Tonight's first game might be the best overall basketball game of the event. Most people are going to sell you Butler and Siena, because you remember the names from tourney's past. But the two teams outside of the big leagues aside from Butler and Gonzaga that people haven't seen play that can WIN a game or two in the tourney take stage tonight.
Old Dominion has gone on the road and beaten some big boys already, namely knocking off Georgetown back in December when they were undefeated. The are 13-3 in a good and balanced Colonial league and in my opinion should be a lock for the tourney. That said, they are not a lock for the tourney. Going to Cedar Rapids and beating the ranked Panthers tonight would be huge.
Northern Iowa is on pretty safe footing, having already sewn up the Valley regualr season title and sweeping Wichita State. The loss last week to Bradley probably knocks them off the 4-5 lines and leaves them hoping for a six and expecting a seven or and eight. Tonight's win probably keeps them safely in the 6-7 range, so seeding wise, a big game for UNI.
In the late game, William & Mary looked dead a few weeks ago at 8-5 and in fifth place in the CAA. However, they have run off three in a row to get to 18-7, (11-5) and still own those road wins over Wake and Maryland. Are they alive for an at-large? Barely, and admitedly need some good things to happen around them. Lose tonight and that slim sliver of hope gets solely pinned on the CAA tourney. Who wins that one is anyone's guess, as the league is deep and balanced (George Mason, Northeastern and VCU also lurk in the mix).
Iona has no shot at an at-large, and here-in lies my gripe with the whole "Bracketbuster" notion. What does W&M have to gain tonight? It's nice to play on TV (I'm sure it will pull in huge numbers at 9pm on a Friday night opposite the Olympics and people who have a LIFE on Friday night - Maniac, um, not included....). Other than that, they have way more to lose than gain. Sadly, that is the case for a lot of teams in this field (like Siena, Murray State and a few others who gain nothing from the win but are hurt badly by a loss).
On to tonight's picks. I'm sticking with my favorite conference. Not just because I am becoming a CAA honk, but because I believe they really do play very good basketball night in and night out. It is unfortunate that the two teams in that league who need the BB win the most go on the road, but I'm not letting that deter me.
Maniac's Picks:
Old Dominion +3
William & Mary +4Want More? Have something to Say?
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Do it all @ MarchManiacs.com
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