Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 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.
Last Week: L at Cleveland State 86-63 | This Week: Feb. 8 vs. Northern Kentucky, Feb. 10 vs. IUPUI
Best Wins: at Creighton (NET 26), vs. Washington State (NET 24) | Bad Loss: at Oakland (NET 243)
The Phoenix lost in a route at Cleveland State and, as
result, move from the projected AQ in the minds of most Bracketologists
into the bubble conversation. Without a game on the schedule remaining
against a top 150 NET team, there aren’t any opportunities for Green Bay
to improve its resume. It can only hope not to slip up.
Meanwhile, Oakland is projected to make the
tournament as an automatic qualifier out of the Horizon League by some
bracketologists. The Golden Grizzlies (15-9, 10-3) are tied for first place in the conference
with Green Bay. The Horizon League is projected to be a one-bid league,
so Oakland will need to win the conference tournament, which starts at
campus sites on March 5 and wraps up in Indianapolis on March 12, to
secure its first trip since 2011.
Here is a look at where bracketologists are projecting Michigan State and Oakland, with a month left in the regular season.
Michigan State & Oakland NCAA tournament projections
USA
TODAY does not project Oakland to make the tournament, instead slotting
Green Bay in as the automatic qualifier with a 16-seed in the Midwest
region playing Purdue. The bracketologists project six Big Ten teams and
list Washington State, Gonzaga, Florida and Colorado as the first four
teams out.
Lunardi has
Oakland in his field of 68 as the automatic qualifier out of the Horizon
League, projecting the Golden Grizzlies as the No. 15 seed in the South
region with a matchup against 2-seed Marquette in Indianapolis in the
first round. If Oakland becomes the 12th No. 15 seed in tournament
history to secure a first-round upset, it would play the winner of
Texas-Mississippi State, the 7-10 matchup, in the second round.
Palm
also has Oakland in his tournament field via auto-bid. He projected
Oakland as the No. 15 seed in the East region (with second-weekend games
in Boston), playing No. 2 seed Kansas in the first round in Omaha. If
Oakland manages the upset, the winner of Boise State and St. John's in
the 7-10 matchup would await.
Oakland,
listed as the 59th overall team in Bleacher Report's projected field,
is the No. 15 seed in the Midwest region, which will play its Sweet 16
and Elite Eight games here in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena. Tennessee
is Oakland's projected opponent as the No. 2 seed and the first-round
game would be played in Charlotte. Colorado State-Butler is the 7-10
matchup.
DeCourcy has
Oakland listed as the No. 15 seed in the East region, playing No. 2 seed
Wisconsin in the first round. The projected 7-10 matchup in the bracket
is TCU-Boise State.
"Very," Oakland men's coach Greg Kampe said, when asked how good the Big Ten news is for mid-majors.
Mid-major
men's basketball teams can collect upward of $100,000 for going on the
road to play a power-conference foe. Do several a season, and that means
big money for mid-major schools, where every nickel matters.
Kampe
was particularly concerned about what the Big Ten would do, fearing
expanding the conference schedule to 22 or even 24 games could
eventually phase out the annual rivalry game with Michigan State — even
though Michigan State's Tom Izzo pledged last year to continue playing
Kampe and Oakland for as long as he's on the job.
Oakland
played three Big Ten teams this year, including Ohio State and
Illinois. Detroit Mercy played Northwestern, while Central Michigan
played Ohio State, Eastern Michigan played Michigan, and Western
Michigan played Northwestern and Ohio State.
On
the women's side — where the buy-game checks aren't as big but still
are important — Oakland played at Michigan and Michigan State, Detroit
Mercy played at Michigan State, Central Michigan played at Michigan
State, Eastern Michigan played at Michigan, and Western Michigan didn't
play a Big Ten opponent this season but did play at Michigan and
Michigan State last season.
Slam dunks
▶ She's only in Year 2 as Detroit Mercy's women's head coach, but Kate Achter already could be looking at an extension. Athletic director Robert Vowels
approached Achter back around Christmas about starting talks, and
Vowels said he expects to have discussions with Achter's agent sometime
this week. Smart move, given there has been interest in Achter — she was
contacted this offseason about the open job at Bowling Green, her alma
mater, and she would seem to be an obvious target for Eastern Michigan,
which fired Fred Castro this season — and will likely to continue be, as the Titans keep impressing.
Detroit
Mercy is 14-9, a remarkably fast turnaround, given where the program
was at when Achter took over, with a revolving door at head coach, and
few wins to speak of. Detroit Mercy is tied for third place in the
Horizon League.
▶ I wrote this week about the struggles with the Detroit Mercy men,
who are 0-22 and have just 10 games left to get a win — nine in the
regular season, and at least one in the Horizon League tournament, from
which all teams qualify. There wasn't much positive to say, as there's
an obvious disconnect between veteran head coach Mike Davis and most of his players. But one player stands out to me, and that's sophomore guard Marcus Tankersley, who seemingly is always staying after practice to shoot, often by himself. I asked him why he's still motivated.
"I
love basketball, and I love the game," Tankersley said. "I just feel
like as the leader of this team, if the guys see me doing extra after
practice and me just caring and giving it my all, maybe that will rub
off on them."
▶ Speaking of Detroit Mercy, Titans legend Antoine Davis,
the NCAA's second-all-time leading scorer, is returning to town
Tuesday, playing for the NBA G League's Rip City Remix in a game against
the Motor City Cruise on the campus of Wayne State. The Cruise is
marketing it as Detroit Mercy Day, and Davis and another Detroit Mercy
legend, Earl Cureton, will host a meet-and-greet with
fans after the game. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and tickets start at $7 for
general-admission seating, through Ticketmaster. Davis is averaging 18.5
points through 13 games.
