NCAA Basketball: Picking winner of each conference tournament for 2022-23 season
By Bryan Mauro
Southern
Dates: March 3rd-6th
Harrah’s Cherokee Center
Top Seed: Furman Paladins
Winner: Samford Bulldogs
In the preseason all you heard about was Furman and how they had very little competition in the Southern Conference. There were those that acknowledged that UNC Greensboro would hang around but there was no mention of a team who performed very well a season ago and that was the Samford Bulldogs. Samford and head coach Bucky McMillian can score a ton of points quickly. They do it by taking and making a ton of threes and getting fouled a ton. All that leads to a team who scores almost 80 points per game.
The Bulldogs have already had an interesting season where they won their first 7 games of the year and then lost their next 7. After 14 games they were 7-7 but heading into the conference tournament they have secured their second 20-win season in a row and are the team to beat. Ques Glover leads a trio of players who carry the load for Samford, but they have so much depth in addition to their stars. The Bulldogs are hoping to head back to the tournament for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
Sleeper: Chattanooga Mocs
Chattanooga started out the year on fire and it looked like they were going to exceed their expectations then the favorite for the Southern Conference player of the year went down with a hand injury over a month ago. That has completely derailed the Mocs season to an extent as they had to adjust without their 21-point and 11-rebound per game big man. There has been no timetable for the return of the big man and Chattanooga has enough talent especially if Jake Stephens returns from his injury, then the rest of the league should be on alert. Chattanooga does have some pieces to pull off the stunner but without their star, it is going to be very difficult. They are the only team who could win it outside of the top seeds.
Summit League
Dates: March 3rd-7th
Sanford Center
Top Seed: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Winner: Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Rinse and repeat in the Summit league as there is another team who went undefeated in league play and is a team who many already have put in the sweet 16 regardless of matchups. Oral Roberts has dominated in the league and heads to championship week with only 4 losses. It would be a massive upset if the Golden Eagles do not get the automatic bid in the Summit League. They have the best team in the league and the second-place team is far away in talent. The Golden Eagles have one of the best offenses in the country, play at one of the fastest paces in the country, shoot a ton of threes, and have the Summit League player of the year in Max Abmas.
Oral Roberts is going to be dangerous in the NCAA tournament. They are very good and will pose matchup problems with everyone, especially on the perimeter. Oral Roberts also has a 7’5” center in Connor Vanover, Vanover is one of the best-shot blockers in the country and he also steps out and makes threes. Everyone will still remember Oral Roberts as the 15 seed who made the Sweet 16. This year they will be a higher seed and have a great chance of messing up a lot of brackets.
Sleeper: Western Illinois Leathernecks
There truly is no sleeper in the Summit League. No one has a realistic shot at winning the tournament other than Oral Roberts or South Dakota State. After those two teams, there is a steep drop-off. For this exercise, I did need to pick someone outside of the top four seeds who could win this tournament and that team for me is Western Illinois. The Leathernecks have one of the premier point guards and players in the county in Trenton Massner.
Massner is a triple-double waiting to happen as he has already had one this year and quite a few near misses. Massner has had a 46-point game and rarely turns the ball over. If he can get going and start scoring in the 30’s and 40’s every night who knows what can happen? If you watch this sport long enough you know that no one is invincible.