Favorite(s) (odds below +500)
Youngstown State Penguins (+200): Could this be the year? Youngstown State has never made the NCAA tournament. Last year the Penguins had so much promise to make it but the Horizon tournament got the best of them. The Penguins are once again having one of their best seasons ever, winning 22 games and finishing 2nd in the conference. It’s truly been a great run for them lately, and they hope to finish the job this time around.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (+250): This has been a very good year for Greg Kampe’s squad, which included a regular season championship. Fun and incredible fact Greg Kampe is in his 40th season at Oakland. Yes! His FORTIETH!! That’s unheard of this day and age. Outside of a tough stretch in December Oakland has been the class of the conference. They showed they had a good team early on when they opened the season by bringing Ohio State to the wire and days later battled Illinois until flat lining late in the game. Oakland later finished the job when they beat Xavier on the road.
Wright State Raiders (+290): Wright State was one of the preseason favorites to win the conference but found themselves competing around mid pack most of the season. They took some lumps in non-conference play and never really got a strong stretch together. The good news is Wright State tends to play well at the right time. I saw what I did there after I typed it, and decided to leave it anyway. I fully understand if you stop reading after this point, but what I’m trying to say is Wright State always navigates the chaos of the Horizon conference tournament well.
Sleepers (+500 or above)
Northern Kentucky Norse (+2500): NKU is another program that’s been very good at navigating the chaos of the Horizon league tournament. In fact, they won it last season as a 4 seed, this year they are a 5. They finished the regular season strong winning 6 of their last 8. Honestly I can’t believe these long odds, if they get past Wright State in round 1 watch out.
Cleveland State Vikings (+2500): Cleveland State is the last of the trifecta that navigates this tournament well. Last year they had a first year head coach and still made it to the Horizon championship. They never truly strung together a long string of wins this year but this is always the time they could get hot.
Green Bay Phoenix (+1000): Green Bay is one of the best stories in College Basketball this year. The Phoenix were coming off a 3 win season, but Wicks has them playing good ball. They’re 18-13, contended for the regular season championship all season and ended up as a 3 seed. They play a very fun style of basketball and overall this is a fun team to root for. The one downside is they struggled to end the year losing 4 of their last 5.
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (+1500): The Mastodons started out the season looking like easily the best team in the Horizon league. They opened the year 12-2 (started 10-1 even) and then things all of a sudden went downhill. They had a dreadful 5 game losing streak and struggled to get back on track. They did finish the regular season winning 4 of their last 5 though.
Milwaukee Panthers (+2500): As you can tell, this is a very deep league. Any of the top 8 can beat each other on any given night. Milwaukee was expected to be a top contender to win the conference but struggled a lot OOC and a lot of conference play. The Panthers ended the regular season strong winning 5 of their last 6.
My Pick:
Wright State Raiders (+290): NKU is tempting at such long odds but I like that Wright State gets them at home in the first round. They’re a team that always is a threat to win this conference tournament. I believe they’re ready for the moment.
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