There is nothing like college basketball tournaments.

From the pageantry, the excitement, to lots of $$$.  College basketball tournaments is one of the things that is right with sports.

Let’s start with the mid-major conferences.

Conferences such as the the Big South, MEAC, SWAC, CAA, Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Horizon League and the MAC use this as their primary money makers because they are not on TV as much as their major conference counterparts.  I mean, do you think the MEAC and Patriot League cutting lucrative TV deals with ESPN and CBS?

Perhaps the most important aspect of mid-major conference tournaments is that for most of them, this is the ONLY way its schools can qualify for the NCAA tournament.  Look at the excitement that surrounds their conference championship games, especially if the top-seed gets upset.  Those kids celebrate as if they won the NCAA title.

Now the power conference tournaments are just as exciting for different reasons.

First of all, each power conference has its fair share of bubble teams.  That alone leads to big story lines as well as those teams playing as if their NCAA tournament have already begun.  All eyes will be on the likes of Virginia Tech, Maryland and Boston College from the ACC; Marquette and Providence from the Big East; Minnesota and Michigan State from the Big Ten; Tennessee and Alabama from the SEC.

Finally, would you like to watch the Big East tournament while having a cold one and some chips?  I love how brutal that conference tournament will be with Pitt, Notre Dame, Louisville and Syracuse having byes for TWO ROUNDS , followed by St. John’s, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Georgetown with one bye.  Hell, the conference is so deep that  Connecticut has to play in the opening round!

College basketball conference tournament season: it’s FAN-tastic!

Categories: college basketball, sports story