NCAA Basketball: Predicted Winners of last 17 Conference Tournaments of 2023-24
By Bryan Mauro
MAAC
Dates: March 12th - 16th
Location: Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ
Top Seed: Quinnipiac Bobcats
Winner: Rider Broncs
Rider enters the tournament on a 7 game winning streak and they are the one team in the MAAC who presents a matchup problem for everyone. They are one of the oldest teams in the country and the Broncs are one of the few teams in the league who can beat you in a multitude of ways. Rider likes to play fast and get out in transition and get to the rim. They get fouled a lot and are the best free throw shooting team in the league. Rider is also a team who isn’t going to get flustered if you want to slow the game down. They still run their stuff and make sure they get great shots usually at the rim. If you take the paint away, they have enough shooters to knock down enough threes to keep a game like that close. Rider is playing with a ton of confidence right now and big man Mervin James is playing his best basketball of his career heading into the tournament.
Sleeper: Iona Gaels
It has been a weird year for Iona. The Gaels entered the year as my favorite to win the MAAC and that was for good reason they have two of the best players in the MAAC and a coach who has won everywhere. Head coach Tobin Anderson came from Fairleigh Dickinson where he was the coach who knocked off Purdue in the first round of last year’s tournament. Even with all that the Gaels have not panned out and it is because of their inability to play defense at points. If Iona locks in on the defensive end, they can make a huge run in this tournament especially if star Greg Gordon scores and plays like he is capable. The MAAC is always wide open, and anything can happen in this league tournament.