Summit League:
Headline: Is this league wide open, or is South Dakota State back on top? The Jackrabbits had a stranglehold over this conference for some time but it was briefly interrupted every other year by an incredible run by Oral Roberts. Alas with Paul Mills gone, the Eagles have faded back to mid pack for this season. South Dakota State faced a tough non-conference schedule which led to a rough start, but the Jackrabbits have since gone 6-1 to open conference play and establish themselves as the front runner. They aren’t without challengers though.
The Denver Pioneers are one of the sport’s best stories this season, they’ve never made the tournament and have struggled a lot in recent years, but Denver is 13-8 and tied for 2nd in the Summit League. The Pioneers made a statement that they’re a contender for this league by beating South Dakota State in Brookings! The leader of this amazing story is Tommy Bruner who is the nation’s leading scorer and just hit a buzzer beater to help the Pioneers beat South Dakota last night.
The North Dakota Fighting Hawks are a contender as well, they were off to a fantastic start to the season but a 6 game losing streak in late Dec and early Jan took some shine off the start. Fortunately the Fighting Hawks have righted the ship with a 3 game win streak.
The St Thomas Tommies are a fantastic story they’re currently tied for 2nd in the Summit and nearly won at Marquette, but alas due to absolutely silly NCAA rules the Tommies cannot participate in the tournament until 2026 because they transitioned from D3. It’s a crazy story really, St Thomas got kicked out of their D3 conference for being too good so they decided they would move up to D1.
Surprise(s): Denver Pioneers – I mentioned it above but Denver is one of the coolest stories in College Basketball. They were picked to finish last in the Summit League but are currently in contention to win the conference. Here’s hoping the Pioneers keep it up!
Disappointment(s): Oral Roberts Golden Eagles – Oral Bobs was picked to still contend for the summit despite the coaching change because of the incredible run the program is on. They still can turn it around to win the conference because no one is truly out of contention yet, but Oral Roberts had some more retooling than expected. North Dakota State was picked to finish 3rd but the Bison are currently in a 3 way tie for last in the conference.
Sun Belt Conference:
Headline: James Madison once again is making headlines, the Dukes absolutely stole the spotlight on College Basketball’s opening night with a massive win at Michigan State. It was an impressive win, beating the Spartans in East Lansing which simply doesn’t happen. James Madison spent a lot of the early portion of the season in the Top 25, but they aren’t without challengers.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers led by an awesome defense have a great team as well. Appalachian State notably took down Auburn in a massive home game and beat James Madison on the road! That win actually puts Appalachian State atop the Sun Belt. Unlike James Madison, Appalachian State has a few bad losses on the resume that currently has them perhaps too far off the bubble. There’s some other challengers in the conference, however.
The Troy Trojans are the only Sun Belt team to have a win over Appalachian State and are 6-2 in conference play after struggling outside the conference.
Southern Miss is also in contention, they upset JMU and are led by one of the most interesting players in basketball in Andrej Curbelo. Originally he wasn’t eligible to play this year, but the court ruling to allow 2 time transfers got him into the lineup and has sparked this great start to Sun Belt play for the Golden Eagles.
We can’t forget about the defending conference tournament champs, the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns either. The Cajuns faced a tough non-conference schedule that includes a lot of top teams from other conferences. The Cajuns are getting hot, winning their last 4.
Surprise(s): Troy Trojans – Troy’s strong start to conference play wasn’t just surprising because of how the season started but also because not much was expected of them in preseason. The Trojans were picked to finish 8th in preseason.
Disappointment(s): Old Dominion Monarchs – This was expected to be the year Old Dominion got themselves back into tournament contention but after facing a tough early schedule their head coach Jeff Jones suffered a heart attack when they were in Hawaii for the Diamond Head classic. A scary situation and one that has led to a tumultuous season. We wish Jones the best in his recovery.
WAC:
Headline: The WAC has a team that is an absolute must see. The Grand Canyon Antelopes. Grand Canyon has one of the best records in college basketball at 18-2, they beat defending runner up San Diego State and have some other nice wins. If they can keep it clean the rest of the regular season, GCU could have an At-Large bid available to them if they need it. Grand Canyon has a fun offense, an aggressive defense and they rebound well.
The WAC has some other great teams that will challenge Grand Canyon though. Stephen F Austin is currently 2nd in the standings. It’s been a few years since the Lumberjacks made the tournament (although their 2020 team won at Duke, it would have been fun to see them get the opportunity) but they still play the same aggressive defensive style that forces lots of turnovers that they’re known for. Fun fact, the “F” stands for “Fuller.”
Tarleton State is another fun defensive team, seriously you can’t afford to have one sloppy night in this conference, but unfortunately due to silly NCAA rules Tarleton is not eligible for the NCAA tournament. Cal Baptist has gotten hot lately the Lancers are winners of their last 4.
Seattle is perhaps the most dangerous team outside of Grand Canyon in the WAC. The Redhawks are the only WAC team that has beaten GCU after all. That win could be a massive turning point for Seattle, their biggest issue has been winning close games, all 8 losses are by 6 points or less, 3 of those in overtime.
Surprise(s): Cal Baptist Lancers – The Lancers were projected to finish only 7th, but perhaps that was a mistake. It feels like their breakthrough to the tournament is coming soon. Cal Baptist has finished with a winning record every year in D1 which is impressive.
Disappointment(s): Abilene Christian Wildcats – Abilene Christian was picked 5th in the WAC in preseason and even opened the season by beating Oklahoma State. It really felt like the Wildcats could have a great year following that win but instead they have struggled their way to an 8-11 season.
WCC:
Headline: Is the West Coast conference a one bid league?? There’s been a few good years for the conference recently where it would even sometimes be a 3 bid league but this has been a surprising drop off. It starts with the most vulnerable Gonzaga team we’ve seen in some time. The Zags are in unfamiliar territory sitting on the bubble, they really don’t have any bad losses but they also haven’t come up with any big wins. We don’t see this often but this just isn’t a dangerous Gonzaga team like usual.
It happens to coincide with what was expected to be a year where St Mary’s took the conference crown from Gonzaga, and if you only looked at the conference standings you would think the Gaels were right on track. It wasn’t that way outside of conference play. It was stunning to see how badly St Mary’s started, the Gaels opened the season 3-5, but they’ve began to figure things out winning 12 of their last 13. The other night they destroyed poor Pacific 76-28. St Mary’s might be working back to the tournament radar.
Santa Clara looked ready to break through to the tournament and they still can. The Broncos have a nice set of wins over Oregon, Stanford, Washington State and Gonzaga but have a few bad losses too. It is kind of odd they aren’t talked about in the same breath as Gonzaga or St Mary’s, you could argue the Broncos resume is better.
San Francisco is up there also, they don’t have any bad losses but they also have struggled to break through with a statement win. San Francisco came up short against both St Mary’s and Gonzaga the last 2 games.
Surprise(s): Santa Clara Broncos – Santa Clara was only expected to finish 5th but once again they are overachieving. They’re currently in 2nd place and maybe just maybe they can keep that up and position themselves to be the first non-Gonzaga or St Mary’s team to break through in the WCC in some time.
Disappointment(s): St Mary’s Gaels – This is the last conference of this Roundup and it ends on a weird note. This is the only team where the conference’s leader is also it’s biggest disappointment. St Mary’s was supposed to be a Top 15 team, top 4 seed in the tournament and maybe even break through with a final 4 run. Instead St Mary’s is in a position where they either need to be nearly perfect the rest of the way or win the conference tournament. Gonzaga is 3rd in the standings but was still expected to be a top 25 team and they’re not even close to that. Weird times in the WCC.
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