NOTE:The seedlist used to build the bracket was voted on at 7pm, est. No games that were played after that time were considered
A full Hoops HD panel have all submitted their own individual seedlists. They were then cross country scored by Chad to form a master seedlist, and it is revealed to the panel Selection Sunday style team by team and line by line. They discuss, assess, and debate each team as they are revealed. See who the #1 seeds are, who the rest of the protected seeds are, who is on the bubble, and who just missed it.
Below is the final bracket, but don’t look at it until you’ve watched the show!!
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place this week in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with a recap of the semifinal doubleheader on Monday.
Another delicious pregame meal: chicken/rice/pita bread/hummus! Let’s tip off a nice mellow doubleheader after surviving back-to-back quadruple-headers over the weekend…please:
GAME #1: Delaware-Towson As you might expect, the crowd skewed heavily in favor of the top seed: it appeared that at least 75% of the fans were wearing yellow since it a relatively short trip from Baltimore to DC. Coaches Pat Skerry of Towson and Martin Ingelsby of Delaware were just 1 win away from a spot in Tuesday night’s title game:
Towson G Dylan Williamson was coming off a career-high 32-PT performance on Sunday and picked up right where he left off as he scored 12 PTS/4-6 FG in the 1st half:
In contrast, Delaware F John Camden scored a career-high 36 PTS on Sunday…but only scored 2 PTS during the 1st 20 minutes tonight:
It was a tight affair with neither team leading by more than 4 PTS during the whole half, but the 12-seed Blue Hens continued their “Cinder-Dela” story (copyright pending!) on a tremendous 1-handed alley-oop dunk by Niels Lane right before the buzzer (scroll to the 1:50 mark of the following video and tell me if this dunk-of-the-year candidate reminds you of Grant Hill’s famous dunk from his Duke days: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pJXbFsJ8A8) as they headed into the locker room with a 36-32 lead:
Delaware was finally able to build a double-digit lead early in the 2nd half as Coach Skerry called a timeout and tried to save his season. To ease the tension, the mascots decided to have a dance-off:
The Blue Hens have leaned heavily on their starting 5 all weekend, and all 5 of them responded by scoring in double-digits. The X-factor was SO G Trent Middleton Jr.: he had only scored 12 PTS during his 1st 3 tourney games but was big off the bench with 14 huge PTS:
The entire Delaware team combined to shoot a sizzling 55.1 FG% and upset the #1 seed Tigers by a score of 82-72. In the postgame press conference, I asked Niels where his big basket ranks among his all-time dunks. He confirmed that it might have been the best dunk of his life because he did not even touch the rim but rather “threw” it into the hoop:
Coach Ingelsby’s brother Brad is a big-time Hollywood screenwriter, so I queried the coach what his reaction would be if Brad tried to sell him the story of a scrappy 12-seed winning a conference tourney title in a movie called “Cinder-Dela”. He smiled and mentioned that his brother was in the arena for last night’s game, and that his team has provided some good material, but that the key is their belief that they can beat anybody:
GAME #2: UNCW-Charleston I was running on fumes after 3 straight nights of basketball so I called it a night…but the nightcap turned out to be 1 of the games of the day as UNCW hung on to win it 68-67. That is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow when a champion gets “Crowned in the Capital”!
We are only 6 days away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2024 tourney: 62 of his 67 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 41 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming week predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 16th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 179 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Auburn (SEC) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Houston (Big 12) 1: Florida (SEC)
2: Alabama (SEC) 2: Tennessee (SEC) 2: Michigan State (Big 10) 2: St. John’s (Big East)
We had three champions crowned today! Drake put all the bubble issues to rest by clinching the automatic bid with their win over Drake, Lipscomb is going dancing for just the second time in school history after beating North Alabama in the ASun Final, and Omaha got the win over Saint Thomas for their first ever conference championships. We had some great games in the CAA, SoCon, and WCC as well. We recap all of that and preview all of tomorrow’s action.
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place this weekend in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with a recap of the quarterfinal quadruple-header on Sunday.
Another delicious lunch of make-your-own cheeseburgers, roasted potatoes, and brownie/chocolate chip cookie for dessert! Let’s tip off a 2nd straight day of quadruple-headers from up in the press box:
GAME #1: Drexel-Towson The 2 coaches (Pat Skerry/Zach Spiker) are ready to roll:
I missed most of the 1st half while typing up/preparing some interviews. Drexel G Shane Blakeney scored 11 PTS/4-6 FG in the 1st half but Towson wing Tyler Tejada scored 12 PTS/6-10 FG as the Tigers opened up a 38-29 lead at halftime:
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the difference-maker during a game…but not today. Blakeney kept pouring it on all game long but Towson G Dylan Williamson simply took over in the 2nd half, making all 6 of his shots from behind the arc (including the game-clincher with 25.2 seconds left) and setting a career-high with 32 PTS, as the Tigers slayed the Dragons by a score of 82-76.
In the postgame press conference I asked Williamson (who is from Upper Marlboro, MD) if he had a lot of family/friends in the crowd. He said that he did and that he really appreciated their support:
GAME #2: Delaware-William & Mary I missed most of the 1st half while preparing my all-conference awards (Part 2). Delaware F John Camden came out hot with 15 PTS/4-6 3PM in the 1st half, but William & Mary used a balanced scoring attack thanks to Kyle Pulliam and others as the Tribe finished the half with a 49-47 lead. In the 2nd half Camden somehow took it up a notch with 21 PTS/4-4 3PM to finished with a career-high 36 PTS as #12-seed Delaware pulled off the huge upset by a score of 100-78.
In the postgame press conference I asked Camden (who only made 7 total threes last season) if it was 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”. He said that he has not been shooting the 3 that well during the past month but that he felt he was due for a good performance. His coaches trusted him and his teammates found him for good looks:
GAME #3: Hampton-UNCW Another great dinner: BBQ sliders/roasted potatoes/cornbread! I missed most of the 1st half while preparing for an interview. UNCW G Bo Montgomery was the 1st half hero with 15 PTS/6-7 FG as his team opened up a 45-28 lead heading into halftime:
I also missed most of the 2nd half while conducting another interview. Montgomery did not make a single FG after halftime, but the rest of his team picked up the slack as the Seahawks soared to a 79-65 win.
In the postgame press conference I asked UNCW coach Takayo Siddle if he had the “freshest” team left in the tourney since Donovan Newby is the only guy on his roster who averages 30+ minutes/game. He said he certainly hopes so. He uses an 8-man rotation and the beauty of his team is that they attack you in different ways.
GAME #4: Monmouth-Charleston I was running on fumes by the end of the night but was able to snap a quick photo of Jack/Kathleen Miller, who will be in the rare position of cheering for both teams tonight…but they have a very good reason. Their son Corey plays for Monmouth and their son Jack plays for Charleston: #MillerTime!
That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the semifinal doubleheader.
We are only 7 days away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2024 tourney: 62 of his 67 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 41 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming week predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 16th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 179 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Auburn (SEC) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Houston (Big 12) 1: Florida (SEC)
2: Alabama (SEC) 2: Tennessee (SEC) 2: Michigan State (Big 10) 2: St. John’s (Big East)
