Conference USA (conference rank: 20th) March 8-11 All games at Birmingham, Ala. kPOY: Jacorey Williams, Middle Tennessee. Regular season champ: Middle Tennessee (preseason #121 / 2nd CUSA, current #52) Overachiever: Middle Tennessee Underachiever: UAB (preseason #89, current #195) Many coaches and like-minded folks in the media like to criticize transfers as low-character people that can’t handle adversity. Of course, almost all […]

Southwestern Athletic Conference (conference rank: 32nd) March 7, 10-11 First round at higher seed, remaining rounds at Houston. kPOY: Zach Lofton, Texas Southern. Regular season champ: Texas Southern (preseason #248 / 1st SWAC, current #202) Overachiever: Alcorn State (preseason #338, current #287) Underachiever: Alabama A&M (preseason #347, current #351) Of all 32 conferences, the SWAC needs a tournament the least. For the […]

Mid-American Conference (conference rank: 14th) March 6, 9-11 First round at higher seed, remaining rounds at Cleveland. kPOY: Isaiah Johnson, Akron. Regular season champ: Akron (preseason #90 / 2nd MAC, current #114) Overachiever: Kent State (preseason #210, current #146) Underachiever: Central Michigan (preseason #149, current #233) The MAC seems to consistently produce a wide-open tournament especially now that they’ve switched to […]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (conference rank: 31st) March 6-11 All games at Norfolk, Va. kPOY: Patrick Cole, N.C. Central. Regular season champ: N.C. Central (preseason #288 / 3rd MEAC, current #159) Overachiever: N.C. Central Underachiever: Howard (preseason #275, current #335) The MEAC’s regular season concluded last night with North Carolina A&T upsetting conference-leader N.C. Central 68-63. It was A&T’s first win over […]

Summit League (conference rank: 16th) March 4, 6, 7 All games at Sioux Falls, S.D. kPOY: Mike Daum, South Dakota State Regular season champ: South Dakota (preseason #274 / 9th Summit, current #134) Overachiever: South Dakota Underachiever: South Dakota State (preseason #113, current #191) I’m not sure there was a more surprising conference champ than South Dakota. Picked seventh […]

Southern Conference (conference rank: 13th) March 3-6 All games at Asheville, N.C. kPOY: TJ Cromer, East Tennessee State Regular season champ: Furman (preseason #220 / 5th SoCon, current #106, UNC Greensboro (preseason #176 / 3rd SoCon, current #121), and East Tennessee State (preseason #182 / 4th SoCon, current #69) Overachiever: East Tennessee State Underachiever: VMI (preseason #266, current #327) […]

Horizon League (conference rank: 19th) March 3-7 All games at Detroit (Joe Louis Arena). kPOY: Alec Peters, Valparaiso Regular season champ: Valparaiso (preseason #69 / 1st HL, current #94) and Oakland (preseason #163 / 3rd HL, current #110) Overachiever: Northern Kentucky (preseason #277, current #155) Underachiever: Milwaukee (preseason #227, current #280) The big story out of the Horizon League is that […]

West Coast Conference (conference rank: 11th) March 3-7 All games at Las Vegas. kPOY: Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s Regular season champ: Gonzaga (preseason #22 / 2nd WCC, current #1) Overachiever: Gonzaga Underachiever: Pepperdine (preseason #139, current #295) Pacism is alive and well in college basketball and one need look no further than the WCC, where Jock Landale was as productive as any human […]

Colonial Athletic Association (conference rank: 12th) March 3-6 All games at North Charleston, S.C. kPOY: TJ Williams, Northeastern Regular season champ: UNC-Wilmington (preseason #72 / 1st CAA, current #58) Overachiever: Northeastern (preseason #201, current #137) Underachiever: James Madison (preseason #109, current #229) The preseason ratings were very high on the CAA and for the most part, the conference lived up to the […]

Missouri Valley Conference (conference rank: 10th) March 2-6 All games at St. Louis. kPOY: Markis McDuffie, Wichita State Regular season champ: Wichita State (preseason #34 / 1st MVC, current #10) and Illinois State (preseason 94th / 3rd MVC, current 45th) Overachiever: Loyola Chicago (preseason #215, current #98) Underachiever: Northern Iowa (preseason #82, current #165) The Valley features the most unusual conference table in the […]