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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 Patriot League Tournament with TV listings, dates and times.
The Patriot League has the Colgate Raiders out in front, and they’ve comfortably handled the second place team in the league in the Boston Terriers twice. But they’ve also got three losses to teams fourth-or-worse in the standings, and that makes the PL tournament as interesting as any mid-major league.
Favorite: Colgate
Jordan Burns and Rapolas Ivanauskas lead an offense that’s pretty efficient at 52.8% eFG, shoots a 3-ball on 46.6% of possessions, and doesn’t turn it over at just one giveaway every six possessions. Lafayette beat them twice and Loyola-Maryland once, but they were 4-0 against the two teams behind them in the PL standings in Boston U and American. They’ll also have home court as this tournament is at campus sites with the higher-seeded team hosting all the way through.
Sleeper: Lafayette
They beat the best team in Colgate twice, by four on the road and two at home. Whatever the Kryptonite they possess is, the Raiders do not want to seem them as the No. 4 seed in this tournament for a semifinal matchup: and they’re No. 4 in the conference as we write this. Justin Jaworski will need to have a monster tournament, but it’s doable.
Dark Horse: Loyola-Maryland
A huge midseason turnaround for the Greyhounds, and it’s all due to freshman forward Santi Aldama. Loyola had lost eight in a row in league play, but the Spaniard Aldama finally got to play his first minutes of the season on February 1st. They have won six of their last seven since, including a huge victory over Colgate in Baltimore.
This is low-key one of the best bottom picks in any mid-major league, as Aldama has turned their season around in a hurry. They’ll also have a chance to avoid a 7-10 or 8-9 game with some wins this weekend.