Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Strengths: Green
Bay plays at a slow pace, which is elevated by its hard-nosed defense.
Its 66.7 possessions per 40 minutes ranked No. 322, but it held
opponents to 57.8 points per game, with an average margin of victory of
16.4 points. First-team Horizon League guard Natalie McNeal leads the
nation in scoring and rebounds.
Weaknesses: Despite all of
its bigs and wings listed at 6-foot-1 or taller, Green Bay ranks in the
18th percentile in blocks per game with 2.1. The Phoenix also struggle
mightily on the boards, pulling down 34.2 per game.
Outlook:
Green Bay was competitive in most games, with its biggest loss coming
against Horizon League Player of the Year Colbi Maples and Cleveland
State. The Phoenix had nonconference wins against Creighton and
Washington State — by an average of 11.5 points. A second-round
appearance wouldn’t shock me, but it’s hard to see them getting to the
Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.
The Phoenix
can lull opponents into submission. They don’t push the pace, and they
don’t turn over the ball, making it challenging to run up the score as
an opposing team. What Green Bay does well is share the ball and shoot
efficiently, and there are few things more frustrating than defending a
team for 25 seconds and still conceding a make at the end of the shot
clock.
Kevin Borseth’s squad challenged itself in nonconference play and picked up two quality wins against Creighton and Washington State (before Charlisse Leger-Walker’s
injury), so high-level NCAA Tournament competition won’t come as a
surprise. Opponents that put up a lot of 3-pointers can give the Phoenix
difficulty, but that wasn’t really Tennessee’s style during conference
play. Furthermore, the Lady Vols’ defensive rating was in the 36th
percentile this season while Green Bay’s offense was in the 97th
percentile. The Phoenix are perfectly positioned to attack a weakness.
Here’s how my colleagues at The Athletic, who will be covering the NCAA Tournament, picked their favorite Cinderellas:
Nicole Auerbach: Green Bay
The Phoenix are red-hot coming off a blowout win over Cleveland State
to win the Horizon League tournament and finish the season on a 9-1
run. They beat power-conference foes this year (Creighton and Washington
State) and could pull off the upset of Tennessee, which we haven’t seen
in action since that last-second heartbreaking loss to South Carolina.
If the Lady Vols can’t shake that off quickly, Green Bay could make
things interesting in the first round in Raleigh.
Scoring
is not a problem for the Wildcats, which is partially why the over has
hit in 23 of 32 games. UK averages nearly 90 points per game. The ‘Cats
shoot 41.2 percent on 3-pointers and aren’t afraid to jack them up. The
problems come when the shots aren’t falling because Kentucky doesn’t
shoot a large volume of free throws, and this is not a team known for
its defense.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (23-11, 15-5 Horizon)
The
Golden Grizzlies have been an underdog in just two games in 2024 but
were tested in non-conference play with a schedule that included Ohio
State, Illinois, Drake, Xavier (a win), Michigan State and Dayton. Coach
Greg Kampe is in his 40th year at the helm, making him the
longest-tenured coach in men’s college basketball.
Mar 12, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; The Oakland Golden Grizzlies celebrate after defeating the / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
Here
are two teams that won both their conference tournament and regular
season conference title and are looking to pull off a first-round upset
in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Were they Conference Tournament Champions: Yes, they won the Horizon League conference tournament. Where they finished in the regular season standings for their conference: They finished in first place in the Horizon League conference this season. Record this Season: 23-11 Their record against teams from the Power Five conferences this season: 0-3
Best victories this season: @
Xavier, @ Youngstown State, @ Wright State, @ Purdue Fort Wayne, Loyola
Marymount (neutral court), Youngstown State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and
Northern Kentucky Quad 1 and 2 Losses: @ Ohio State, @ Illinois, @ Michigan State, @ Dayton, @ Northern Kentucky, Drake (neutral court), Toledo, and Purdue Fort Wayne
NET Ranking: 126 KenPom Ranking: 137 College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 130 Barttorvik Ranking: 135
Can one of the dangerous double-digit seeds pull an upset?
Just look at this murderer’s row of low-seeded squads: No. 10 Boise
State has six Quad 1 wins; No. 11 NC State just won five games in five
days to capture the ACC crown; No. 12 James Madison has 30 wins on the
season; No. 13 Vermont is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance in
as many years; and No. 14 Oakland is coached by a 40-year vet in Greg
Kampe and has only lost three times since Jan. 1.
All of these teams are capable of winning a game or two in the Big
Dance. Maybe the question isn’t “Which one?” but rather “How many?”
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