College Basketball has been as much of a level playing field as its ever been. Conferences like the Big Ten have seen no one able to gain enough ground to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Coming into the Horizon League Tournament, the conference has not been this way. Wright State and Northern Kentucky have battled it out all season with Wright State winning the regular-season crown on the last game of the season.
The Bracket
When it comes to the 4-9 seeds, there’s not much separating the teams. Youngstown State is the only one with a record over .500. UIC joins them as the only two teams there with a winning record in conference play. This part of the bracket is wide open. Any of these teams would pull off a win here. No one is coming in on a winning streak and no one has a road winning percentage worth justifying a win. Look for UIC, Youngstown State, and Oakland to come out of the first round.
In the second round, you could see UIC pull on upset over Green Bay. Their season series was split but in the last meeting, the Flames torched the Phoenix 71-58. Now here’s where things could get interesting. In Youngstown State’s two regular-season matchups with Oakland, they came out with a one-point win and an eight-point loss. The Grizzlies know how to handle the Penguins, and you shouldn’t be shocked to see them advance if given this matchup.
Predictions
Now, this is where things get a little more chalk. Wright State owns the regular season and that is not expected to change. They shouldn’t have a problem advancing to the conference championship game regardless of who they play. The same goes for Northern Kentucky. Even if they happen to run into a red hot Oakland team, that probably won’t be enough to nock the Norse off course.
This leads to the inevitable rematch of Wright State and Northern Kentucky for the Horizon League Tournament Championship. Although the Raiders controlled the regular-season series, I wouldn’t count the Norse out of this one. It’s hard to beat a team three times. Regardless of how good the team is. A third win over the Norse would solidify the Raiders as the best team in the conference, but NKU could easily find themselves in the big dance come the end of this week. It’s hard to bet against the favorites but this game will be a toss-up.
The Horizon League Tournament kicks off Wednesday, March 3rd at 7 pm Eastern and will be streaming on ESPN+. The championship will be on March 10th at 7 pm in Indianapolis.