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:: Roundtable
Who will win the SoCon basketball tournaments?
Bambrick: People see the men’s SoCon tournament as a two-horse race between South division champ Davidson and North champ Appalachian State. Yet, to count out the College of Charleston Cougars, playing in Charleston, is asinine. The Cougars are 12-3 when playing at home this season. However, two of those losses were to Appalachian State and Davidson. Expect Appalachian State to squeak by Charleston on Friday to set up the final against Davidson. In the finals, Davidson should avenge their sole conference loss [81-74 at Davidson] to receive the SoCon bid to the NCAA tournament. As far as the Women go, it is wide open at the top. Western Carolina, Chattanooga, Davidson and UNC-G all finished with more than 20 wins and within two games atop the SoCon standings. Out of those top four teams, top-seeded Western Carolina will advance to the finals against second-seeded Chattanooga. Western Carolina swept the regular season meetings between the two teams, with the match-up in Chattanooga going into overtime. As difficult as it is to beat a team three times in one season, Western Carolina has won 13 out of 14 games and will win the SoCon tournament. Varner: It is very easy to pick who will represent the Southern Conference in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Davidson year in and year out has consistently been the class of the SoCon. This year, they were no slouch. Three of their four losses have come on the road against major Division I powers (Michigan, Missouri and Duke). Their offense is one of the most explosive in the conference and their defense is solid. They handed Elon one of their worst home losses of the season and looked like the best in the conference. They will represent the SoCon well in the tournament. If only the women’s side was as easy as the men’s. This year, both Western Carolina and Chattanooga were playing excellent basketball the entire year. Both are 15-3 in the conference, and although Western Carolina swept the regular season series, Chattanooga will win when it matters most and represent the SoCon in the women’s tournament. Wilkins: In the men’s tournament, over the past five years the SoCon tournament was won by the champion of the North or South division three out of five times. As for the women, in the past five years the champion of the division won three out of five times. Appalachian State [15-3] leads the North division and Davidson [17-1] leads the South division. They are the current favorites going into the tournament, but there is a dark horse who can pull off the upset. UNC-Greensboro, who is second in the North division, will win the men’s tournament because of one simple fact–UNC-G has an average of 69.5 points per game and 66.1 points against. They know how to win the close game, and that will be the difference in the tournament. In the women’s tournament, Western Carolina and Chattanooga are tied in the division [15-3], and are the favorites in the tournament. Chattanooga will win the tournament because of two reasons. First, they will be motivated to win the tournament after their three-year tournament streak was broken last year. Second, the difference between Chattanooga and Western Carolina is Chattanooga has a better points for/points against ratio against stronger non-conference opponents. Reporter: Bambrick, Varner, Wilkins - 03/01/07
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