CBB: Big Sky Conference Tournament Preview

Favorites (odds below +500)

Eastern Washington Eagles (+175): Eastern Washington entered conference play battle tested after facing the most ridiculous non-conference schedule I’ve seen this year. Eastern Washington didn’t have a single D1 home game, what a grind! They came so close to beating Ole Miss and a few Pac-12 opponents, but hit the ground running and took command early in conference play. The Eagles have a high flying offense, they shoot 3s well and are happy to engage in a shootout.

Montana Grizzlies (+250): It’s never a surprise to see Montana up here, the Griz are a Big Sky championship contender every year. Montana is a more balanced team and they enter the tournament on a good note winning 4 of their last 5. Montana hasn’t beaten Eastern Washington or Northern Colorado the top 2 seeds this year so they will be hoping for chaos.

Weber State Wildcats (+300): Weber State is the wildcard of the conference. They have a lot of talent and play an aggressive style. Any of these teams could be a headache for a higher seed if they win, but Weber State would be the biggest one as evidenced by their win over St Mary’s. Weber State has the best player in the conference in Dillon Jones. He put up the craziest statline I saw this year against Northern Colorado when he racked up 30 points, 23 REBOUNDS AND 9 assists. The Wildcats have struggled with consistency however, the Montana State game was a great example where they took control of the game late in the 2nd half, nearly opening a double digit lead only to get outscored by 20 to close the game.

Sleepers (+500 or above)

Northern Colorado Bears (+600): Northern Colorado is the 2 seed and they’ve been a contender all season. The Bears also come with a really fun offense. They haven’t been able to overcome Eastern Washington this year but they won both games over Montana on their side of the bracket so if they can avoid upsets and Eastern Washington goes down the Bears have a shot at their first bid since 2011.

Idaho State Bengals (+3000): Remember Northern Arizona’s magical run to the conference championship game last year, and are looking for a team that could duplicate or even improve upon that run? Idaho State just might be that team. The Bengals have looked really good since the end of January, even though they still lost some games down the stretch, the Bengals were in all but one game. Really that regular season finale against Montana is the only loss since late January that wasn’t close. The Big Sky Tournament can be chaos and if the Bengals get back to closing games they can bring that chaos.

My Pick:

Montana Grizzlies (+250): Chaos reigns in this tournament but usually in the end at least one top seed manages to navigate it to win it. I believe Montana can be consistent enough to be that team.