SoCon, CAA Tournament Previews

Southern Conference

Bracket

1) East Tennessee State, 2) Wofford, 3) Samford, 4) Mercer, 5) Western Carolina, 6) Furman, 7) UNC Greensboro, 8) Chattanooga, 9) The Citadel, 10) Virginia Military Institute

Format

Standard 10 team format with each round on the day following the previous one. Only real difference I see is that unlike some formats, the highest seeds always go earliest in the quarterfinals. A lot of formats will run the 2 seed in the evening session rather than the second game of the afternoon session. I don't think it will have a huge effect but it's an interesting twist that helps the top seeds just a little bit more.

All games are being played at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

How to Watch

1st Round, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals: ESPN+
Championship: ESPNS2

Favorites

1 seed East Tennessee State Buccaneers - ETSU won the regular season by two games and have the best defense and a relatively easy path to at least the semifinals. The offense is a little held back by just average three point shooting, but they will run opponents off the three point line on defense and generate lots of steals by hassling their opponents.

4 seed Mercer Bears - Mercer plays the fastest in the SoCon and has the best offense by a fair margin. They finished in a three way for second place so they got stuck with the 4 seed but they are every bit capable of winning this tournament. Guard Baraka Okojie gets into the paint and draws a bunch of fouls.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members

The Citadel Bulldogs (1939) - founding member

Citadel has never really been particularly close to making the tournament, coming 1 game short just once in their history.

Other Long Droughts

Virginia Military Institute Keydets (1977)
Western Carolina Catamounts (1996)
Mercer Bears (2014)

Rooting Interests

No potential at-large bids here, so pick a favorite. As Big Ten fans, I don't think we are legally allowed to root for the Citadel or VMI. Our midwestern sensibilities demand that their campuses be captured and burned to the ground.

Conference NCAA Tournament History

Last season Wofford lost to 2 seed Tennessee 62-77.

The most recent SoCon victory came in 2023 when Furman upset Virginia 68-67. I was laughing at that point in the day.

East Tennessee State got to the 1968 Sweet 16 before losing to Ohio State.

The 1974 Sweet 16 included Furman after they upset South Carolina in the first round.

VMI made the 1976 Elite 8.

In 1996, Western Carolina came very, very close to being the first 16 seed to upset a 1 seed when the Catamounts narrowing lost to Purdue 71-73.

14 seed Chattanooga made the 1997 Sweet 16 after defeating Georgia, then Illinois.

Mercer had a memorable Round of 64 victory over Duke in 2014.

Kind of...: In the comments a while back, I recounted the years of Keith "Mister" Jennings, an undersized PG who led ETSU to the tournament three straight years in the last 80s/early 90s. In '89 the lost to 1-seed Oklahoma by a point on the same day 1-seed Georgetown escaped Princeton by a single point. In '91, ETSU's best team (and Jennings's senior year), the Buccaneers fell to Iowa 76-73 in a 7/10 game. Then, in '92, without Jennings, 14-seed ETSU broke through in their fourth straight appearance, upsetting 3-seed Arizona, before running into the Fab Five.

'97 Illinois's loss to Chattanooga was hilarious. Illini were a 6-seed, luck into a 14-seed in the second round and would've had 10-seed Providence in the Sweet 16 had they won. Alas, the Kiwane Garris era ended quicker than expected.

Storylines and Likely Seeds

The favorite, ETSU is projected to be a 16 seed. The Buccaneers and maybe Mercer could sneak onto the 15 seed line if there are just a couple of long shot auto bid winners in front of them.

The SoCon is experiencing a bit of a youth movement as talented players have tended to enter the portal in recent years. Rather than compete for scraps, many SoCon coaches have chosen to recruit high school players they couldn't previously hope to obtain.

Chattanooga was the preseason favorite in the league. Injuries and some bad luck have put them in the 8/9 game, but they are mostly healthy right now, shoot a lot of threes, and could claim a scalp or two.

Coastal Athletic Association

Bracket

Format

The top 4 seeds have been placed in the quarterfinals while teams 5-13 have to fight their way there. After an opening round 12/13 game, things look pretty typical.

The tournament will be played at CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C. Each round takes place the day after the previous one with no off days.

How to Watch

1st Round, 2nd Round, Quarterfinals: FloHoops
Semifinals & Championship: CBSSN

Favorites

1 UNC Wilmington Seahawks - Wilmington has a good defense and is a solid rebounding team, but the offense can get stuck in the mud. They play a deliberate pace and struggle at the rim. Still, they had just 3 CAA losses with two of them coming to 6 seed William & Mary and the other to Charleston. Both teams are on the other side of the bracket so Wilmington should be ocnfident.

2 Charleston Cougars - Charleston lost back to back home games against Wilmington and Hofstra in early February but have otherwise been winning since mid January. They have the most experienced head coach in the league with Chris Mack having formerly received a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The roster can't make threes though which leaves them vulnerable to upsets.

3 Hofstra Pride - The Pride have won 8 of 9 games after starting the CAA season off slow. They've got very good rim protection and force opponents to take shots away from the rim. They've also got Cruz Davis who is 2nd in the country in minutes played while shooting 40% from three.

Never Made the Tournament Club Members

William & Mary Tribe (1939) - founding member
Elon Phoenix (2000)

Elon University is merging with Queens University but they are expected to keep both athletics programs. I'm sure that makes sense to someone.

William & Mary has been 1 game away 10 times. They've been one possession away multiple times.

Other Long Droughts

Towson Tigers (1991)
Campbell Fighting Camels (1992)
Hofstra Pride (2001)
Monmouth Hawks (2006)

Hofstra was robbed by the committee in 2006. The fact we shifted from debating a 24-6 team with a questionable schedule to a 30-0 team with a questionable schedule shows how far we've fallen in the past twenty years.

Rooting Interests

It's William & Mary. Brian Earl is a good coach. W&M play a fast exciting brand of basketball on offense and make opponents earn their points on the other end of the court. I'm not sure that this is the year, but it is coming. Root for Wiliam & Mary. Go Tribe!

Conference NCAA Tournament History

Last season, 14 seed UNC Wilmington lost in the Round of 64 to Texas Tech 72-82.

The CAA hasn't won a tournament game since 2013 when former member James Madison defeated LIU Brooklyn 68-55 in Dayton. That's a bit misleading of the conference's strength as they've had plenty of the close calls since.

Northeastern won first round or preliminary round games in 1981, 1982, and 1984 as an 11 seed each time.

In 1996, the Drexel Dragons beat 5 seed Memphis in the Round of 64 before falling to Syracuse.

The Charleston Cougars shocked Maryland in 1997 75-66 to reach the Round of 32.

15 seed Hampton knocked off 2 seed Iowa State 58-57 back in 2001 when they were still in the MEAC.

UNC Wilmington advanced to the Round of 32 in 2002 by upsetting USC 93-89 in overtime.

NC A&T has a 1-10 NCAA tournament record with the lone win coming in the First Four over Liberty (hurray!).

Kind of...: That 1997 College of Charleston team...29-3 on the year, beat Stanford (who would make the Sweet 16) on a neutral court. In second round against Arizona, they had the ball down 71-69 with 15 seconds to go. THAT close to knocking off the eventual national champs.

Storylines and Likely Seeds

Chris Mack tries to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since being fired by Louisville. I hear the Xavier job might come open so maybe he wants that one back.

Wilmington would probably be a 13 seed. The next cluster of teams (Charleston, Hofstra, William & Mary) might drop done to the 14 seed line. The rest could be a 15 or 16 seed.