It’s that time of the year once again. March is here, and that means warmer weather, sunnier skies, and college basketball tournament magic. Ten teams will square off for the Colonial Athletic Association title in lovely Charleston over four days, with the winner earning the golden ticket into the NCAA Tournament.
College of Charleston is the favorite to win. The Cougars have only been in the conference for four years, but they have gotten progressively better and finished with the conference’s No. 1 seed. Additionally, they will be hosting this tournament, giving them an even bigger advantage.
Tune into CBS Sports Network for live television coverage of the NCAA Tournament from Saturday, March 3 - Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina.
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The two teams to watch for in this tournament are College of Charleston and Northeastern. Both teams finished the regular season at 14-4 in conference play, but the Cougars received the No. 1 seed by virtue of sweeping Northeastern in regular season play. Each team finished with over 20 wins and is likely to at least make the NIT as a result.
It’s also impossible to count Drexel out of any game now. The Dragons made NCAA history against Delaware last week, setting the record for the biggest comeback in a Division I game. Drexel was down 34 points to Delaware in the first half, but came back and won thanks to an amazing performance from G Tramaine Isabell.
Injury Report
Unfortunately, College of Charleston suffered some bad news just a few days ago. It was announced that starting center Nick Harris would end up missing the conference tournament. Harris hurt his foot in the Cougars’ penultimate game of the season, a comfortable win over Elon, and the team will not be as solid in the middle as they were with Harris.
That could pose a real problem if the Cougars take on two of the other contenders in this conference. Northeastern center Anthony Green is having an incredible year. He is hitting 73.5 percent of his two-point attempts, using his big body to outmuscle opponents down low. Without Harris in the lineup, College of Charleston’s tallest player is just 6’7.
It will also be a problem against Towson. The Tigers are one of the top rebounding teams in the conference. They have plenty of size, and they are deep to boot.
Player to Watch
Hofstra has the most dangerous player in the tournament. Justin Wright-Foreman plays nearly every minute for this team and is not afraid to fire away no matter where he is on the court.
Wright-Foreman is averaging 24.2 PPG, and he leads the conference in minutes too. He is a volume scorer, but that doesn’t mean he has bad shot selection. Although he is not as efficient as he was last season, much of that is become he has to stay on the court with such a shallow team.
On the season, Wright-Foreman is hitting 45 percent of his field goals and 36.2 percent of his three-pointers. Almost 45 percent of his shots are three-pointers, so he is someone that can take over a game if he gets hot. Conversely, if he goes cold, Hofstra is in serious trouble.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
College of Charleston will be the favorite to win this tournament. The Cougars have three different players averaging double digits and a very good starting five. However, the lack of size, and depth, is eventually going to bite them at some point.
Instead, take either Northeastern or Towson to win it all. Both teams can exploit College of Charleston’s new weakness, and both have the depth you need to survive three games in three days.
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