LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS
Southern
Dates: March 5-8
Favorite: UNC-Greensboro
Other contenders: Wofford, Furman The SoCon regular-season race came down to the final day as Wofford’s one-point win against Furman denied the Paladins the top seed and handed the crown to the Spartans by half a game. UNCG won the title the last time it held the No. 1 position in 2018, but this year’s event figures to be wide open. Any of the top three in the tightly bunched field could end up going dancing, and the next two finishers, Chattanooga and ETSU, can’t be counted out either.
Sun Belt
Dates: March 5-8
Favorite: Texas State
Other contenders: Georgia State, Coastal Carolina Texas State and Georgia State are riding winning streaks of seven and six games, respectively. The Bobcats and Panthers, who are on opposite sides of the bracket after winning opposite divisions, didn’t meet during the regular season. The two teams win differently. Texas State is ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense (61.1 ppg), while Georgia State is among the leaders in scoring offense (81.0 ppg). One dark horse to watch is Louisiana-Lafayette, which beat the Bobcats in three of four meetings.
Colonial
Dates: March 6-9
Favorite: James Madison
Other contenders: Northeastern, Hofstra James Madison hasn’t been in the tournament since 2013 but enter as the No. 1 seed after tying Northeastern at the top of the conference standings. The Dukes, who will host the event, are led by the conference’s leading scorer, Matt Lewis (19.7 ppg). The top two seeds split their regularseason meetings. A third game would have to wait until the final. Hofstra looms as a potential spoiler. The Pride pushed both the leaders in their four losses during the regular season.
Northeast
Dates: March 6, 9
Favorite: Bryant
Other contenders: Wagner, Sacred Heart This will be a slimmed-down conference tournament with just four teams qualifying. Bryant’s status for the event is in doubt after a positive COVID-19 test ended its regular season prematurely. Should the Bulldogs be unavailable, a replacement would join the field. Wagner stands to benefit the most as the Seahawks lost both games to Bryant and would be the No. 1 seed.
Summit
Dates: March 6, March 8-9
Favorite: South Dakota State
Other contenders: South Dakota, North Dakota State, Oral Roberts This will be one of more balanced conference tournaments with the top four seeds all capable of making a run and winning the whole thing. None of the quartet was able to earn a season sweep against the other. Oral Roberts will try to ride Max Abmas, the leading scorer in Division I at 24.7 points per game.