Four more tournaments tip off in the next two nights, including one that could be a potential three bid league if things break right.
Patriot League Tournament (QF Wed, SF Sat, championship Wed 3/7 at higher seed)
*Format: All eight teams play in a single elimination bracket.
*TV: SF and championship (7 PM) will be on CBS Sports.
*At-Large Potential: Patriot League teams have never gotten an at-large.
*Who to Watch: Regular season champion Bucknell and second-seeded Lehigh are the class of the league and the favorites to meet in the finals. Should that happen the game will be in Lewisburg, PA at Bucknell's home court which could be the difference. Bucknell swept the regular season and tournament last year and Lehigh did it the year before. The regular season champ has represented the PL in the Big Dance every season since 2005.
America East Tournament (Play in game Thurs, QF/SF Sat/Sun at Hartford, championship Sat 3/10 at higher seed)
*Format: Bracket. All nine conference teams qualified
*TV: Final is on ESPN2 next Saturday at 11 AM.
*At-Large Potential: America East has never had an at-large team.
*Who to Watch: The top two seeds are Stony Brook and Vermont, both of whom won 20 games overall and at least 13 in conference. The Seawolves are 17-2 since Christmas while Vermont has won 13 of 15. Those two will be the heavy favorites especially as the host for the first two games is about the seventh best team in the conference. Also worth noting is that play-in game between UMBC (4-25) and Binghamton (1-28) could possibly be the worst postseason game ever.
Missouri Valley Tournament (Thurs-Sun in Saint Louis)
*Format: Bracket with all ten league teams.
*TV: Finals are on CBS Sports at 1 PM.
*At-Large Potential: Wichita State is in no matter what. Creighton would do well not to lose a stupid one in their first game, but even if they do, the MVC should get its first at-large since way back in 2007.
*Who to Watch: Arch Madness! The two teams mentioned above are your favorites. They're the only two to finish above .500 in league games, although it's worth noting that the next five teams all finished 9-9. Doug McDermott might be the best player in the country, averaging 23.1/8.1 on 60.7% from the field and 47.9% from three. He, not Harrison Barnes, is the answer to the trivia question "Who is the best college sophomore from Ames, Iowa". Speaking of which how do Iowa State fans feel about those two getting away?
Northeast Conference Tournament (Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday at higher seed)
*Format: How is this even a tournament? No neutral site games, no games on back to back days, and possibly worst of all, the semifinals get reseeded so as if home court isn't enough of an advantage for the higher seeds, a six or seven that pulls a big upset gets to go play on the league champion's home court. 8 of the eleven eligible teams qualified - Mount St Mary's, St Francis PA, Fairleigh Dickinson and Bryant (ineligible) stay at home.
*TV: Final is Wednesday at 7PM on ESPN2.
*At-Large Potential: The NEC hasn't had a seed better than a 15 since 2002.
*Who to Watch: Wagner is only the number two seed after losing their last game of the season, but the computers have them as the best team by far. Danny Hurley's team beat Pitt earlier in the season and have a gaudy 24-5 record. That being said, Long Island is the back to back conference regular season champion and last year's tournament champ, plus they have home court in the finals, so it should be a good one.
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