The Horizon League tournament gets under way tomorrow at sites on campuses around the conference. It’s been one of the most interesting seasons in the conference’s history with just 4 games separating 7th from 1st and all seven of those teams sporting 10 wins or more in conference play. So expect this to be one of the wildest tournaments out there during Championship Week.
Regular season champion Valpariso along with 2nd place Cleveland State receive byes into the semifinals with Valpariso hosting both 2nd round and semi-final games in this tournament format.
Looking at this tournament the first round games are probably the most important matchups, but looking ahead to the 2nd round a potential matchup between Detroit and Green Bay could really give us a clue as to who could play the sleeper in this tournament.
In the regular season Detroit took both games (80-73 at Green Bay and 77-74 at Detroit). The loss on the road was in February and since then the Phoenix have been much better. Should this matchup happen look for the winner to put a scare or two into the top seeds in the Semi’s.
Picks & Predictions:
Champion: Mike – Butler & Andy – Cleveland State
Sleeper: Mike – Detroit & Andy – Green Bay
MVP: Trevon Harmon (Cleveland State) – He’s been impressive all season and we all know the importance of guard play come tournament time. Harmon led the team in scoring in the regular season averaging 13.1 points per game. He also adds 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a smallish shooting guard (only 6’1″ tall).
*if you want the full predictions show make sure to check out the front page for that information.
Schedule for Tournament:
First Round – Tuesday, Feb. 28 (campus sites) *all games on Horizonleague.com
Game 1: (10) Loyola at (3) Detroit, 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: (7) Green Bay at (6) Youngstown State, 7:05 p.m. ET *will be LIVE BLOGGING this game
Game 3: (9) UIC at (4) Milwaukee, 8 p.m. ET
Game 4: (8) Wright State at (5) Butler, 7 p.m. ET
Second Round – Friday, March 2 (Valparaiso)
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m. ET (Horizon League Network | ESPN3)
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m. ET (Horizon League Network | ESPN3)
Semifinals – Saturday, March 3 (Valparaiso)
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. (2) Cleveland State, 6 p.m. ET (ESPNU – tape delayed at 10:30 p.m. ET; live on ESPN3)
Game 8: Game 6 winner at (1) Valparaiso, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Championship – Tuesday, March 6 (highest remaining seed)
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (ESPN)
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