Loading ...Big South Conference Tournament Preview
This preview was written February 25, 2010, before conference play was complete in the Big South. It had to be written early due to the large number of conference tournaments that we have to cover. Brackets for each conference tourney aren’t usually finalized until a day or two before each tournament. At this point of the year, we can accurately predict where teams will be seeded.
The Big South conference tournament will not get national coverage, but it could be one of the best smaller conference tournaments this season. Who will get the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament? Here’s my preview:
The Favorite: Coastal Carolina. The Chantileers are 13-3 in conference play, 24-5 overall, and have to be considered the favorites to win the conference tournament. One of Coastal Carolina’s three losses in conference came at Winthrop, a loss that shouldn’t really be considered “bad”. If the Chantileers do get the auto bid, they will be one of the more likely teams seeded 14 or below with the ability to play with a high seed come tournament time. It’s always disappointing when a team with as many wins at CCU gets left out of the NCAA Tournament because it plays in a one bid conference and gets upset in its conference tournament. Coastal Carolina hopes to avoid that fate.
Artsiom Parakhouski and Radford have their sights set on another conference championship.
The Darkhorse: Radford. It’s easy to forget that behind the conference’s “big two” of Coastal Carolina and Winthrop sits a Radford team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year. Remember, last season the CCU and Winthrop were both eliminated in round one of the conference tournament, while Radford beat VMI (currently seeded #8) in the championship game. In Artsiom Parakhouski the Highlanders have the conference’s leading scorer (21.4 PPG) and leading rebounder (13.2 RPG).
Player to Watch: Parakhouski (RAD). He is the conference’s leading scorer (21.4 PPG) and rebounder (13.2 RPG) and could take the Highlanders all the way to the NCAA Tournament. If VMI gets in, watch out for the duo of Austin Kenon and Keith Gabriel.
Prediction: I expect red-hot Winthrop to win the conference tournament. The Eagles have won eight straight conferences games (at the time this was written, with two to play) and have already won a game against Coastal Carolina, with one at Radford remaining before the conference tourney. Radford and Coastal Carolina will be tough, but anything can and will happen in a conference tournament like this one with so much fluctuation between who was good last year and who is good this year. Do not be surprised if a darkhorse team makes it to the title game.
