NCAA Basketball: 2023 Summit League Tournament preview, predictions

Teams to Watch

The Favorite – Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

In the chaotic world of modern college basketball, it’s rare we see a team outpace their conference quite like Oral Roberts has this winter. Led by one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, the Golden Eagles have simply overpowered their competition, and anything short of a Summit League Title will feel like a disappointment.

This feels like a program with higher aspirations than cutting down the nets in Sioux Falls. The last time Oral Roberts made the NCAA Tournament, they shocked Ohio State and Florida, becoming just the second 15 seed (at the time) to make the Sweet 16. This year’s team has the talent and firepower to do so, but sticking to the landing can sometimes be the hardest part.

Dangerous Upstart – St. Thomas Tommies

St. Thomas isn’t playing for a postseason spot this March, but that doesn’t mean the Tommies don’t have anything to play for. This is a program whose impressive transition to DI ball deserves national recognition, and even greater things appear to be on the horizon.

Not only is this is a young program at the DI level, but it’s also a fairly young team, although seniors Parker Bjorklund and Riley Miller have provided a nice core to work with. The X-factor here may be freshman Ahjany Lee, a glue guy who provides a nice complement to this team’s high-scoring guards and plays his best ball when this team wins.

Dark Horse – North Dakota State Bison

It’s hard to call North Dakota State, who has long been one of the Summit’s top programs, a “dark horse” but the Bison have had an up-and-down 2022-23. They enter the conference tournament as the conference’s hottest team not named Oral Roberts, winning five of their last six games. Nelson will get them plenty of buckets, but to make a title run, NDSU needs more from a young and inconsistent backcourt.