Welcome To March: Here's Every Single Damn Thing You Need To Know About College Hoops For The Best Month Of The Year
Welcome to March. It's officially the greatest time of the year. We have conference tournaments starting this week. We have regular season conference championships coming down to the wire. We are less than 2 weeks away from having a bracket directly in our face. It's also the time where pretty much everyone and their mother starts paying attention to the great sport. So with that in mind, consider this a holy bible in a way to get you caught up in case you're tuning in now.
Conference Tournament schedule
Just a glorious thing to see. So many games, day time betting. Keep this one handy.
We've reached the point where everyone says Kansas is the favorite
It took us longer than normal, but we've hit the point of the season where we have a favorite. Everyone has now labeled Kansas as that and I completely get it. They have been playing great, mostly because Bill Self has gone with that 4-out offense centered around Udoka Azubuike in the post. On top of that Doke can actually defend people this year, which is why they have arguably the best defense in the country - along with Marcus Garrett. They still are +600 to win the national title, which feels too low to take, but they are starting to separate themselves in the eyes of most.
Bids can and will be stolen
Ah, the time of the year where we hear 'stolen bid.' If you're a fan of a bubble team - looking at you UCLA, Providence, Utah State, Rutgers, Rhode Island, etc. Here's what you want. First, you probably don't want UCLA to win the Pac-12. That's one of the crazier stories. This team was 8-9. They now are a win at USC away from being the 1 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. They are probably in if that's the case, but if you're a fan of one of those others, you don't want them to win the Pac-12 auto bid. The other major one? The SoCon - the same conference that gave us Wofford last year. ETSU should be an at-large team if they don't win. But if you're a bubble team, you're praying they win this and it opens up a spot for someone else. Same goes for Utah State. They are squarely on the bubble and you want them losing instead of beating San Diego State in the conference title game.
The Big 10 will send 10 teams to the Tournament, but there may not be a title contender
The Big 10 is the deepest conference in the country. They have a lot of above average teams. So the teams that some think are title contenders - Maryland, Michigan State mostly - both have major flaws. I've talked about Maryland - they give up major runs in every game, you can't do that against top talent like they did on Saturday. They also don't have a consistent 3rd guy to go with Smith/Cowan. Michigan State needs Malik Hall to be the guy he was against Saturday. The problem with that? He's done it exactly 1.5 times. The second half against Seton Hall and Maryland. If he doesn't show up, they have a huge missing spot at the 4 and need more from Rocket Watts.
Who can replicate Kemba? It's not who you think
Every year we start to ask who can replicate what Kemba/Shabazz did. There is one guy this year and he may not be who you expect. It's Oregon's Payton Prtichard - a unanimous All-American. The reason why is he has help around him like those guys did. Kemba had Shabazz - Pritchard has guys like Duarte/Richardson/Okoro fits his role, Dante can help out, etc. Pritchard is a senior guard that can just absolutely take over the game. Throw in the fact that they aren't running that matchup zone as much and using it more as a weapon and yeah, this is the one that can do it.
Speaking of Oregon, the West coast actually has a chance to win this thing
Besides the Big 10 not winning a title in 20 years, the next one everyone brings up is how the West Coast hasn't won one since Arizona in 1997. This year you're looking at 2 likely 1 seeds in San Diego State and Gonzaga. You have Oregon as a top-4 seed. Arizona has talent, even if their record doesn't show. BYU is a top-15 team now that Yoeli Childs is back and they are hitting their stride. It's one of those dumb storylines, but also something to pay attention to.
Who are stars to pay attention to?
Names you need to know: Obi Toppin, the NPOY from Dayton. Luka Garza (Iowa), Malachi Flynn (San Diego State), Tyrese Maxey (Kentucky), Devon Dotson (Kansas), Jalen Smith (Maryland), Cassius Winston (MSU), David Johnson (Louisville), Myles Powell (Seton Hall), Markus Howard (Marquette), Killian Tillie (Gonzaga), Saddiq Bey (Villanova) Ayo Dosumnu (Illinois). These are just a handful of guys that are either stars or guys that completely change the way their team plays.
Don't use the word upset unless it's an upset
Number 1 pet peeve around this time of the year is when people talk about an upset with the 10 seed beating a 7. If the 10 seed is favored, it's not an upset. This is spreading awareness.
Halftime break song
Dayton, Gonzaga and San Diego State aren't mid-majors who can win the title
That's because they are regular teams that can win a title. We've gone through this fight with Gonzaga for years, so let's focus more on Dayton and SDSU. Dayton has the NPOY in Obi Toppin and they can 100% win a title. Why? They have the best offense in the country. They run a 5-out offense thanks to Toppin being able to stretch the floor and handle the ball. Same goes for Ryan Mikesell. They also have one of the best clutch players in America in Jalen Crutcher. San Diego State is using a few transfers in Flynn, Faegin and Wetzell to help lead them. They have 3 guys that can really shoot the ball and play great defense. There's a reason both of these teams are top-5 teams in the country. Drop the mid-major moniker, they are just flat out title contenders.
Teams I trust the most in a take this group vs the field
We will limit this to 7 teams. If you ask me to build a vs the field bet I'm taking Kansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Seton Hall, Dayton and Oregon.
Hey, where's Duke?
They are there. Hell, they are a top-3 seed right now! So why don't I like them? Well similar to what I said about Maryland - they don't have a consistent 3rd guy. They have Vernon Carey and Tre Jones. But do you trust Wendell Moore and Cassius Stanley to show up? Matthew Hurt can't guard a soul. Hell, Coach K is still fucking around with his rotations and trying to figure out what he wants to do with guys like Joey Baker, Jack White, etc. They are currently in a streak of losing 3 outta 4 to unranked teams and look prime to lose early.
Guesses for one-bid league titles:
America East (Vermont)
A-Sun (North Florida)
Big Sky (Montana)
Big South (Radford)
Big West (UC-Irvine)
CAA (Hofstra)
Conference USA(WKU)
Horizon (Wright State)
Ivy (Yale)
MAC (Akron)
MAAC (Saint Peter's)
MEAC (NC Central)
Missouri Valley (UNI)
Northeast (Robert Morris)
OVC (Belmont)
Patriot (Colgate)
Southland (Stephen F. Austin)
Summit (North Dakota State)
Sun Belt (Texas State)
SWAC (Texas Southern)
WAC (New Mexico State)
We still don't have Gus Johnson
The biggest crime in America is not having Gus Johnson call NCAA Tournament games again.
I was told this season has been crazy, is that still true?
Absolutely! 11 ranked teams lost over the weekend in fact. We're going to see mayhem during conference tournament week. We're going to see bids stolen because of that. Hell, just look at some of the major conferences - a team like Texas was left for dead and Shaka Smart was fired. They now are on the right side of the bubble! I think we see more craziness during conference tournament week than NCAA Tournament actually.
Is it going to live up to the hype?
Always and I can't fucking wait. I'll be blogging non stop with all the action of conference tournament week. Make sure you follow the guys on the Positive Vibes Only Tour. Make sure you follow @betthehoops and @barstoolbets. It's March, baby.