"The Stack" 3-4-17
Belmont got bounced by Jacksonville State in the semi-finals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Who will secure the first bid for this year's tournament? UT Martin or Jacksonville State? We will find out today.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Stack is back with a special Saturday edition of the blog. It’s March, we have to talk hoops. It’s a short one. We’ll have a short one tomorrow. The NEC resumes their tournament today. Only one other tournament starts today. That would be the Summit League. Let’s get right to it and see what’s in “the stack” for today, Saturday, March 4th:
Summit League tournament preview (March 4th-7th Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
The Stack is quite fond of this tournament. Maybe I’m a tad biased being s South Dakota State alum. Still this tournament is so much fun. Four straight days of basketball as both the men and women play tip off today. I will also be seeing it all in Sioux Falls working with the fine folks at the South Dakota State University Sports Information Department. The Summit League this year was as wide open as I’ve ever seen. You can easily make an argument for five or six teams winning it. South Dakota and North Dakota State are the top two seeds. USD has never been in this position before and experience speaks volumes. Look at how it has worked for NDSU and SDSU in previous years and Oakland before them. SDSU is dangerous because they have the best player in the league in Mike Daum. And Fort Wayne has good players too. They just haven’t played up to the level we expected from them this year. Remember they did beat Indiana. Realistically, we’re likely to see USD and NDSU in the championship game. I’ll go with an upset here. I’ll go out on a major limb and take Fort Wayne even I don’t really expect that to happen. I bet USD or NDSU win it.
Predicted winner: Fort Wayne
Ohio Valley Conference championship game
#4 Jacksonville State vs. #2 UT-Martin
Once again the top seed Belmont Bruins were bounced in the OVC Tournament. Last year it was Austin Peay the eight seed that took down Belmont in the semi-finals. This year it was Jacksonville State. Does that mean Jacksonville State will win? The stars will align as they did. Since I wouldn’t mind seeing Jacksonville State win (really I wouldn’t mind seeing UT–Martin win either) I will say that UT–Martin wins since my picks normally stink. Should be a good game and the first tournament bid will be sealed.
Pick: UT-Martin
Listen to this week’s “The Sports Block” podcast SDSU Jackrabbit edition here for a full Summit League Tournament preview.
Coming up Sunday: Atlantic Sun, Big South & Missouri Valley championship game picks
