noise even if they don’t bring home the title.

West Coast

Dates: March 2nd-4th and 6th-7th

Orleans Arena

Top Seed: St Mary’s Gaels

Winner: Gonzaga Bulldogs

I sat and pondered as to who could reasonably win this league between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s and I settled on Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are on a mission right now and the few rare losses they have had have lit a fire under the Bulldogs and they are starting to play up to their lofty expectations. The Bulldogs winning the West Coast Conference is something that should not come as a shock to anyone.

Earlier last week former Zag Dan Dickau on a broadcast said that this is the first time in a long time that Gonzaga has had to fight to win the league. They have something to play for now. It did seem like the Bulldogs would get bored heading into the tournament and then tried to turn it on to late in some cases. This year though they seem to be refocused as the year comes to a close and a focused Bulldogs is not good news for the West Coast Conference or the rest of the NCAA as a whole.

Sleeper: LMU Lions

This is something that can be said with confidence this season, Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are going to be challenged in the West Coast tournament. There is a possibility that one of those teams does not make the final of the league tournament. The only team who has shown they can beat them outside of BYU is the Lions. LMU already had a great season this year as they ended Gonzaga’s 75-game win streak in the McCarthey event center. Then a few weeks later the Lions came back from a huge first-half deficit to beat Saint Mary’s. The Lions have also beaten Nevada and Wake Forest which shows that they can beat power teams and teams in the West Coast.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are two of the best wins in the country this season. Guard Cam Shelton takes his game to the next level when the lights are the brightest and he had two huge games in the wins over Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The Lions know they can beat those teams if they commit on the defensive end and dictate the pace. The three-bid West Coast Conference is a real possibility again.

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