NCAA Basketball: Predicted Winners of last 17 Conference Tournaments of 2023-24
By Bryan Mauro
SWAC
Dates: March 13th-16th
Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL
Top Seed: Grambling State Tigers
Winner: Grambling State Tigers
The SWAC tournament is always fantastic basketball and lately, that tournament has been chaos and the top seed rarely wins. This year though I think that all changes and it is due to the arrival of the Grambling basketball program. The Tigers have never made the NCAA tournament and for the majority of their time in Division 1 they have been one of the worst teams in Division 1. Over the last few seasons, Grambling has been trending up and has started to turn into the premier programs in the SWAC. The Tigers do it on the defensive end and are the best defensive team in the conference and one of the better defensive teams in Division 1.
Grambling contests everything and finding an open shot against them is a chore. They play the slowest pace in the SWAC and at one of the slowest paces in the country. They don’t score a lot but much of that is a result of pace of play. They are one of the most efficient teams in the league and lead the SWAC in three-point shooting. Grambling is headed to their first NCAA tournament ever.
Sleeper: Bethune Cookman Wildcats
The Wildcats have never made the NCAA tournament and this may be their best chance to make it. Bethune has a trio of guys who can score at an elite level and those players will carry them to any of the wins they get in the conference tournament. The Wildcats are well coached by former NBA player Reggie Theus and he is finally starting to get the program rolling on the floor after he has had a ton of success on the recruiting front. The SWAC is wide open this year and any of the 8 teams in the league can win the league but with the trio of scorers Bethune has got the leg up. Bethune Cookman leads the SWAC in free throw shooting and steals. They use the steals to get easy baskets in transition. The Wildcats rarely shoot threes and get downhill and to the rim. It's a good thing they are as good of free throw shooters as they are considering they get fouled a lot.