Conference tournament viewers guide for March 7th

The Road to the Final Four starts Tuesday evening, as four leagues begin their conference tournaments. 32 conferences will help set the field for the NCAA Tournament with the bracket finalized on March 15th during Selection Sunday.

We’ll take a look at the matchup and spreads for each game tonight, and give you a bit of context for each game. We’ll be eliminating teams each day for the next two weeks, so join us!

Mountain West Conference Championship

No. 2 Utah State vs No. 1 San Diego State Aztecs

Spread: SDSU -5.5
O/U: 131
TV: CBS
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET

Should be a classic. Sam Merrill vs. Malachi Flynn. SDSU plays for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Utah State looks to lock up their bubble status.

Ohio Valley Conference Championship

No. 2 Murray State Racers vs. No. 1 Belmont Bruins

Spread: Belmont -3
O/U: 140
TV: CBS
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

The best two teams in the OVC had a double bye to get to last night’s semifinal. Nick Muszynski vs. Tevin Brown and DJ Williams for the auto bid will be worth watching.

West Coast Conference

No. 5 San Francisco Dons vs. No. 4 Pacific Tigers

Spread: San Francisco -3
O/U: 134
TV: CBS
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET

The Dons played last night, Damon Stoudamire’s Tigers did not, but USF is still laying points here. Charles Minlend will need to be big if the Dons can get to the semifinals.

No. 6 Pepperdine Waves vs. No. 3 Saint Mary’s Gaels

Spread: SMC -7
O/U: 144.5
TV: CBS
Time: 12:30 a.m. ET

Saint Mary’s won this tournament last year, and are on the bubble. A loss here would hurt their at-large case a bunch.

Missouri Valley Conference

No. 8 Drake Bulldogs vs. No. 4 Bradley Bears

Spread: Bradley -2.5
O/U: 131
TV: ESPN+
Time: 3:35 p.m. ET

Arch Madness has been madness. Drake knocked off the No. 1 seed Northern Iowa in a blowout yesterday. And because of the Chaos, Bradley is now the highest-ranked team left in the tournament.

No. 7 Valparaiso Crusaders vs. No. 6 Missouri State Bears

Spread: MSU -3.5
O/U: 138
TV: ESPN+
Time: 6:05 p.m. ET

Neither of these teams were supposed to be here, and while MSU won very comfortably yesterday, Valpo needed overtime and chaos. Look for Tulio Da Silva for MSU to take advantage, as he was the best player on the floor the Bears yesterday.

Northeast Conference

No. 4 LIU vs. No. 1 Robert Morris

Spread: Robert Morris -5.5
O/U: 143.5
TV: ESPN3
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET

As we’ve seen with Northern Iowa and Radford, it’s never easy for the No. 1 seeds. Robert Morris will need to deal with Raiquan Clark and Ty Flowers in the front court today to reach the final.

No. 3 Sacred Heart vs. No. 2 Saint Francis

Spread: St. Francis (PA) -5
O/U: 149
TV: ESPN+
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

SFU barely survived at home against a bad Mt. St. Mary’s team on Wednesday, while Sacred Heart comfortably held on against Bryant. Two teams likely trending in opposite directions.

American East Conference

No. 5 New Hampshire Wildcats vs. No. 4 UMBC Retrievers

Spread: UMBC -2.5
O/U: 131
TV: ESPN3
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

UMBC, darlings of two years ago, were 8-8 in the AE this year. Bill Herrion’s Wildcats hit the offensive glass as well as any team in America.

No. 6 UMass Lowell River Hawks vs. No. 2 Hartford Hawks

Spread: Hartford -1.5
O/U: 144.5
TV: ESPN3
Time: 5:00 p.m. ET

Hartford fell to a bad Maine team last time out, but seniors Traci Carter and Malik Ellison won’t want to head home early. Lowell closed strong winning four of their last six to avoid a play-in game.

No. 7 Albany Great Danes vs. No. 2 Stony Brook Seawolves

Spread: Stony Brook -7.5
O/U: 133
TV: ESPN3
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Stony Brook swept Albany during the regular season. SBU struggled with the best in the conference, but comfortably beat the bottom half most of the year.

No. 8 Maine Black Bears vs. No. 1 Vermont Catamounts

Spread: Vermont -19.5
O/U: 129
TV: ESPN3
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

That spread is for a reason. Vermont is the huge favorite to win this league, and over 100 NET points over every other team.

Southern Conference

No. 9 VMI Keydets vs. No. 1 ETSU Buccaneers

Spread: ETSU -13.5
O/U: 137
TV: ESPN+
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET

ETSU is the chalk to win the SoCon at -134, but Furman and UNC-Greensboro are in contention as well. The Buccaneers have won nine in a row.

No. 5 Western Carolina Catamounts vs. No. 4 Mercer Bears

Spread: Western Carolina -1
O/U: 152
TV: ESPN+
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

Mercer struggled early but won four in a row to close the season against the bottom half of the league. WCU really struggles in the post, but can shoot it with anyone in America.

No. 7 Wofford Terriers vs. No. 2 Furman Paladins

Spread: Furman -5.5
O/U: 136
TV: ESPN+
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET

Furman is +300 to take home the trophy. Wofford had lost seven in a row before beating The Citadel to get here.

No. 6 Chattanooga vs. No. 3 UNC-Greensboro

Spread: UNCG -5.5
O/U: 136.5
TV: ESPN3
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Greensboro is third-favorite to win the league at +320 in one of the closer boards of any tournament. They lost 74-72 at Chattanooga last Saturday, but will be the home team today.

Colonial Athletic Association

Game 1: No. 9 UNCW Seahawks vs. No. 8 Drexel Dragons

Spread: Drexel -4
O/U: 137.5
TV: FloHoops
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET

Remember Brett Blizzard? So do we. Drexel has lost seven in a row, and we’re not really sure how they’re laying points on a neutral floor here?

Game 2: No. 10 James Madison Dukes vs. No. 7 Elon Phoenix

Spread: Elon -2.5
O/U: 149.5
TV: FloHoops
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

Elon dropped their last two games to end up in a play-in game. JMU was 2-0 against UNCW this season, and 0-16 against everyone else in the CAA.

Sun Belt Conference

No. 9 Arkansas State Red Wolves at No. 8 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns

Spread: UL -3.5
O/U: 154
TV: ESPN+
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET

No. 10 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at No. 7 UT-Arlington Mavericks

Spread: UTA -5.5
O/U: 152
TV: ESPN+
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET

Summit Conference

No. 8 Denver Pioneers vs. No. 1 North Dakota State Bison

Spread: North Dakota State -11.5
O/U: 141
TV: ESPN+
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

No. 7 IPFW Mastodons vs. No. 2 South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Spread: South Dakota State -7.5
O/U: 140
TV: ESPN+
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET

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