MAJOR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS - COLLEGE HOOPS

Adamo Rimoli

The greatest month in college sports is finally upon us, and the NCAA basketball major conference tournaments are set to hit the courts this week.

Similar to last year, Gonzaga is the lone school in the top 15 not to be in a major conference but once again they head in as the #1 team in the nation. Their only real competition in the West Coast Conference (WCC) this season is Saint Mary’s as they are the only in-conference team to hand the Bulldogs a loss.

With that being said, here are my predictions for the power six NCAA conference tournaments.

PAC-12: Arizona

One of the more surprising teams this season, the Wildcats head into the PAC-12 tournament ranked 2nd in the nation with an overall record of 28-3 and 18-2 in conference play. According to KenPom, Tommy Llyod’s squad is just one of four teams in the nation with a top 15 offence and defence. Their big competition in this tournament is going to be #13 UCLA and #21 USC whomst Arizona finished with a 3-1 record in head-to-head play. They are led by Canadian sophomore guard Benedict Mathurin who is averaging 17.6 points adding 5.7 rebounds per game.

ACC: Duke

This one shouldn’t be much of a shocker as the Blue Devils have been the highest ranked team in the ACC all season long; and rightfully so. Despite a loss to UNC in Coach K’s final game at Cameron Indoor, Duke is once again poised to take their 27th conference title. Heading into the tournament as the 7th best team in the nation and a double-bye into the quarterfinals, Duke should have no problems as their toughest competition this season would be Notre Dame or #25 UNC. Projected top 3 NBA draft pick Paolo Banchero is their leader as he is averaging 17.1 points while providing 7.7 rebounds per game as a freshman.

Big Ten: Purdue

Being one of the weirdest teams in college basketball due to their interesting two center rotation, the Boilermakers head into the Big Ten tournament tied as the 9th best team in the nation. These unusual lineups however have led Purdue to having the best offence in the NCAA according to KenPom. Despite this, they are the three seed in the tournament behind Illinois and Wisconsin. Nevertheless, they have a double-bye into the quarterfinals where they will play one of Ohio State, Penn State or Minnesota, three teams who Purdue has gone undefeated against this season. The only team they may have trouble with is Wisconsin since they are the only team Purdue has not been able to beat all year. Needless to say this is a bold take, but when you have 3 legitimate NBA prospects in Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams and Zach Edey, you always have a chance to go deep.

Big 12: Baylor

You would think losing your three best players after a national championship could impact the team's ability to bounce back however Scott Drew’s squad is right back at the top of the Big 12. Coming into the tournament on a five game winning streak including wins over #6 Kansas and #22 Texas, the Bears are on fire. Despite not having the defensive duo in the backcourt of last season, guards James Akinjo and Adam Flagler have found a way to lead the Bears to having the 9th ranked defence in the country. Freshman and projected NBA draft pick Kendall Brown has also been a very solid go-to option as he is shooting an absurd 59.8% from the field on just under seven attempts per game. It is also worth mentioning that their assassin with a mullet Matthew Mayer has become a leader on the team starting in every single game he played after not starting in a single one in his previous three years. Simply put, the Bears are deep and they are dangerous.

Big East: Marquette

It is worth reminding you that we are in the month of March, madness is bound to occur and this is a big upset to watch out for. Although Marquette is heading into the tournament unranked, they were ranked as high as #22 just a month back and have shown signs all season long that they could regain that form. With a record of 19-11 overall and a mere 11-8 in conference play, it is completely reasonable to think that the Golden Eagle’s may not even make the tournament. But after some investigation into those games, there is some clear potential to upset in this tournament after some quality wins over ranked opponents like Xavier, Villanova, Providence and Illinois. Their losses aren’t even horrible either as the only real bad loss this season came to DePaul who are still an above 0.500 team. Having the 34th hardest schedule in college basketball but still producing a 0.663 winning percentage is also an impressive accomplishment for coach Shaka Smart’s side. They are led by freshman of the year in the Big East candidate Justin Lewis who is averaging 17.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. This is college basketball, believe in the unbelievable.

SEC: Tennessee

Last but certainly not least is everyone’s least favourite conference– unless you’re an SEC fan of course. Easily the toughest winner to pick, the SEC was one of, if not the best conference in college ball this season. From Auburn going on that run of being defeated, to Alabama randomly taking down top 10 opponents, the SEC was a wild ride with plenty of solid choices to win. Heading into the tournament, there are truly 6 major contenders who all have a fighting chance to clinch that auto-bid into March Madness, them being Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU and Alabama. But enough beating around the bush, I believe that the #9 Tennessee Volunteers are the team that will be the first to reach the dance. They say defence wins championships and look no further than the nations 3rd best defensive team led by defensive specialist coach Rick Barnes. The defence has always been there for the Vols the past couple of years, but the issue was putting the ball in the basketball, something that has been fixed and led by freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler. The dynamic six foot guard has added the ability to create for others always as himself due to his elite shiftiness with the ball. John Fulkerson and Santiago Vescovi are veterans that have been here before and look to use their knowledge to finally push the Volunteers over the edge.