Small Conference Tourneys Best Hoops Action Until March Madness

While the Big East, Big Twelve, SEC and other major conferences get the lions share of attention, college basketball fans who love the game really love Championship Week.  That’s because game after game, teams from conferences like the America East, Patriot League and Big South know that their only chance to reach the “Big Dance” is to win the postseason tournament, and the games have the extra passion that makes college hoops so exciting.

For the past couple of weeks, coaches, administrators and fans at dozens of small schools have been looking at standings, figuring out what they need to do to earn the #2 seed or #4 seed, or to avoid that first-round opponent they don’t want to face.  If we win two, and this team loses one, and the other team wins another, we can get the six seed and not have to face #1 until the final.

Conference tournaments take on a life of their own.  The teams all get together for the banquet the night before the tournament, receive season awards, listen to a few speeches, all the while preparing for the all-or-nothing battles that these small-conference events produce, especially the ones like the Northeast Conference where the finals are held at the higher seed’s home gym.  There is often a #7 upending a #2 or some other unexpected result, and every so often, one of those teams that won 10 or 11 games finds its way into the final and on ESPN.

I’m looking forward to the small-conference events (starting with the Big South on Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2 — Go UNC Asheville!) more than the big conference tournaments for that pure-sport aspect that every game has.  Though most of the names and many of the schools will be new to some fans, the energy and emotion in the gyms more than make up for it.