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It’s conference tournament season, y’all.
We’ll begin deciding conference champions and NCAA tournament bids on Tuesday when four conferences begin postseason play.
Liberty and North Florida are the favorites in the Atlantic Sun, Hampton’s Jermaine Marrow is a must-watch in the Big South, Wright State rolls into the Horizon League tourney with 25 wins and Colgate seems to be at the top of the Patriot League again.
Here’s everything you need to know about Tuesday’s games.
ASUN
The ASUN jumps right into its quarterfinals on Tuesday. All games are at the campus site of the higher seed, and each game can be watched on ESPN+.
- Jacksonville at North Florida, UNF Arena — 7 p.m. ET
- North Alabama at Stetson, Edmunds Center — 7 p.m. ET
- NJIT at Liberty, Vines Center — 7 p.m. ET
- FGCU at Lipscomb, Allen Arena — 8 p.m. ET
Top seeds in Liberty and Jacksonville should advance to the semifinals with ease. FGCU’s match-up with Lipscomb could be interesting as the two teams split their regular season meetings with both games being decided by 10 points or less. But the potential upset might be at the Edmunds Center, where Stetson hosts North Alabama. The Lions — in just their second year of Division I play — are on a three-game winning streak and are armed with the conference’s leading rebounder in Emmanuel Littles (10.4 RPG). Stetson has beaten North Alabama twice this year, but both games were decided by less than 11 points.
Big South
The first round of the Big South tournament is hosted at campus sites of the higher seed. Each game is on ESPN3.
- Presbyterian at Charleston Southern, Buccaneer Fieldhouse — 7 p.m. ET
- Campbell at UNC Asheville, Kimmel Arena — 7 p.m. ET
- High Point at USC Upstate, Hodge Center — 7 p.m. ET
None of the Big South teams playing Tuesday night have winning records. The post-Chris Clemons Campbell Camels (say that five times fast, eh?) are 15-15 overall and 6-12 in conference play. They’re armed with Cedric Henderson Jr., who is third in the league in field goal percentage with a 58.4% mark, and Ja’Cor Nelson, who is third in the league in steals with 1.6 per game.
Horizon
The first round of the Horizon League tournament is hosted on campus sites of the higher seeds. Games can be streamed on ESPN+.
- Cleveland State at Oakland, Athletics Center O’Rena — 7 p.m. ET
- Milwaukee at Youngstown State, Beeghly Center — 7 p.m. ET
- IUPUI at UIC, Credit 1 Union Arena — 8 p.m. ET
Look, IUPUI is not a good basketball team this year. They’re 7-24 and have won three games since the turn of the new year. However, the Jaguars feature one of the best board men in college basketball in Elyjah Goss, who is fifth in the nation with 11.7 rebounds per-game. Maybe the 6-foot-7 junior can swing a first round game, maybe he can’t, but it’s fun to watch him work. His teammate Marcus Burke is second in the league in scoring too, putting up 21.3 points per-game.
Patriot
The first round of Patriot League tournament games are at campus sites of the higher seed. Games can be streamed on Stadium.
- Loyola (MD) at Lehigh, Stabler Arena — 7 p.m. ET
- Holy Cross at Bucknell, Sojka Pavilion — 7 p.m. ET
Holy Cross has lost 11 straight games and will likely make it a 12th on Tuesday. The Crusaders are the 10th worst team in KenPom. Unless you like watching teams flame out in the worst way, don’t watch them. Instead, check out Loyola (MD) vs. Lehigh, where the conference’s leading scorer — Loyola’s Andrew Kostecka and his 19.9 PPG — goes up against a team in Lehigh that has won three straight games.