On The Horizon

Jim Squire

The Morning Dish – Tuesday, March 10, 2015--Hoopville

Today’s Menu: A light schedule includes just 10 games as most conferences take a couple days before their tourneys

Four conference championships will be decided, and all three should be excellent. Valparaiso and Wisconsin-Green Bay meet in the Horizon League final (7 p.m. EST, ESPN), which features the top two seeds. Green Bay is looking to avenge last year’s missing out on a bid and searches for its first bid in 19 years. Valpo will host as the highest seed left.

Low- and mid-majors still in spotlight as NCAA tourney nears--USA Today

The real spotlight still belongs to the low- and mid-majors.

After all, the first-round ACC matchups of Georgia Tech-Boston College and Virginia Tech-Wake Forest amount to four teams that are a combined 28 games below .500, fighting merely for the right to face North Carolina and Miami, respectively. Each winner would still need to win four more games to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

Impossible? Nope. Unlikely? You bet.

So you might as well keep an eye some lower-profile leagues that have high hopes of their champions busting some brackets. St. Francis and Robert Morris will be fighting for the Northeast Conference title, and Green Bay and Valparaiso will be facing off for the Horizon League.

That would be the same Robert Morris that nearly took down Villanova a handful of years ago, and the same Valpo whose coach, Bryce Drew, is part of NCAA tournament lore.
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SO ABOUT THAT BUBBLE: Valpo can take the drama out of Selection Sunday by beating Green Bay, but the Crusaders would still have hope of making the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection with a loss. They are 27-5 with a blowout win over fellow bubble team Murray State, though losses to Missouri and New Mexico won't help their cause.

Tuesday's Viewer's Guide: Four bids to hand out, including Zags-BYU--Eye On College Basketball

Horizon Championship: Green Bay vs. Valparaiso (-2.5); 7 ET, ESPN: This is the matchup that everyone was hoping for, and no matter the winner it will produce a team capable of winning at least one game in the NCAA Tournament. Green Bay has Keifer Sykes, one of the best guards in the country. Valparaiso -- led by Big Dance legend Bryce Drew -- has Alec Peters and Darien Walker, each of whom will be there for at least the next two years. The two teams split their opening round games in one and four-point contests, so expect a close, low-scoring game here.

Horizon League Finals Preview: Prepare for a Battle Between Valparaiso and Green Bay--Mid-Major Madness

Cleveland State senior Cori Coleman named to All-Horizon League first team--Cleveland Plain Dealer

March Madness Begins Wednesday At Youngstown State--detroittitans.com