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The calendar has flipped to March which means it is the most wonderful time of the year for college basketball fans.
March Madness is officially upon us.
While we are still over a week from having the official NCAA Tournament bracket in our hands, the mid-major conference tournaments will be tipping off throughout the week. This means we will soon have teams punch their ticket to the big dance with hopes of being the next Cinderella story.
That being said, let’s take a look at the early mid-major conference tournaments and where value can be found in the book.
Atlantic Sun
- Favorite: Eastern Kentucky (+140)
- Pick: Eastern Kentucky (+140)
While the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky lost their last two games to end conference play, they will have home-court advantage throughout the A-Sun tournament that tipped off Monday night. Eastern Kentucky boasted a 12-4 record at home this year and went undefeated in conference play on their home court. While Lipscomb is ranked the highest in the A-Sun in Kenpom at 162, the Bison rank 306 in adjusted defense. As the saying goes in March, offense wins games, defense wins championships. With Eastern Kentucky on their home floor and being locked in after two regular season losses to end conference play, I believe the Colonels will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament from the A-Sun.
Sun Belt
- Favorite: James Madison (+120)
- Pick: Appalachian State (+180)
The Sun Belt or the “Fun Belt” as some people refer to it has been a two-horse race all season. The Dukes of JMU are riding a 10-game win streak entering the conference tournament while App State has won seven straight games and is riding the wave of securing their first outright regular season title since 1978-79. Needless to say, there is no debate about who the top two teams in the Sun Belt are. While JMU is the odds-on favorite and ranked…
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