Friday: Conference tournament predictions

Happy Friday from Indianapolis, home of the Big Ten Tournament!

We the biggest weekend of college basketball yet with Selection Sunday just two days away.

So lets get to those predictions, conference tournament style.

Marquee

ACC: Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina. Talk about a big time field. To top it off, Duke, Syracuse and Virginia are all attempting to go for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, since Villanova was bounced yesterday. North Carolina could make a run as well, led by second team All-American Marcus Paige. The beauty of this tournament though, is the desperation of teams trying to make the Dance. Pittsburgh takes on the Tar Heels while Florida State plays Virginia, which should be a defensive struggle. This one is tough to predict because no team went on a run at the end of the season. They all just kind of beat up on each other. But I like Duke to make a run and maybe snag that final No. 1 seed. The Blue Devils just seem to have an “it” factor right now, especially with Jabari Parker playing so well.

Second Tier

Big Ten: This is probably the most intriguing tournament to pick for me. Michigan won the league, but it wasn’t a dominating performance. Nebraska is the fourth seed, but it lost seven conference games. No team was able to really establish itself as the league’s best. This is why I like Michigan State. The Spartans are the No. 3 seed, but are poised to make a tournament run, as I wrote in the Daily Nebraskan yesterday. They are getting healthy. They have three of the conference’s best players in Adreian Payne, Keith Appling and Gary Harris. And they have Tom Izzo as their coach. That always helps. I think they’ll win a couple close ones in the first two rounds, but then they dominate the championship game.

Might Get Interesting

AAC: You want talented guard play, tune into the AAC Tourney today. Russ Smith and No. 5 Louisville take on Houston while Shabazz Napier and No. 21 Connecticut play No. 13 Cincinnati. Oh, Cincinnati has a pretty good guard as well in Sean Kilpatrick. Both games will be entertaining, but I like Connecticut and Louisville to win. A Napier-Smith matchup in the championship game will be must-see TV the way both are playing. Napier led his team in points, assists, rebounds and steals during the regular season. Because of him, I’m going to take UConn with the upset here. The Huskies seem to be playing well enough to make a deep tournament run.

Other Picks

-Big 12: Kansas

-Big East: Creighton

-Mountain West: San Diego State

-Atlantic 10: VCU

Things I Missed:

-Phenomenal story about the best coach you’ve never heard of.

-If Nebraska can be turned into a hoops hotbed, why not Penn State?

-Four days following Wichita State win the Missouri Valley tournament.

-Your NCAA Tourney guide as only Grantland can do.

Thanks for reading and look for a Nebraska basketball blog after its game against Ohio State at 1:30 today.

Reach me at: award6344@gmail.com

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