Transcript: Hi guys, it's Ry The Guy from CFL Weekly and I am here today to discuss the conference tournaments for NCAA basketball.
We will discuss the games in the tournament and who I think will win.
But since I am recording this after some of the games happened, I may also give some opinions on what happened in those games.
Sorry if I'm spoiling.
So we'll start with the American East Conference.
This conference tournament has been kind of standard.
Not very exciting.
The only close game was actually No.
1 Vermont vs. No.
8 University of Albany with a 75-72 finish.
If we look at the bracket, not one lower seed has won.
The championship is the No.
1 Vermont Catamounts-who come up with these names- and the No.
2 UMass Lowell Riverhawks.
This game is at 11 a.m.
Eastern at Vermont.
So I think Vermont's going to win this one.
Well, at least before, I actually don't know what happened, but I thought Vermont was going to win this one 72-68.
I thought that because they're at home and they'll have the advantage.
This tournament was all at the higher seeds court, so only home teams have won, so that's what I think.
And Vermont was also playing for both the regular season and the postseason titles.
which will be a motivation for them so I'm just going down the list in alphabetical order for most of it at least so next up is the American Athletics Conference the finals will be between South Florida and FAU.
FAU actually made a miraculous run to the final four last year only losing to SDSU or San Diego State which we'll talk about later
on a buzzer-beater.
FAU is the number 2 seed while South Florida or USF is the number 1 seed I think FAU is going to win this 67-59 because they're very good they've been ranked for most of the year so I think even if they lose FAU is getting in anyway but they'll be dreaming of what happened last year and well if they want to try to get a higher seed they gotta win this game.
It is at 3:15 PM Eastern on Sunday on ESPN.
Also don't know what happens in this one.
Next up it the A-10 or the Atlantic 10. This conference has been very exciting.
With 4 teams left, we have the 9 seed, the 5 seed, the 7 seed, and the 6 seed.
The number 7 seed St.
Bonaventure plays the number 6 seed Duqenese in the semis.
My prediction for this game is St.
Bonaventure 78 and Duqenese 74.
I think it will be a close game but then the Bonnies end up winning that's Saint Bonaventure.
The other semifinal is number 5 VCU
versus number nine Saint Joseph's I predict this will end in 89-71 VCU win I may be wrong because, after all, it is March but I don't think Saint Joseph has a chance in this one or not much of one this game is at 1 at CBS while the other semi is at 3:30 on CBS then in the finals which is on Sunday at 1 on CBS I think Saint Bonaventure
will upset VCU 79-77 with a last second shot to win.
So, I know that didn't happen because St.
Bonaventure did not win their semis.
So next up is actually a conference you might be interested in.
I also got this one way wrong, so.
But this is the ACC.
The ACC Championship might be a surprise to those of you who haven't been following it.
oh my god but it is the number one UNC Tar Heels I mean duh they're that good but the number 10 NC State Wolfpack had to make sure I was reading that right especially when I was writing it but honestly I hoped UNC wouldn't hurt NC State's feelings too badly because I thought they might push a 25 point win
My prediction was that UNC put up 101 while NC State had 78.
I didn't think it would be close because UNC's RJ Davis- I said he was born under a spotlight and will continue to shine for the rest of the season.
But yes, UNC is fighting for a 1 seed in March Madness, so actually, let's google what happened in this game.
UNC basketball.
so oh my god so the NC State Wolfpack beat them 84-76.
10 over 1 upset and your NC State Wolfpack: they're dancing.
That is crazy the pack is back
ACC champs wow I actually didn't know what had happened in that that's crazy so that's all the A conference the A's so now the next one is gonna be the Big 12 this championship is number one Houston versus number two Iowa State
This tournament saw Kansas get beat in their first game against Cincinnati.
Texas also lost to Kansas State, but then they lost to Iowa State.
So my prediction for the championship was that Houston won 84-79 in overtime.
I did think this would be a close game, but then in overtime, Houston still had gas in the tank.
Yeah, that did not happen either.
so next up is gonna be the Big East this championship but actually I thought it was gonna be a good game I think it was actually let's see let me see really they wasn't really much of a good game 73-57 UConn won but so
So, UConn, number one, the reigning national champion.
Marquette, though, is the three seed in the Big East, and Marquette has been ranked, I think, in the top 15 almost all of the season.
Early in this conference, number two, Creighton, got upset by number seven, Providence.
Creighton actually beat UConn earlier this season, but couldn't beat Providence.
But then Providence lost to Marquette in the semis.
I think UConn is going to win this game.
I said 78-71.
They won 73-57.
I thought that because... You could have... Huh?
I said that even the slight chance that they lost that game, they would still get a 1 or a 2 seed for March Madness.
That game was at 6.30 on FOX if you watched it.
So I got a little confused right there when I stopped talking.
So now we got the Big Ten another Power 5 Conference that you might be interested in.
So this game was crazy.
This game was insane.
So we got the Big Ten.
It was the semifinals, but Purdue vs. Wisconsin was actually one of the better games I've watched in my life.
Wisconsin had a buzzer beater to send it to overtime, and then won in overtime with a late shot.
And also Illinois vs. Nebraska in the other one.
So I said that I thought Purdue was going to beat Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is the five seed, Purdue is the one seed.
I said Zach Edey is just too tall for the Wisconsin Badgers.
Zach Edey is actually, fun fact, as tall as Victor Wembenyama.
I think, I thought, I think Nebraska will beat Illinois, but they lost, but then they'll lose by around 10 to 15 to the Boilermakers.
So yeah, that's not going to happen either.
That championship is tomorrow at 3:30 on CBS.
Next up, we got the Big West.
We got Long Beach State versus UC Davis in the finals.
I think that Long Beach State is going to end up winning.
I think it's around halftime right now.
Don't know what the score is.
Don't really care.
I have no idea how good either of these teams are, but LBSU, Long Beach State,
scored and won by more in the semis so I'll go with them like why not that game started at 9:30 now we go to the C's!
Conference USA the championship number five UTEP versus West Kentucky I think West Kentucky is gonna win this because they are a better team they're ten games above .500 while UTEP is just three games above .500
So, I think that West Kentucky is going to win this 64-57.
They won, actually wait, I was kind of close on this one.
I said 60, actually I wasn't that close.
They won 78-71.
So, West Kentucky also headed to the big dance.
We're on to the nerds now.
We got the Ivy League tournament.
So, I was also pretty wrong on this one.
I said Princeton was looking to repeat.
They played Brown in the semis.
Yale played Cornell in the other semi.
I thought Princeton was going to beat Yale in the finals.
91-82.
Princeton should not be underestimated.
Especially you Arizona fans.
but um yeah Princeton kind of lost like 80 to 79 I think that no 80 to 71.
90 to 81 sorry against the Brown Bears
So, yeah, that didn't go very well for them.
They will not be seen in March Madness, I don't think.
So, YES, this is the one that I WANT to talk about.
Yes and want in all caps.
We got the MAAC.
You could call it the MAAC
It's called the MAAC.
But the next one's also called the MAC, the M-A-C.
So I'm just going to call this one the MAAC and that one the MAC.
So this championship was at 7.30 on the 16th on ESPN.
ESPNU So I watched this one because I like watching the St.
Peter's Peacocks.
I cheer for them.
So the St.
Peter's Peacocks played Fairfield.
St.
Peter's was the five seed.
Fairfield was the two seed.
St.
Peter's beat number one Quinnipiac who, fun fact, never has made it to March Madness.
But I said St.
Peter's just full of miracles.
Just watched the last 11 seconds of yesterday's game against Quinnipiac actually.
And I mean they're a lead eight run so
And then, all caps, I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK.
St.
Peter's is going to the Sweet 16 this year.
Maybe just as far, or even farther than they did in 2022 when they went to the Elite 8.
I mean, that's what I was talking about with their miracles.
I mean, it's just crazy.
They're just crazy.
Latrell Reed, Corey Washington, they're so good.
I love those guys.
So now we got the MAC, The M-A-C.
This tournament is near my hometown, but I'm tired, yeah, sorry.
So it was about 30 minutes away from my house.
This one's at Rocket Mortgage (Fieldhouse).
A little bit more than 30, but I would have loved to go, but I had my own basketball game, so
My championship game actually was at this time.
We got smoked, so I don't want to talk about that.
But it was my third game of the day.
I put up 45 points in those three games.
Had a double-double in the second one because I got a lot of rebounds in the last couple minutes.
So the final was Kent State vs. Akron.
I thought that Kent State was going to pull off a miracle in this game with a 77-70 win.
Now why it would have been a miracle?
They were the 8th seed.
But they have won all of their tournament games, including number one, Toledo.
But then the thing is, they were up, they were winning by one, like, five seconds left.
There was five seconds left.
One of their players on their team did not know that they were winning and that he intentionally fouled.
Akron then made both free throws and won the game.
That guy, I mean...
You can't do that- you got to know the score at all times. You got to know the score at all times. He did not know the score and it actually cost the coach a 2-year extension. In his contract they had if he made it to March Madness he gets a 2-year extension. But not winning the MAC. I still think they should give it to him. But, oh my god we got another similar name. The MEAC.
I've never heard of it, have you?
So, as I look, we got Howard and Delaware State.
This one was at 1 on ESPN2.
I took Howard because that's the only team I knew existed.
I said 65-70, I guess.
Let's look at this.
Howard Bison's basketball.
They won 70-67.
So, not terrible.
Off by two in the winning score.
So now we got the Mountain West.
So this tournament made me very sad.
So, as I mentioned earlier- so I cheer for three college basketball teams.
I cheer for UCLA.
I loved Tyger Campbell, I love UCLA.
Big fan of the Bruins.
UNLV, because I'm from Vegas, lived there for a while.
Let's go Rebels.
And then St.
Peter's, because, I mean, why not?
They're awesome.
They got that miracle in their back pocket at all times.
So in this tournament, UNLV blew a one-point lead with 22 seconds left, and they had the ball.
So the finals, it was against SDSU.
They ended up losing- that was in overtime too.
So SDSU vs New Mexico and I think SDSU is going to be walking out with an easy Mountain West Title winning around 87-65ish.
Now we got my other heartbreak the PAC-12.
UCLA- they wern't expected to go far in this tournament,
But they were one seven-foot shot from maybe even winning it all.
Because they lost to Oregon.
They lost to Oregon by two.
Oregon then went on to beat Arizona, who was the favorite, the one seed.
And then they played Colorado in the last ever Pac-12 championship.
So I thought, I said Oregon wins this by 10 easily, and UCLA gets no March Madness spot.
Oregon won this by 75-68, so that is 7.
So they won by 7.
So that was pretty close.
Wait, yeah, alright, so 7.
So that was pretty close.
So they won by 10, they won by 7.
But UCLA, so Dylan Andrews had a 7-foot shot.
It's like a layup.
and he missed it like it rimmed out I don't know if it was an open shot wasn't watching it but I was listening to it and that's what I saw happened so they lost to Oregon and if they would have if you would have made that shot I feel like I mean they were streaking right there they were on like a 10 point run I feel like if he would have made that they would have won in overtime well we'd never know, but now we got
Another Power Five Conference.
Just like the Pac-12, we get the SEC this time.
Four teams are left, or they were left, Mississippi State and Auburn, Texas A&M and Florida.
Mississippi State plays Auburn, A&M plays Florida, if you didn't get that.
So, I'm gonna take A&M versus Auburn in the finals.
So, then we're gonna have Auburn winning 74-69, is what I said.
Auburn Tigers men's basketball Auburn ended up winning 73-66 oh but they're playing Florida.
Florida won.
The Florida Gators won 95-90 over Texas A&M that was a 6 vs. 7 seed game Florida the 6 A&M the 7.
A&M was actually up 50-42 at halftime, but lost the second half 53-40 to end up losing by 5.
So next we got the SWAC.
Never heard of that one, huh?
Me neither.
It's another one I've never heard of.
A lot of these, actually.
So it's Grambling State versus Texas Southern.
So, two teams, never heard of.
Never heard of anyone in this conference, I don't think.
So I'm going to take Texas Southern with the upset to win.
Because why not?
And, I mean, who are these no-name teams?
So we got Grambling State University Basketball.
It's the second half, four minutes left.
Grambling State's up 13.
Did I say with the upset?
No.
Oh no, I said Texas Southern to win with the upset.
So Texas Southern.
Is down 13, that's not happening. That's not happening. 4 minutes left, 54-67, Texas Southern on top. I mean not on top Texas Southern on the bottom. So this is the last conference that was left. The WAC. We got Grand Canyon University playing UT Arlington.
I think Grand Canyon is going to repeat and make it to March Madness again with a 79-78 win over Arlington.
That game starts at 11:30 later today.
So, Grand Canyon Antelopes versus Texas Arlington.
University of Texas Arlington Mavericks. In Vegas so, that's going to be a good game I think. Yeah, one point win I think that's going to be a great game. So thank you, I'm Ry The Guy and see you next time on the CFL WEE- wait, wait, wait, wait. So I just wanna let you know there is not going to be a post a separate post for
Each conference winner today. There were 11 (There were acually 13 I didn’t know about a few of them) conference championships today and I am NOT writing one of those for each one. Not happening. So i'll make a post, one of them that goes over every team that won
but I'm not doing a separate post for each one so thank you I'm Ry The Guy and see you next time on the CFL WEEKLY Podcast because this was totally about the CFL
If you want the original script that I wrote yesterday morning click here.
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