Conference Tournament Odds 2015: March 10 Finals + SWAC

March 10, 2015 - by Aaron Barzilai

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) kicks off it’s conference tournament today along with the ACC.

Since we included our ACC conference tournament predictions in another post on conference tournament projections for the power conferences, only the forecast for the SWAC tournament appears below.

Before we take a whack at the SWAC, though, let’s talk about the four conferences handing out their automatic bids tonight: the West Coast Conference (WCC), Horizon League, Summit League, and Northeast Conference (NEC). There’s no Cinderella drama playing out in these four championship games, as the 1 seed is playing the 2 seed in every single one.

March 10th Conference Championship Finals

West Coast Conference Tournament

The game of the night tonight should be BYU vs Gonzaga at 9PM Eastern on ESPN. Gonzaga is currently projected for a 2 seed in the Big Dance while BYU looks to be on track for a 9 seed, according to our bracketology models. We give Gonzaga a 76% chance to win, and avenge their only conference loss a week and a half ago.

Horizon League Tournament

1 seed Valparaiso faces 3 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Horizon League championship at 7PM Eastern on ESPN. The teams split in the regular season, with Wisconsin-Green Bay winning 51-50 at home and Valparaiso returning the favor 63-59 in Indiana.

We give Valparaiso a 62% chance to overcome two-time conference player of the year Keifer Sykes and go dancing. Either team is on track to be a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament if they win tonight.

Summit League Tournament

In the Summit League, South Dakota State was a solid favorite at the start of the tournament, and the take on 2 seed North Dakota State tonight. Now that the Jackrabbits are in the championship, South Dakota State has a 66% chance to earn the automatic qualifier bid.

Our South Dakota State bracketology projection indicates that they would most likely be a 14 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Northeast Conference Tournament

The NEC conference tournament final is a matchup between #1 St. Francis (NY) and #2 Robert Morris. St. Francis (NY) is the favorite to win tonight and earn their first ever NCAA Tournament berth. Our St. Francis (NY) bracketology projection indicates that they would most likely be a 16 seed in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

SWAC Conference Tournament Predictions 2015

Our 2015 SWAC conference tournament bracket prediction shows 1 seed Texas Southern as the slight favorite to win their championship. Mike Davis, formerly of Indiana, has a 37% chance to bring the Tigers back to the Big Dance for the second time in three years.

Our Texas Southern bracketology projection indicates that they would most likely be a 16 seed in the 2015 NCAA tourney.

There is not a great deal of separation between the Tigers, 2 seed Alabama State (27% chance to win), and 3 seed Southern (17% chance). However, neither Alabama State nor Southern is eligible for the tournament this year.