NCAA Basketball: Predicted Winners of last 17 Conference Tournaments of 2023-24
By Bryan Mauro
MAC
Dates: March 14th-16th
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH
Top Seed: Toledo Rockets
Winner: Akron Zips
Three teams could win this league and probably more given how competitive the league is. I am rolling with the Zips considering they have the two best players in the league. Akron isn’t playing very well heading into the tournament but being the top seed and getting a reset before starting their tournament play is going to be very helpful. Akron doesn’t shoot the ball very well from deep but their two stars Enrique Freeman and Ali Ali both shoot over 60% from inside the arc and both of them are fantastic defenders. The Zips are going to get challenged with some bad matchups, especially when they get deeper into the tournament but Freeman and Ali are often the best players on the court and will make sure the Zips get the win.
Sleeper: Bowling Green Falcons
It won’t be long before Bowling Green is the team that we are picking to win the MAC. The Falcons have had great rosters before, and it was only a few short seasons ago that Bowling Green was the team that we all had pegged to win the league only before falling quickly in the conference tournament. New head coach Todd Simon has won everywhere he has gone and at one point had Bowling Green right there at the top of the league. The Falcons are one of the worst shooting teams in the country, but they do get to the rim easily and convert at a high level. Marcus Hill dominates the touches on offense for Bowling Green and he can take over and put the team on his back to win some games, but they will have to be on their A game to beat the top teams in the league.