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The NCAA Tournament is a few weeks away, which means it’s conference tournament time to set the table for March Madness. We’ll be taking a look at some of the best teams in each conference, and providing picks and predictions each conference tournament. Plenty of favorites will win, but we’ve got some sleepers to consider that might be able to pull off a big upset on the way to the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s the bracket for the Big South Tournament with TV listings, dates and times.
The Big South has two teams that seem to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league in Radford and Winthrop. The Highlanders are one game ahead in the standings, and both teams have already played each other twice, both winning on the road.
Favorite
Radford. They don’t defend so hot, and they play really slow (333rd in adjusted pace), but they don’t turn it over and are pretty efficient. Carlik Jones is the likely player of the year in the league, and he and backcourt mate Travis Fields combine to shoot over 41% from three-point range. They’ll also be at home, giving them an edge to get to the NCAA Tournament.
Sleeper
Gardner-Webb: The Runnin’ Bulldogs (yup, that’s real) do have a win over Northern Colorado this season, and are pretty good from three-point land at 36% as a team. They’ll need to really shoot over someone to find a way to the final, but they’re the team with the best chance down the bracket.
Dark Horse
UNC-Asheville: Beat Radford by 13 at home, and can speed up some of the slower teams in a plodding conference (50th nationally in tempo). They’re pretty sloppy defensively (350th per possession out of 353 teams), but a good shooters night can have them beat anyone in the league. It’ll be a climb for them to do that four times however as they won’t have a bye.