Conference Tournaments Starting on March 6th

Five...count 'em FIVE Conference Tournaments start on Friday. Thank goodness I'm here to help guide you through them. Leagues of note include the West Coast Conference and the Southern Conference...homes to Cinderella favorites Gonzaga and Davidson. This weekend is going to be HUGE with the Pitt vs. UConn game, the UNC vs. Duke Tobacco Road battle, along with the first Conference Champions being crowned. Should be good times. But first, let's knock out these five Conference Tournament Capsules. As always, my predicted champions are in bold.

• West Coast Conference - Saint Mary's - This league comes down to two teams and two teams only: Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. Gonzaga rolled through the WCC regular season with a perfect 14-0 record. But it has to be said that the Zags were losing on their home floor to St. Mary's on Jan. 29th when superstar Patty Mills got injured for the Gales and Gonzaga stormed back to win. This is the 10 year anniversary for the Zags coming out party when they shocked the nation and reached the Elite Eight. Gonzaga is lead by head coach Mark Few, senior forward Josh Heytvelt, and senior guard Jeremy Pargo. Lots of senior leadership, one of the best coaches in the country, and a bunch of younger skill players. However...Saint Mary's is the desperate team here. Gonzaga will get a NCAA Tournament bid whether they win this tournament or not. It's not so easy for the Gales. St. Mary's played Gonzaga tough both times this season. Patty Mills has been cleared to play in this Conference Tournament and I believe that will give St. Mary's the edge they need to win the whole thing and get the automatic invite to the Big Dance. Notable Seeds: #1 Gonzaga, #2 Saint Mary's, #3 Portland, #4 Santa Clara, #5 San Diego, #6 Pepperdine

• Southern Conference - Davidson - What else is there to say here? Davidson became part of the national consciousness last season when they made an epic run to the Elite Eight, only to lose to the eventual national champion in Kansas. The Wildcats are lead by head coach Bob McKillop and the nation's leading scorer Stephen Curry. (That's Steff-in for those of you living in a cave for the last 15 months) Davidson needs to win this tournament to secure a NCAA tournament bid because they had the audacity to lose two conference tournament games this year. They also didn't have a marquee out of conference win besides beating West Virginia on a neutral court. Davidson is the clear-cut favorite here, but could face challenges from the College of Charleston and The Citadel. We NEED Davidson and Stephen Curry and Dell Curry back in the NCAA Tournament! That's why I'm predicting them to win the Southern. Notable Seeds: #1(s) Davidson (props to Phil, Jordon, & John L.), #2(s) The Citadel, #3(s) College of Charleston, #1(n) Chattanooga, #5(n) Elon, #6(n) UNC Greensboro (props to Emily)

• America East Conference - Vermont - Lots of solid public schools from the Northeastern US in this Conference. Vermont has the best nickname/mascot in the Catamounts. Stony Brook simply has the best name. I really had a hard time picking against Binghamton. If anyone is going to win the title besides Vermont...it's going to be the Bearcats from Binghamton New York. UMBC (University of Maryland-Baltimore Country) was one of my Bracket Busters last season...and while they did go to the NCAA Tournament as league champion...they got crushed in the first round and have fallen on hard times this year. Don't sleep on Hartford...they are the best #9 seed playing in this tournament. Vermont is well known for knocking off #4 Syracuse as a 13 seed back in 2005. I'm going with the Catamounts to win this tournament...but may select them or Binghamton as one of my Bracket Busters. I gotta cover my bases. Notable Seeds: #1 Binghamton, #2 Vermont, #3 Boston University, #4 New Hampshire, #5 Stony Brook, #6 University of Maryland-Baltimore County, #9 Hartford

• MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) - Siena - This is the third tournament of the day where I couldn't choose between two teams. Unfortunately, Rider University just doesn't have the game this year to make a run. This makes me sad. Rider is one of the best school names in college hoops. I guarantee that the MAAC Tournament Champion will be either Siena or Niagara...I just can't decide which one. Siena had an outstanding regular season, cruising most of the way to a 23-7, (16-2) record. Their #28 RPI is fantastic. Niagara is next in line with a 24-7, (14-4) record and a #57 RPI ranking. What makes this difficult is that Niagara OWNED Siena in their last meeting, a 100-85 victory on February 27th. Ideally...the championship game will feature these two teams and it will be a classic. I might as well flipped a coin, but I'm going with Siena. Notable Seeds: #1 Siena, #2 Niagara, #3 Rider, #5 Fairfield, #7 Iona

• CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) - VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) - I'm going back to that familiar well again and picking VCU. I chose them to win the "Association" last season and they stabbed me in the back...opening the window for the much hated George Mason squad to win the automatic bid (again). Senior Eric Maynor is STILL at VCU, leading the team to victories. He won a bunch of awards this year and averaged 22 points per game. Maynor is best remembered in the Pittsburgh area because he was on the VCU team that gave Pitt fits during their sweet-sixteen game in 2007...forcing overtime and eventually losing to the Panthers 84-79. I really like the #3 seed Northeastern...but they have too difficult of a draw...one that will probably include the much-maligned George Mason squad. VCU has the easiest draw to the championship game and has the star player and seniors to deliver a championship. Notable Seeds: #1 VCU, #2 George Mason, #3 Northeastern, #4 Old Dominion, #5 Hofstra, #7 James Madison, #11 Towson

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