Under the Radar (Feb 20th)

Tonight’s feature conference is the Ohio Valley, which has gone from Morehead State having a seemingly comfortable lead over the rest of the pack to a 4-team logjam at the top of the standings.

After that, we run through the other 21 UTR conferences and discuss how Colgate has clinched the Patriot, Vermont may clinch the America East as early as this weekend, Samford’s tough loss to Mercer and bounce back win tonight, Indiana State’s tough week after being in the rankings, and so much more. And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show. And below that is our UTR Conference Watch!

CONFERENCE WATCH:

-AMERICA EAST:
-Vermont has a 2 game lead with 4 games remaining. They can clinch 1st place outright with a win at Albany on Thursday and a win at home against Bryant on Saturday.
-Maine has a 1/2 game lead over NJIT for 8th place. Only 8 teams make the field, and the two play each other this Saturday

-ASUN:
-Eastern Kentucky has a 1 game lead on Stetson with four games to go. Stetson won the regular season meeting and presumably holds the tiebreaker.
-There is a three way tie for 8th place between Kennesaw State, Queens, and Central Arkansas, and Jacksonville is just one game behind them. Only 10 teams make the conference tournament, so one of those four will be left out.

-BIG SKY:
-Eastern Washington has a 2 game lead over Northern Colorado with 5 games remaining. The two play each other this Saturday in a game that could determine 1st place

-BIG SOUTH:
-High Point and UNC Asheville are tied for 1st place with a two game lead over Gardner Webb. There are just 3 games remaining, and the two split the regular season

-BIG WEST:
-UC Irvine has a 1 game lead over UC San Diego with 6 games to go, but UCSD is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament.
-UC Riverside has a 2 game lead over Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton for the 8th place spot and the last spot in the conference tournament.

CAA:
-Charleston has a 1 game lead over UNC Wilmington and Drexel with 4 games remaining. They beat Drexel during the regular season, but lost both games to UNCW.

CONFERENCE USA:
-Louisiana Tech has a 1 game lead over Sam Houston and Western Kentucky with 5 games remaining. LA Tech still has both of those teams remaining on their schedule

HORIZON LEAGUE:
-Oakland and Green Bay are tied in the loss column with 3 games remaining, and the two split the regular season series

IVY LEAGUE:
-Cornell and Yale are tied in 1st place, and both have a 1 game lead on Princeton. There are 5 games remaining, and Cornell will face both Yale and Princeton between now and the end.
-Harvard and Columbia are tied for 4th place, and Brown is 1 game behind them. Only 4 teams make the conference tournament, so two of them will be eliminated
-Penn and Dartmouth are 3 games out of 4th place with 5 games remaining

MAAC:
-Quinnipiac has a 2 game lead over Fairfield, Niagara, and Marist with 6 games remaining

MEAC:
-Norfolk State has a 2 game lead over a 5-way tie for 2nd place (NC Central, Delaware State, Howard, SC State, Morgan State). 5 regular season games remain

MAC:
-Akron and Toledo have a 1 game lead over Central Michigan (checks notes to make sure I’ve got that right…) YES! Central Michigan! Akron and Toledo split the regular season series.
-Only 8 teams make the conference tournament. Western Michigan has a 1 game lead over Ball State for 8th place, and a 3 game lead over Eastern Michigan, Eastern Illinois, and a 4 game lead over Buffalo. Buffalo could be eliminated this Saturday

MISSOURI VALLEY:
-Indiana State and Drake are tied for 1st with a 3 game lead over Bradley with 4 games remaining. The two split the regular season series

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE:
-Merrimack has a 1 game lead on Central Connecticut with 3 games to go, and the two split the regular season series.
-Stonehill is 2 games back of Saint Francis U with 3 games to go, and the two play each other Saturday in a game that could eliminate Stonehill.

OVC:
-Morehead State, Little Rock, UT Martin, and Western Illinois are in a 4-way tie for 1st place with 4 games to go. The top 2 teams receive byes into the semifinals of the conference tournament
-Southern Indiana has a 1/2 game lead over Tennessee Tech for 8th place, and only 8 teams make the conference tournament. SEMO and Lindenwood (who isn’t eligible for the NCAAs anyway) could be eliminated this week

PATRIOT LEAGUE:
-Colgate has clinched 1st place outright and will have home court advantage throughout the conference tournament

SOCON:
-Samford has a 2 game lead over UNC Greensboro with 3 games to go, and can clinch at least a share of 1st place if they beat Furman on Wednesday and East Tennessee State on Saturday

SOUTHLAND:
-McNeese has a 3 game lead over a 3-way tie for 2nd (TAMUCC, Lamar Nicholls) with 5 games to go and can clinch at least a share of 1st place if they win their next two games (vs Incarnate Word, @Lamar)
-TAMU Commerce has a 1/2 game lead over Incarnate Word and a 1 game lead over New Orleans for the 8th and final spot in the Southland Tournament

SUN BELT:
-Appalachian State has a 1 game lead over James Madison with 4 games remaining and won both regular season meetings.
-Both James Madison and App State have a shot at landing on the bubble.
-Troy is also tied with JMU for 2nd place

SWAC:
-Southern and Grambling are tied for 1st with a two game lead over a 3-way tie for 3rd (Jackson State, Texas Southern, Alcorn State). There are 5 games remaining, and the two play each other this Saturday
-There is a 3 way tie for 6th place (Bethune Cookman, Alabama State, Alabama A&M) and those three teams have a 1 game lead over Arkansas Pine Bluff. Only 8 teams make the conference tournament.
-Mississippi Valley State has been eliminated
-Florida A&M will be eliminated if they lose one more game

SUMMIT LEAGUE:
-North Dakota and South Dakota State are tied for 1st in the loss column with 4 games remaining. The two play each other on Feb 29th in a game that could determine first place

WAC:
-Grand Canyon has a 2 game lead over Seattle U with 5 games remaining, and can possibly clinch at least a share of 1st place this weekend if they win both their games (@Tarlton State, @ Abilene Christian), and Seattle loses
-Utah Tech has a 1/2 game lead over Abilene Christian for 8th place, and the two play each other on March 2nd
-UTRVG is 4 games out of 8th place with 6 games remaining and could be eliminated this week

INDEPENDENT:
-Chicago State has completed their season with a 9-18 overall record against D1, and a quad 1 road win at Northwestern