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Cleveland State at Green Bay, 7:00 PM Eastern, ESPN2
The Cleveland State Vikings. All season (especially for those that follow our forums as well), I have been calling them a pretender to the Horizon League crown. While acknowledging the battle for the top spot in the conference between Valparaiso and Green Bay, I have called Cleveland State’s spot (currently tied with Green Bay for second place, one game behind Valpo) at the top of the standings pretty much a fraud. Tonight is the night for the Vikings to prove me wrong. Head coach Gary Waters will be bringing his team to Wisconsin to take on the Green Bay Phoenix and put themselves in prime contention for at least the double bye in the Horizon League tournament that comes with the 2 seed, if not the home court advantage that comes with the #1 spot.
Cleveland State enters tonight’s game at 10-3 in conference and 16-11 overall. Their RPI, BPI and KenPom ratings are all in the triple digits, well behind Valpo and Green Bay. The Vikings went only 4-8 against Division I competition in non-conference play including horrible losses to Savannah State and Eastern Illinois. However, they have been solid in league play including a home win over Green Bay. The season sweep of the Phoenix tonight will give the Vikings the tiebreaker edge against them as we enter the final week of the conference regular season (which will conclude with a home game next weekend against Valpo). CSU has been led so far this season by Anton Grady, who scored 24 points in the earlier win over Green Bay, and Trey Lewis who has been in double-digits the majority of the time this season, including a 25 point effort in the Green Bay win.
The Green Bay Phoenix enter tonight’s game at 10-3 in conference and 21-6 overall. Their RPI (43), BPI (65) and KenPom (62) are all tops in the conference. Their solid season so far has included wins over Florida Gulf Coast, Evansville, Georgia State and a huge road win at Miami. Unfortunately, a couple of slip-ups in conference, including a loss at Oakland, have probably killed any chance for an at-large bid. Failing to win the conference regular season title will also significantly hurt those chances, and the Phoenix no longer control their own destiny there with Valpo a game ahead of them and no head-to-head contests left. Right now, the Phoenix need to be more concerned about at least finishing in second place, which will give them the double bye to the conference tournament semifinals and a chance to host the championship game should Valparaiso falter in the other half of the bracket. In order to get there, a win over the Vikings at home tonight is an absolute necessity.