Five storylines to watch in week one of conference tournament play
While college basketball’s marquee conference tournaments don’t begin until next week, the undercard gets underway Tuesday night. The Atlantic Sun and Patriot League are the first of 12 conferences whose league tournaments tip off this week.
Below is a look at the five biggest storylines from week one of conference tournament action:
1. Will Kay Felder get his chance to shine on a national stage?
The most exciting player you may not have watched this season is an explosive 5-foot-9 point guard so good his coach went to unprecedented lengths to land him a few years ago. Even though Oakland coach Greg Kampe did not have a point guard on his roster, he refused to pursue one in the class before Felder’s because he wanted to drive home the message to his prized recruit that the job was his right away.
The unorthodox recruiting strategy has proven worthwhile because Felder has evolved into perhaps the nation’s premier mid-major player. Felder has made believers out of all the skeptics who once thought he was too small by scorching opposing defenses for 24.4 points and a national best 9.4 assists per game this season.
Fueled by the creativity of Felder and contributions from four other double-digit scorers, Oakland won 21 games and earned the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. Defending champion Valparaiso is a deserving favorite after winning the league by three games, but this is a league in which the favorite often experiences heartbreak and this season the Golden Grizzlies could be the ones to deliver it.
2. Can Gonzaga extend its streak of NCAA tournament appearances?
Gonzaga will be in an unusual position when the WCC tournament tips off Saturday. The Zags need to win their conference tournament to assure themselves an 18th straight NCAA bid.
An at-large selection became a long shot for Gonzaga after the Zags (23-7) were swept by rival Saint Mary’s in league play and squandered chances for quality non-conference victories against the likes of Texas A&M, Arizona and SMU. The only potential NCAA tournament team Gonzaga has beaten is UConn, though victories over Washington, BYU and Tennessee will provide a mild boost to their resume too.
For Gonzaga to survive potential matchups with third-seeded BYU and top-seeded Saint Mary’s in the WCC tournament, they will need their perimeter players to provide support for frontcourt standouts Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis. Point guard Josh Perkins needs to make good decisions with the ball in his hands, wings Kyle Dranginis, Silas Melson and Eric McClellan need to knock down open perimeter jumpers and they all need to focus defensively on keeping their man in front of them.
3. Will Monmouth’s dream season end with an NCAA bid?
When Monmouth crossed the country and upset tradition-rich UCLA on the first night of the season, that seemed to be a massive upset. The Bruins had played in the Sweet 16 the previous two years and the Hawks were only a year removed from their third straight 20-loss season.
Fast forward a few months, and we now know that UCLA wasn’t as good as the previous two seasons and that Monmouth did not stop after just one attention-grabbing win. They also upset Notre Dame, USC and Georgetown, finished the regular season 23-6 and won the MAAC title outright, proving definitively that they should be known for more than just the colorful antics of their fun-loving bench.
Monmouth’s season-long brilliance could be rewarded with an at-large bid if the Hawks fail to win the MAAC tournament, but they’re smart enough to know they shouldn’t leave anything to chance. Second-seeded Iona and host Siena could pose problems for Monmouth, but the Hawks would be a slim favorite against either team in the MAAC title game thanks to the duo of standout guard Justin Robinson and blossoming freshman Micah Seaborn.
4. Will Wichita State be a polarizing bubble team or a tricky team to seed?
Whether Wichita State wins the Missouri Valley tournament or not, you can bet the selection committee will spend a fair amount of time debating the Shockers’ fate. In one scenario, they would be a tricky team to seed. In the other, the discussion would center around if they belong in the field at all.
On one hand, Wichita State is 23-7, convincingly won the Valley title outright and checks in No. 8 in the KenPom rankings. On the other hand the Shockers’ lone win over anyone rated higher than 91st in the RPI came against Utah back in mid-December. On the one hand, Wichita State was without Fred VanVleet in the Advocare Classic in Orland when the Shockers let three much-needed chances for quality wins slip away. On the other hand, Wichita State fell twice in league play with a healthy VanVleet against Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
To avoid an anxious Selection Sunday, Wichita State will have to win three games in three days this weekend in Saint Louis, the first against Bradley or Loyola, the second against Northern Iowa or Southern Illinois and the third potentially against Evansville or Illinois State. Of those teams, Northern Iowa could be the trickiest opponent. The Panthers have been giant killers this season, toppling North Carolina and Iowa State in addition to their split with the Shockers.
5. Will Stony Brook break through or endure more March heartache?
In the previous six years, Stony Brook has entered the America East tournament as the No. 1 seed three times and reached four title games. Against all odds, however, the hard-luck Seawolves are still in search of their first-ever NCAA tournament bid.
They lost to nemesis Albany on a last-second jump shot last March in a game they led from nearly start to finish. They also fell to Albany the previous two years, once in the semis and once in the title game. Before that, they dropped a pair of close title games to Vermont and Boston University.
Stony Brook is once again the top seed in the America East tournament this season after riding star forward Jameel Warney to a 23-6 overall record and an outright conference title. The Seawolves will open against 24-loss Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday, but looming in the distance is a potential showdown in the title game against three-time defending conference tournament champion Albany, which finished just one game out of first place this season.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
