The National Championship is finally here, and we have an awesome matchup with by-far the two best teams in the country squaring off for a ring. It’s a clash of titans, as Naismith Player of the Year Zach Edey matches up against UConn’s Donovan Clingan in what should be a fantastic battle under the rim. In this preview, I’ll go over some things to keep an eye on as well as who I think will take this year’s crown. Let’s jump right into it.

The Charity Stripe Battle

If you have watched even one Purdue game this year, you should know the Boilermakers are excellent at creating trips to the free throw line. Zach Edey is a huge part of that, so it will be vital for Clingan to stay out of foul trouble. Statistically Purdue ranks third in free-throw attempt rate, but on the other hand, UConn ranks 26th in opponent free-throw attempt rate. Whether or not UConn can limit Edey will be fun to see play out.

Purdue’s Shooting

It would be a stupid of any coach to not gameplan for Zach Edey, however, finding a way to clamp up the likes of Braden Smith, Lance Jones, and Fletcher Loyer is arguably more important. As much as you can try and stop Edey, he will prevail. We have seen it over and over. The one thing that UConn is capable of determinately hindering is the ability for Purdue’s shooters to get open and consistent looks from deep. UConn ranks second in opponent defensive FG%, and Cam Spencer, Tristen Newton, Alex Karaban, and Stephon Castle all have a defensive +/- of at least 2.5. I would not be surprised if the Boilermakers struggle from three.

Force UConn Turnovers

If Purdue wants to win this game, they are going to need to find a way to force turnovers from the Huskies. The numbers aren’t in the Boilermakers favor though, as UConn isn’t really known for turning the ball over a whole lot and Purdue ranks towards the bottom in all of Division 1 for points scored on steals. It can happen, as in their losses UConn wasn’t particularly great at protecting the rock.

Overall Prediction

Given what I have said thus far, I am sure you can already tell which side I am on if I was a betting man. Despite having the POY on their squad, I think UConn outlasts Purdue here. This isn’t a hot take by any means, as most betting sites have the Huskies as 6.5-point favorite. Overall, it should be a great matchup and the factors that I discussed earlier are definitely things to look out for when watching the game.

Have a good Monday everyone, I will be back with a recap of the game and my thoughts on it tomorrow.

Thanks,

CBB Bulletin

First Weekend Recap - Swing and a Miss

With only two days left before the Sweet 16 kicks off, we need to go over what happened this weekend. Let’s start off with looking at my bracket and early predictions. To sum up what I said in my previous newsletter, here are the key talking points:

• I loved the 11 seeds, with the Ducks and New Mexico being the teams I was the highest on and NC State being the team I was the least confident in. I picked Duquesne to win their first game as well.

• I was weary of McNeese and how much hype they were getting despite an awful non-con schedule, so I rocked with the Zags.

• My Elite Eight was made up of Auburn, Drake, UNC, Arizona, Houston, Florida, Purdue, and Oregon.

Well guys, that was kind of rough. Sure, I predicted Gonzaga to win and was right about Oregon being able to knock off the Gamecocks, but past that, it is gloomy. Florida lost on a last-second shot to Colorado in an absolute classic. New Mexico got exposed heavily in their first game against Clemson, losing by 21. NC State, the team I wasn’t a fan of, is the only remaining 11 seed and essentially the Cinderella of the tournament at this point. Don’t forget the fact that I had Auburn and Drake in the Elite Eight too….

People always say, the more you know, the worse you will do. For awhile I thought I held my own pretty well when it came to making brackets, but this year has me questioning it all. To be fair, Creighton vs. Oregon was the game of the tournament so far, and if Dante and Cousinard had more help down the stretch they easily win that game. I’ll take the L on NC State and New Mexico though.

Sweet 16 Preview - Only Satisfactory

To be honest, this tournament has been as chalky as my childhood home’s driveway. We were blessed with Jack Gohlke and the Golden Grizzlies in addition to Yale and Grand Canyon, but we only have one double digit seed remaining in the entire field, and that team isn’t even a mid-major. On the bright-side, we do have some really good matchups ahead of us. Illinois vs. Iowa State should be an excellent matchup, and we even get a National Championship rematch with UConn and SDSU squaring off. Ultimately, this is what happens when the top-seeded teams don’t win their mid-major conference tournaments (I’m looking at you, High Point).

Dusty May, Get Ready to Learn Mr. Brightside

If you aren’t aware, I am a die-hard Michigan fan. Have been for my entire life. And in my 23 years of living, I never saw Michigan basketball as down-bad as it was this season. I am grateful for what Juwan Howard brought to the table and will still view him as a Michigan icon, but it was definitely time for him to call it quits. Saturday night, it was announced that the Wolverines had hired former FAU coach Dusty May to lead the team. Initially, I was very hesitant, as the only thing to look off of was a very lucky Final Four run in 2023. However, after reading more into it, I have grown to like the hire. Apparently John Beilein was a big part of the hire, and if there is anyone a Michigan hoops fan should trust, it is that man. That’s really all I needed to hear. I’m super stoked for what is to come in the future, and I would love if Dusty brought over Martin and Goldin to help out next season. With the two of them being graduate transfers, admissions likely wouldn’t screw us.

That’s all from me. I won’t even try and predict the Sweet 16 at this point with how things have gone thus far, but my winner Houston is still alive (shoutout to Ryan Elvin) so I’m just going to rock with them from now on. Have a great day everyone, expect to hear from me again soon.

Best,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

• The 11 seeds are fun this year. We have New Mexico, Duquesne, Oregon, and NC State. I am the least high on NC State, as I think they have had their run in the ACC tournament and Texas Tech is a great team under a proven winner in the postseason. I am the highest on New Mexico. They have a great matchup against Clemson in the first round (Vegas even has them as a favorite) and their second round matchup vs. Baylor is also a favorable matchup for the Lobos. Oregon is a team that also has the chance to make a splash, facing off against a South Carolina team that I believe to be somewhat fraudulent. Dana Altman is undefeated in the first round as Oregon’s coach, and I don’t think that changes this year. Lastly, Duquesne is a team that is in their first tournament since 1977, and Miami-OH transfer Dae-Dae Grant is a force to be reckoned with.

• McNeese is an interesting team. I watched them beat my Michigan Wolverines live in December, but that win has become less and less impressive as the season progressed. Will Wade is a proven coach though, and the public has a close eye on this team as a potential Cinderella. I’m fading the public here and picking Gonzaga to win. Mark Few has made eight straight Sweet 16s, and with little pressure compared to other years, I think people are sleeping on the school from Spokane.

• Outside of those teams, I don’t think there will be a ton of double-digit seed action this year. Colgate and Charleston are in with their worst teams in years, and a lot of the lower-end seeds snuck in after finishing towards the middle of their conference. Let’s move onto the later rounds.

• My elite eight is Auburn, Drake, UNC, Arizona, Houston, Florida, Purdue, and Oregon. I have Auburn taking down Drake, Caleb Love and Arizona knocking off UNC, Houston defeating Florida to end their run, and Purdue outlasting the Ducks. That leaves the Final Four to be Auburn, Arizona, Houston, and Purdue. I think all of these teams (and UConn) could win, but I am going to have to go with Houston here. This is more of a gut feeling than anything, and the fact that they lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament is a good thing in my book. They are now wide awake and as locked in as possible. Arizona is who I would have as my runner-up.

Well, there you have it folks. I didn’t know how to go about doing this, so hopefully you guys can get a grasp of how I feel about the tournament based on what I said here. If you have any additional questions, be sure to let me know and I will get back to you. For a tournament that seems like it will be less upset-heavy than normal, I have a feeling the opposite will happen. That is the beauty of March Madness.

Have a great day everyone,

Ben from CBB Bulletin.

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With the bracket established and tournament play underway, it’s time to speculate. I will have a separate post coming out prior to Thursday regarding the tournament as a whole, where I will discuss my picks and how I filled out my bracket. For now, I’d like to present a fun and interesting case study revolving around the 16v1 matchups.

Only in recent years have we seen the most improbable upset become a reality, with UMBC taking down Virginia in 2019 and FDU knocking off the Boilermakers last March. Now that we all know that it is in-fact a possibility for a 16 seed to defeat a #1 team, let’s dig into the numbers behind these two situations.

I pulled seven different metrics from College Basketball reference that, in my opinion, were relevant in deciding the outcome of the games they played against the 1-seeds. Those metrics include: Pre-Conference Tournament record, Conference Record, Season PPG, FG%, 3PT FG%, RPG, and AST:TO. I took the minimum of each of those to establish a benchmark that the 16-seeds in this year’s bracket will need to meet to be considered as a POTENTIAL upset. As you can see:

• Both teams shot relatively well from three, with UMBC being the stronger team in that facet.

• They were overall a solid team for the entire year, with no less than a 62.5% conference win rate. Double digit losses (overall not conf.) are perfectly okay, as that is why they were seeded last.

• Assists exceeded turnovers in both instances, with the ratios being adequate or even slightly above average compared to the rest of Division 1.

Now that we have that information at hand, let’s look at the 16 seeds in this tournament:

When you look at the metrics, the only 16 seed that passes all five (metrics that fail to meet the ‘historical’ minimum are shaded red) is Stetson. This really isn’t a surprise to me, as I thought the Hatters could have passed as a 15 seed, but it confirms my initial thoughts regarding this team’s potential.

If you were to ask me if I thought any 16 seed would defeat a top seed this year, the answer would be “No”. It has only happened twice, and although both times are recent, it is still extremely unlikely. With that being said, if I had to pick one 16 seed to upset a #1 team, it would be Stetson. Not only do they pass my test, but they have Jalen Blackmon. High-performance guard-play is something that is almost necessary for a team to succeed in March, and the junior from Indy is someone who can provide that. Blackmon had 43 points against Austin Peay in the ASUN final, shooting efficiently from three and the charity stripe. In addition, his 17 FTA proves that he knows how to take the ball to the basket and cause foul trouble for the opposing team. I’m not saying Stetson will beat UConn by any means, but I will say that you shouldn’t be surprised if the Hatters keep it relatively close for a chunk of the game.

While this is all mainly just a fun deep-dive that I wanted to pursue out of self-interest and likely completely meaningless, I still think it is interesting to see what goes into these history-forming matchups. I love everything about this UConn team and ultimately think Stetson’s defense won’t be able to contain the firepower Dan Hurley wields, but if we see the ASUN champion get the job done, you can say you heard it here first.

That’s all from me tonight. I’m still trying to figure out how to go-about posting my bracket predictions, whether that be uploading a video or just writing an article as I usually do, but make sure to keep an eye out for my thoughts before the real deal starts on Thursday. I’m lucky enough to be living in a city where games are being played, so I am going to be at the Marquette vs. WKU game as well as the Florida vs. Boise State/Colorado game. It should be a time, maybe we get lucky and see an upset first-hand. Either way, I’ll be sure to let you guys know how it goes.

Have a great day everyone, thanks for reading.

Take care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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The day has arrived. Selection Sunday is just a few hours away, and I am ever-so excited. Both of my teams (Miami OH and Michigan) are miles away from any postseason play but that doesn’t mean it’s still not #LockedInMarch for me. Let’s recap what teams have punched their ticket and look ahead at the remaining games prior to the bracket reveal.

Automatic Qualifiers Through Saturday 3/16 — (Photo from @ marchmadnessmbb on instagram)

That leaves the American, A-10, Ivy, SEC, and Big Ten titles up for grabs today. Here’s a preview of each of those matchups:

• #3 Yale takes on #4 Brown for the Ivy League title. Brown is coming off of a huge upset against #1 Princeton yesterday. Can they keep it up and snag the bid?

• #6 Florida faces off against #3 Auburn for the SEC title. Both of these teams are hot at the right time, and both will be in the field regardless of this outcome. Watch out for these programs in the big dance.

• In another #6 vs. #3 matchup, we have Duquesne coming in against VCU for the Atlantic 10 championship. The Dukes are seeking their first tournament appearance since 1977. VCU is looking at their first consecutive berth since 2017.

• I can’t believe these words I’m about to say are factual. Temple faces off against UAB in the American conference final. Temple finished 5-13 in AAC play and is the #10 seed in this bracket. UAB is #4, but also needs this win to make the dance.

• Lastly, as usual, the game leading up to the selection show is the Big Ten tournament final, where we have Wisconsin squaring off against Illinois. Wisconsin is coming off an impressive OT victory over Purdue, and Illinois defeated Nebraska and Ohio State to get here.

This is the last newsletter you will see from me until we have the field revealed, but I will be live on Twitch (twitch.tv/Ben21Falcon) as the show is live. After the field is known, we will be filling out the bracket on stream. Hope to see you there.

Before I head out, I’m going to give you a list of teams to keep an eye on for the show. The bubble is as crowded as it has ever been, and there will certainly be some excellent teams left out due to some bid stealers (NC State, New Mexico, A-10 Winner). Here are the teams that are on the bubble:

• Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Indiana State, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati

That’s all I have today. I’ll be on-air around 5:00-5:30, so if you want to see my thoughts live be sure to check out the stream. Hope you all enjoyed, and make sure to leave a like and share!

Take care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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Apologies for the absence, I have been extra busy at work and haven’t had much time to put together these updates. It definitely wasn’t the best time to be away, as these past few days have been a treat in terms of how much basketball we have at our disposal. With games as early as 11:30 AM and as late as 12:00 AM, there is no shortage of action from schools all over the country.

I’m going to try and recap as much as possible here, so I will mainly focus on the matchups and storylines that have postseason implications. As always, if there is something I didn’t touch on and you’d like to see it discussed, please let me know.

Atlantic 10: Certified Bid Thief

To start, the Atlantic 10 tournament is an absolute mess. The top four seeds are all eliminated, as Richmond was knocked out by St. Joseph’s, Loyola Chicago fell to St. Bonaventure in 2OT, Dayton lost to Duquesne, and UMass was outlasted by VCU. With Dayton securely in the tournament already, this conference now has a bid-stealer. It’s completely open as to who will take the crown.

Big East Bubbles

St. John’s and Providence both emerged victorious in their matchups today. The Red Storm, who are playing the BET at their home court, knocked off Seton Hall 91-72. This should help their tournament chances quite a bit, with the opportunity to solidify their spot with a win against UConn. Providence, a team that is slightly further out on the bubble than the other Big East schools, knocked off #2 Creighton to significantly boost their chances. Lastly, Villanova, a team that needed a Justin Moore last-second shot to beat DePaul, is losing to Marquette by four at the time of this being written. It is safe to say that if they can’t pull out this win, the Wildcats will be out of tournament contention.

Ohio State is Officially on the Bubble

Ohio State and Iowa faced off in what felt like a ‘play-out’ game, in the sense that both of these teams have zero chance of making the tournament if they lost. This game was a tough watch for any Hawkeye fan, as it never felt out of control yet the Buckeyes and a Jamison Battle-led second half push advanced OSU to the next round. Interim Head Coach Jake Diebler is now 6-1 since taking over for Chris Holtmann. With as much movement as we have in the bubble right now, the Bucks likely need another win (maybe even two) to be seriously considered.

Other Notes

• Kansas, without Kevin McCullar and Hunter Dickinson, fell to Cincinnati in the second round. They will likely be healthy for the NCAA Tournament, so keep an eye out for how Bill Self’s statistically worst team ever performs.

• Duke loses to NC State in a close fight, eliminating my pick to win from the tournament.

• Montana State defeated Montana in a 53-point 2nd half to take the Big Sky automatic bid. They were the #5 seed and finished 9-9 in conference.

• Toledo, the winner of the MAC regular season title for the fourth-straight year, lost to #8 Kent State in round one of the MAC tournament. The Rockets miss out on the field yet again.

• The teams that have punched their ticket to the dance via winning their conference tournament thus far include: Wagner, Charleston, Morehead State, Oakland, Colgate, Stetson, Samford, McNeese State, Montana State, Longwood, Drake, James Madison, South Dakota State, and Saint Mary’s.

The weekend is almost here, and with that comes Selection Sunday. Stay tuned for all kinds of content surrounding the best postseason in all of sports. I’ll likely go live on twitch during and after the bracket is revealed, so be sure to follow my twitch (twitch.tv/ben21falcon) if you want to hear my thoughts live and on-the-fly.

Thanks for reading. Take care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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We saw two more conferences throne their king for the NCAA tournament last night, as Samford won the SoCon title to reach their first appearance since 2002, and James Madison prevailed by 20 in the Sun Belt title game against Arkansas State. I’m seeing JMU seeded at the 12 spot and Samford at 13 in most places.

Today marks the start of the Atlantic 10, ACC, Big 12, MAAC, and C-USA conference tournaments. I gave up on filling out conference tournament brackets after the Atlantic Sun disaster, but I figured I’ll drop my thoughts for each of these tournaments and how they impact the overall field.

• Atlantic 10 - Richmond has the #1 seed here, with the winner of George Mason and St. Joseph’s moving on to play them. I could honestly see either of these teams giving Richmond a run for their money, especially GMU. Dayton is safely in the tournament already so I am going to pick Loyola Chicago to win this. They ended the regular season hot and Drew Valentine is a heavily underrated coach.

• ACC - The ACC is an interesting one. Virginia could really use a few wins to help their case as an at-large team, but I think this is Duke’s tournament to lose. They ended the regular season on a loss at home to UNC which isn’t great, but I think they will be fired up and definitely have the talent to do go all the way. I’d be surprised to see anyone outside of Duke or North Carolina winning honestly.

• Big 12 - I like Houston here. In my opinion they are the best team in that conference and it really isn’t close. They are incredible both offensively and defensively, and have the right pieces doing the right things nearly all the time. One thing to keep an eye on, however, is Kansas. They are sitting at a 3-4 seed right now depending where you look, and with how experienced Bill Self and that team are, I wouldn’t be shocked if they make it through Baylor and Iowa State to try and boost their position in the field.

• MAAC - This has been one of my favorite conferences to watch this season. Quinnipiac, Fairfield, and Marist are the top three seeds and have stood out for most of the year, but I’m particularly interested in Niagara here. They finished the season relatively cold and are seeded sixth. The Purple Eagles have to get through Siena first, but they likely meet Marist and Fairfield on the way to the final, two teams they have wins over in the regular season. They are also an impressive road team for league standards, having a 10-6 record in that regard. Rider is a team that could also be in the mix, as they finished the season winning seven straight, including wins against Quinnipiac and Niagara. Even with all of that, I pick Fairfield to win here. They have a great offense that when hot, can be dangerous.

• Conference USA - The CUSA trips me up honestly. Not only did they lose what would be their best team to the American, but the majority of bracketologists have Sam Houston as the winner here. The problem with that is I have watched zero games involving the Bearkats. After taking time to evaluate the landscape of this conference, I picked Louisiana Tech to win. SHSU went 2-0 against them in-season, but I am a firm believer of it being very difficult to beat the same team three times. Additionally, Tech has a 8-7 road record compared to Sam Houston’s 7-9. This one is a shot in the dark.

There you have it. With my luck, all of these takes will be freezing cold in 5 days. I do think what I said holds value in determining who will come out on top in these brackets, however. With the Big Ten tournament starting on Wednesday, I think I will dedicate the next newsletter to a deep dive on the teams to look out for in Minneapolis. The B10 is the conference I have watched the most of by far, and I think it will be interesting to discuss the different possible scenarios and who needs what to receive an at-large.

Thanks for reading. I made a Twitter (X now, I guess) the other day, so if you are on there feel free to follow me (CBBBulletin). I’m on there every now and then, often spewing nonsense during intense games or bet-sweating sessions.

Have a great day,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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We have officially reached the week of Selection Sunday. Four teams have already clinched their spot in the tournament, and the remainder of the conferences begin and/or finish bracket play at some point this week. As the title suggests, the games Sunday were actually insane. Just when you thought you had witnessed the most electric game of the weekend, the next game would be better. Let’s get right into the summaries.

Longwood Wins the Big South Tournament Final

Longwood obliterates UNC Asheville from the very start, knocking down the five point favorite 85-59. The Lancers were lights out shooting-wise, hitting seven of their 13 three-point attempts and shooting 59.6% overall. Conversely, UNCA shot just 5/22 from deep, and were out-rebounded by eight. Longwood is looking to be a 15 or 16 seed at this point, with the latter being the probable scenario.

Drake Outlasts Indiana State to Win the Missouri Valley Conference

In the first of many outstanding matchups of the day, we had two teams that should both realistically be in the big dance regardless of today. Drake started off hot, taking a 13 point lead at half, 45-32. Around the 10 minute-mark, the Sycamores began fighting back, eventually going on a 23-5 run to tie the game up at 72. The miraculous comeback proved futile, as Tucker Devries and the Bulldogs couldn’t be stopped, winning 84-80 to clinch their spot in the tournament. It is completely up to the committee as to whether or not Indiana State will have a seat in the field of 68, but history shows that they prefer lesser-ranked power-six teams over more deserving mid-majors like IN State when filling the bracket.

Stetson Clinches Their First Tournament Appearance in Program History

This game was happening at the same time as the Drake game, so let’s just give a shoutout to Youtube TV multiview real quick. Anyways, this game was also extremely tight, with Austin Peay and the Hatters going back and forth until the very end. Former GCU Antelope Jalen Blackmon was all over the place, scoring 43 points (5/9 from three, 14/17 FT) to bring home the title on their own campus. If I had to guess, I’d say Stetson is also going to get a 16 seed.

Other Conference Tourney Action

• Colgate scores 45 in the second half to escape a close encounter with Bucknell, winning 68-65. They advance to the tournament finals.

• Lehigh pulls off an incredible comeback after being down 46-28 at halftime to knock off the Boston Terriers, 84-79 (OT). Boston had 16 turnovers and missed 10 free-throws, which are two of the main reasons this collapse happened. Lehigh faces off against Colgate for the Patriot League bid.

• Top-seeded Appalachian State is stunned as they lose to a buzzer-beater from Arkansas State’s Freddie Hicks, advancing the Red Wolves to the Sun Belt tournament finals. Offensive rebounds were the big story here, as App State was out-rebounded offensively by seven.

• James Madison survives a close battle against Texas State, ending a promising run from the Bobcats. JMU now matches up against Arkansas State in the championship.

• Bottom-seed Sacramento State upsets heavy favorite Eastern Washington by a score of 74-69. EWU had 15 turnovers and shot just 23% from deep. The Big Sky title is wide-open now, with the remaining teams being relatively close in talent and performance.

• In the CAA, we saw two sneaky upsets. Towson took down UNC Wilmington by 10 following a strong second half showing, outscoring UNCW 37-26. Additionally, Stony Brook knocks out second-seeded Drexel in OT behind Aaron Clark’s 27 points.

Big Ten Bubble Fun

• We saw three Big Ten regular-season matchups involving teams that have tournament implications, as OSU played at Rutgers, MSU traveled to Bloomington to take on Indiana, and Iowa hosted Illinois.

  • Illinois holds off the Hawkeyes 73-61, likely eliminating any chance of Fran McCafferey’s squad receiving an at-large bid.

  • Indiana holds off Michigan State at home with the help of Kel’el Ware’s two free throws as time ran out, 65-64. The Oregon transfer had 28 and 12 boards in total. MSU should be fine at this point in terms of being a tourney lock, but they sure are treading shallow water.

  • Ohio State travels to the RAC and defeats Rutgers by 22 on their Senior Day, 73-51. The Buckeyes are now 5-1 under interim coach Jake Diebler with wins over Purdue and Michigan State.

Man oh man. This weekend was a ton of fun, and we are just halfway through all of the conference tournaments. Bracket play for the P6 begins this week, which will add another layer to the already complex bubble situation. Whatever happens, just know that I will be covering it. This is my favorite time of the year as a sports fan, and I want to get everyone just as excited as I am.

Have a great Monday, I’ll talk to you soon.

Best,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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The Eagles prevail by a score of 69-55 against a Little Rock team that entered the night on a 10-game winning streak, including a victory over Morehead at home. The newly-crowned champions had two players with 20+ points, as Minix and Thelwell racked up 26 and 21, respectively.

• This is a team that shoots the ball very well, something that you often see in a bracket buster. Whoever draws the Eagles next Sunday better make sure their scouting team is on top of their game.

Other Matchups

With the amount of games we had on Saturday, I’m only going to recap the more notable matchups. If there is any specific game you don’t see discussed and would like it covered, be sure to let me know.

• Wagner pulls off another upset, taking down #2 Central Connecticut by 10. They move on to face off against Merrimack, the top-seeded team in the conference.

• Longwood shocks the Big South (and me) by taking down top-seeded High Point in OT, 80-79. High Point was the tournament host and heavy favorite to win the league’s slot in the field of 68.

• UNC Asheville defeats Gardner-Webb in another Big South overtime game. GW was held to just a single point in OT, and Asheville’s Drew Pember racked up a triple double (30/13/10). Longwood will take on the Bulldogs at 12:00 PM for the NCAA tourney bid.

• ETSU stays hot after a 98 point outing against VMI to defeat #3 UNC Greensboro, 73-62. The Buccaneers shot 50% from three on 24 attempts.

• Vermont escapes a nightmare scenario against UAlbany, scoring 44 points in the second half to win (75-72) and advance to the America East semis.

• Indiana State wins big against Northern Iowa by a score of 94-72. They will play Drake, who defeated Bradley, in the MVC final at 2:00 PM on CBS.

• Texas States sneaky tear of dominance has gotten slightly more visible, as the Bobcats defeated #3 seed Troy to advance to the Sun Belt tournament semis. They matchup against #2 James Madison at 8:30 PM.

I can’t close this recap without discussing one of the best CBB rivalries, even if it wasn’t a conference tournament game. North Carolina goes to Duke and takes down the Blue Devils, 84-79. Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan had 31 points for the Tar Heels in a win that gives the team a lot of momentum heading into ACC bracket play. I previously said I was high on Duke in the tournament and that still stands, however I think UNC is more experienced and developed, attributes that prove critical in the big dance.

I’ll see you all Monday. Have a great day.

Take care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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I hope you are all doing well, I know I am super stoked for this action-packed slate we have for the next few days. I won’t be covering anything related to the Saturday games, as that will be in tomorrow’s newsletter. With 15 matchups to get through today, there is a ton to cover, so let’s just dive right into it.

Big South Tournament

• Tournament host and top-seeded High Point opened up play by taking down Radford 77-63. Juslin Bodo Bodo racked up 19 rebounds in an all-out domination under the rim.

• Longwood knocks off fourth-seeded Winthrop by a convincing 13 points, 69-56. Longwood tips off against High Point in the second round at noon.

• Asheville escapes a dangerous encounter with Charleston Southern, rallying behind Drew Pember’s 24 points and 14 rebounds in a five point victory. With around 18 seconds left, Pember nailed a dagger three to seal the Buccaneers’ fate.

• Gardner-Webb had quite the close game as well, battling their way out of a seven point halftime deficit to defeat Presbyterian 61-60. GW matches up against Asheville in the semis at 2:00 PM.

Arch Madness (Missouri Valley Conference Tournament)

• Top-seeded Indiana State wins big against Missouri State, 75-59. MO State was held to just 33% FG.

• Northern Iowa knocks off Belmont by a score of 67-62. Tytan Anderson of UNI had 19 points and 19 boards. They will play the Sycamores in the semis.

• Drake continues to shine, trouncing Evansville by 21 points. Tucker Devries led the Bulldogs with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 dimes.

• Bradley eliminates Illinois-Chicago following a 47-point second half from the Braves, the same number of points scored by UIC in the entire game. Bradley and Drake face off at 6:00 for the other spot in the MVC final.

Ohio Valley Conference Tournament

• Morehead State advances to the tournament finals for the second time in three years, taking down UT Martin 84-78. The Skyhawks of UT Martin led for a lot of this game, eventually letting Morehead back into it with around 10 to go.

• Little Rock dominates in their victory over Western Illinois, 82-57. ALR is feeling good as they advance to face off against Morehead, entering the game on a 10 game winning streak (which includes a victory over MH).

• The OVC final tips off at 8:00 PM on ESPN2/ESPN+. Be there.

West Coast Conference

• San Diego takes down America’s Team by five, winning 57-52 over Pepperdine. Thanks for all the great memories Pep.

• Portland defeats Loyola Marymount by a score of 78-70. Robertson of the Pilots had himself quite the game, finishing with 22/8/7.

Other Action

• Bottom-seeded Hampton upsets Elon after Kyrese Mullen hits a layup with six seconds to go. The Pirates move on to play Delaware in the next round of the CAA tourney.

• ETSU wins by 32 against VMI in what was their largest margin of victory in conference play this season, 98-66. The Buccaneers shot 55% from three point land, and VMI beat themselves up with an abysmal 22 turnovers.

• Mercer defeats The Citadel 84-76 to advance to play Samford. That game is currently playing out as I write this.

• In the A10 regular season finale, Dayton fends off VCU 91-86, stripping the Rams of a double bye in the conference tournament. Former Michigan player and Toledo native Zeb Jackson had 26 points in the loss.

• Boise State closes regular season play with an impressive road victory against San Diego State, winning 79-77 in overtime. They finish as the two seed behind Utah State, who takes the conference regardless of the outcome in their final game vs. New Mexico.

We are barely even into conference tournament play and I cannot express enough how fired up I am for the postseason. Neither of my teams (Michigan, Miami OH) will be anywhere near the big dance but that does not mean I will not be locked in. I hope you all feel the same.

Have a day everyone. I’ll see you all tomorrow.

Best,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

I am back after a one day hiatus, and boy do we have a lot to get through. I’m going to be very surface-level with these recaps, as these brackets have given us so many awesome games and surprising outcomes that it would require a novel to cover it all in-depth.

Wednesday, March 6th

• Le Moyne wins big against Fairleigh Dickinson, 82-61. The Dolphins will play Merrimack in the semis on Saturday.

• Wagner knocked off #3 seeded Sacred Heart 60-57, abruptly ending the Pioneers tenure in the NEC. They will head to the MAAC next year.

Thursday, March 7th

• Missouri State clobbers Murray State by a score of 60-35. The Racers shot a miserable 21% from the floor and 10% from deep.

• Pacific needs to be removed from intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers fell to Pepperdine by a score of 102-43. The score at half was 56-9. Both teams were coached under an interim.

• Texas State has been on a quiet roll as of recent, and that continued in their win against Southern Miss, 75-59. USM was the six seed in the Fun Belt.

• Bucknell wins big in an upset against American, 80-57. American was a 6 point favorite in this matchup.

• Cleveland State knocks off two-seeded Youngstown State by 12 to stun the Penguins. The Vikings were without Tristan Enaruna, a 20 ppg scorer.

• We have our very first conference tournament championship matchup, with the Stetson Hatters hosting Austin Peay for the ASUN bid on Sunday. Stetson is looking for their first ever NCAA Tournament berth, and the Governors are seeking their first appearance since 2016.

It’s crazy to me that I can ignore matchups such as UConn/Marquette and Tennessee/South Carolina and still have a ton of material to write about. As a graduate of a ‘mid-major’ institution (shoutout to the Redhawks), I will always root for schools like the ones I talked about today. Sure they aren’t full of five stars or under a hall of fame coach, but this is what CBB is all about.

Take care everyone, I’ll be back for the weekend action.

Best,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

• The Dolphins continued their success on Tuesday evening, knocking off the top-seeded Eastern Kentucky Colonels, 67-65. EKU had an abysmal night from beyond the arc, only knocking in three triples on 16 attempts. Jacksonville shot 38% overall and 33% from deep. They move on to play Stetson in the semis.

• North Alabama knocks off Lipscomb in electric fashion, as former Bison KJ Johnson sank a runner as time expired, advancing the Lions to the semis where they take on Austin Peay.

  • Austin Peay escaped an overtime shootout against North Florida, winning by a score of 101-98.

This conference is wide open. With EKU and Lipscomb out of the picture, the highest remaining seed is Stetson. It will be interesting to see if the Dolphins can keep the train moving against a talented Hatters squad.

In other news, Purdue traveled to Champaign to take on Illinois in an extremely anticipated matchup. Both sides fought hard, with Illinois controlling most of the first half before the Boilermakers crawled their way back in the game after the break. Up three with around :20 to play, Braden Smith pulled up from three and completely silenced the arena. Purdue survived a crazy game to clinch complete control of the regular season Big Ten Title.

• If the guards can play as well as they did tonight, specifically in the second half, Purdue will be the team to beat in March. Fletcher Loyer stepped up big time today, and we already know that Smith is an All-American level player. Don’t forget about Lance Jones either, who could very well be that missing piece Painter has needed.

I know I said I would send out one or two of these a week, but here we are on day three. I can’t lie and say writing these articles isn’t a ton of fun, especially when content is being handed to me on a silver platter with the action

we have this week.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you enjoyed please consider liking and sharing with a friend. If there is anything specific you’d like to see covered, don’t hesitate to reach out with suggestions!

Take Care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t think this was going to happen. However, I didn’t think it was going to happen in the first possible instance it could. If you are unaware as to what I’m rambling on about, the ASUN tournament kicked off last night, with the four lowest-seeded teams (#10 Jacksonville, #9 Kennesaw, #8 Queens, and #7 FGCU) battling to open up conference tournament season. In my newsletter yesterday, I dropped a bracket for the tournament, in which I picked Kennesaw State to beat Jacksonville and FGCU to beat Queens.

In case you didn’t watch the games, here is what happened:

• Queens knocked off Florida Gulf Coast 69-63, shooting 44% from three on 25 attempts. In what was a fairly even game from an overall rebound perspective, Queens had 14 offensive rebounds to FGCU’s eight. Isaiah Thompson of FGCU had 31 points on the night, shooting 7/11 from three, but ultimately it was not enough to stop the Royals.

  • Another thing to note here is that FGCU only put up five bench points, with Queens having 22.

• Jacksonville rallies behind an insane shooting night to take down Kennesaw State. The Dolphins shot 61.9% from three on 21 attempts. Yes, you heard that right, essentially 62% percent from beyond the arc on average volume. Add in the fact that JU shoots just over 30% from three on average, and you have your first glimpse at what is to come for the remainder of the season. I lost a bet on this one, but I’m all here for it.

  • Jacksonville advances to take on #1-seeded Eastern Kentucky, who are the betting favorites to win the tournament (and my pick to win for what it’s worth).

Opening up postseason action with an 0-2 prediction isn’t the greatest start, but it’s better to get those losses out of the way now before it gets serious.

There wasn’t too much happening on Monday night otherwise, but here are some quick thoughts from a couple notable matchups:

• Duke traveled 30 minutes down to Raleigh to take on NC State, knocking the Wolfpack off by a convincing 79-64.

  • I’m not sure how hot of a take this is, but I like this Duke team in March. Jared McCain is legit, and despite the shenanigans with Filipowski, he is the type of center you want on a championship team (if you can’t have Zach Edey, that is).

• Baylor comes back from a halftime deficit to beat Texas 93-85 in an absolute shootout, spearheaded by Jalen Bridges and his 32 points (6/7 from three) . Max Abmas of Texas also had quite the night, scoring 33 points on 40% from beyond the arc.

  • Although a loss for the Longhorns, there is something to be said about their ability to stay in a game like this. Rodney Terry impressed everyone in last year’s tournament, and I think there’s a chance he builds on that this year. After all, he does have former Oral Roberts guard Abmas leading the charge.

Looking ahead at Tuesday’s games, we have the next round of the Atlantic Sun tournament as well as three other conference tourneys kicking off. The Sun Belt, Patriot League, and Horizon League tournaments all begin on Tuesday. We also have Purdue at Illinois, which should be a fantastic game.

I’ll be back later this week with a recap of these games, as well as any updates on developing storylines surrounding the bubble, coaching changes, etc.

Thank you all for tuning in, and if you enjoyed the read, please consider liking and sharing with a friend!

Take Care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

Senior Day in the Big East - A Certified Cheat Code

• Both Creighton and UConn proved victorious in their home finales, winning big against Marquette and Seton Hall, respectively.

  • The Blue Jays handed Marquette their 7th loss of the season, scoring the most points they have in a ranked win this year.

  • While this UConn loss doesn’t help Seton Hall’s bubble situation at all, I still think they have a spot in the tourney regardless.

Ranked Teams Emerge Victorious On the Road

Something to keep an eye on as we close in on the regular season is the performance of highly ranked teams on the road. It’s easy to watch a team at home and get caught up in their momentum and success in-house, but sometimes the dynamic between playing at home vs. anywhere else can be game-deciding.

• #13 Illinois traveled to the Kohl Center and knocked off Wisconsin, 91-83.

  • Wisconsin has Rutgers at home and Purdue on the road to end the year, with Rutgers being a must-win. A close game with Purdue wouldn’t hurt either.

• #4 Tennessee continues to prove their case for a 1 seed, beating #14 Alabama at home by 7.

  • Alabama travels to Gainsville on Tuesday in what could be a potential upset by the Gators.

• 23rd-ranked Gonzaga shot 55% from 3 (52% overall) in their win at #17 St. Mary’s, beating them 70-67. The Bulldogs are looking more and more like a legit tournament team.

Conference Tournaments Begin!

Conference tournament action kicks off Monday, with the first round of the ASUN Tournament taking place. #9 Kennesaw State plays #10 Jacksonville, with #7 Florida Gulf Coast taking on #8 Queens at the same time (7:00 PM EST). Here is how I see that tournament playing out:

This is the first newsletter of many I hope to send out, so stay tuned later this week for an update of what is going on in the world of CBB! If you enjoyed, please consider sharing with a friend!

Take care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

I’m Ben, the creator of CBB Bulletin. I have been a fan of college basketball for my entire life, but I am still learning new things about the sport nearly every day. I want to share my passion for college basketball, whether that be discussing the top teams, March Madness, players to look out for, recruiting, coaching, you name it!

If you are interested and want to follow along on my journey, please consider subscribing! It is completely free, and you can unsubscribe at any point. I send out a couple newsletters per week, aiming to update you on everything CBB!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see you in the community!

Take Care,

Ben from CBB Bulletin

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