CBB: CAA Conference Tournament Preview

Favorites (odds below +500)

Charleston Cougars (+200): Charleston didn’t gather the headlines this season because they didn’t started out as strong as they did last year, but the slow start can be attributed to the Cougars losing starters and retooling the lineup. Now they know who they are again and are hot at the right time, winning their last 9 regular season games to take the regular season championship. This is the team to beat

Hofstra Pride (+360): Hofstra has flashed the ability to play well all season they beat a few teams who would go on to win their regular season conference championship and came close to beating some other good teams. A rocky start to conference play buried the Pride a little bit but they finished the regular season strong winning 8 of their last 10 to get the double bye and establish themselves as a threat. Also I don’t know why it took me until this year to realize this, or what I thought the logo was before, but I just realized this year that their logo is 2 Lions.

UNC Wilmington Seahawks (+360): If you want a spoiler in the NCAA tournament this is the team to root for in this conference. The Seahawks slow the pace and take lots of 3s so they’re dangerous if they get hot, this was on display when they took down Kentucky this year. There is an ugly side to this team, they don’t play great defense and they get run off the court if the shots don’t fall.

Drexel Dragons (+450): Drexel is a team who thrust themselves into contention with a strong start to CAA play. They had flashes OOC including a win at Villanova. The consistency isn’t there, however, they dropped a few odd games OOC and in conference play. They struggled a lot late Jan – Mid Feb but righted the ship with a 3 game win streak to end the regular season.

Sleepers (+500 or above)

Towson Tigers (+1900): Towson has hinted they could contend throughout the year. They kept games close with a lot of good teams but struggled to come out with a win. This is a team you can’t count out.

Delaware Blue Hens (+1900): Delaware is another solid team. They had a big non-conference win over Xavier, but the Blue Hens struggled in conference play, they never beat any of the big 4.

Monmouth Hawks (+2000): Monmouth got an early season win at West Virginia and it felt like maybe just maybe we could get a return of this program back to the heights of the bench mob days. They didn’t quite stay at that level all season but they’ve been improved.

My Pick:

Charleston Cougars (+200): I really like this UNC Wilmington team and was so tempted to pick them but in the end I couldn’t bet against Pat Kelsey’s squad, they’re the hottest team in the conference and if it comes down to it, UNC Wilmington would have to beat them for a 3rd time which is tough to do.