Tuesday, March 4, 2008

A-Sun Tournament Fields Set

Just when we thought we had it, somebody else goes and blows up the bracket.

Welcome to March.

Lipscomb did what they had to do this weekend, sweeping at home to get to 9-7 and into the #5 slot. But rather than taking their #4 seeding like we all expected, Stetson went and beat Jacksonville. The hot-shooting Hatters made half of their 3's while holding the Dolphins to 1 of 12. So now Stetson is the 3-seed, their 11-5 record tied with

[drumroll please]

East Tennessee State. [/drums]

Suddenly, what looked like the best possible draw for Lipscomb is now the worst. 4 of Lipscomb's 7 conference losses are to ETSU and Belmont, their first two opponents in the tournament. ETSU and Belmont are the only A-Sun teams to win in Allen Arena this year. So for Lipscomb to get a look at the conference finals, they have to beat two teams against whom they are a combined 0-4. Suddenly, a 6-seed isn't looking so bad.

My A-Sun brackets:

Quarters -- Belmont over Campbell, Jacksonville over Mercer, Gardner-Webb over Stetson, ETSU over Lipscomb. (Sorry, I tried to go the other way, but I just can't.)

Semis -- ETSU over Belmont, Jacksonville over G-W.

Finals -- Jacksonville over ETSU.

Here's hoping I'm wrong.

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