NCAA Basketball: Preview of 2024 Horizon League Tournament semifinals
By Ryan Kay
Oakland takes on Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky plays Milwaukee in the Horizon League tournament semifinals.
Semifinal game No. 1: No. 1 Oakland vs. No. 7 Cleveland State and Semifinal game No. 2:
No. 5 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 6 Milwaukee.
Team's Resumes
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
Conference Record: 15-5
Barttorvik Ranking: 130
KenPom Ranking: 137
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 133
NET Ranking: 132
Quadrant 1 Wins: One
Quadrant 2 Victories: One
Quadrant 3 Wins: Six
Cleveland State Vikings
Conference Record: 11-9
Barttorvik Ranking: 207
KenPom Ranking: 192
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 174
NET Ranking: 193
Quadrant 1 Wins: One
Quadrant 2 Victories: One
Quadrant 3 Wins: Five
Each team has one win against the other with the Vikings defeating the Golden Grizzlies in late December by a final score of 75-67 and Oakland beating Cleveland State 83-71 in early February.
Oakland is considered one of the top mid major teams with having won the Horizon League regular season title and winning nine of their last eleven games. Cleveland State played off an upset defeating No. 2 seed Youngstown State on the road in the quarterfinals and looks to possibly pull of the upset by defeating the Golden Grizzlies.
Prediction: Oakland is playing well and even though the Vikings pulled off the upset in the quarterfinals, look for a well-rested Golden Grizzlies team with good depth to win and advance to the finals with Oakland winning by a final score of 73-67.
Team's Resumes
Northern Kentucky Norse
Conference Record: 12-8
Barttorvik Ranking: 191
KenPom Ranking: 181
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 196
NET Ranking: 175
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Five
Milwaukee Panthers
Conference Record: 12-8
Barttorvik Ranking: 245
KenPom Ranking: 228
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 245
NET Ranking: 220
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Seven
Both teams have one win against each other with the Norse defeating the Panthers in mid-January by a final score of 90-72 and Milwaukee beating Northern Kentucky 73-72 in mid-February.
Northern Kentucky is the second-highest remaining seed and they went on the road and defeated Wright State in a high-scoring game in the quarterfinals. The Norse have also won seven of their last nine games. Milwaukee has played well of late as well as they have been victorious in seven of their last eight games and they upset No. 3 seed Green Bay on the road in the quarterfinals to advance to play in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament.
Prediction: The Panthers are playing well of late but Northern Kentucky seems to be playing their best basketball of the season in the month of March. Look for the Norse to win a close game and advance to the finals with the scored being 81-78.