2009 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Predictions
Written March 5, 2009 by Jason Lowry
This Friday the Southern Conference will join many other men’s basketball conferences by getting their end of the season tournament underway from the McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, TN. The Tournament features all 12 teams from the Southern Conference, with the top 4 teams getting an extra day of rest. The winner of the tournament gets the coveted automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Davidson was by far the superior team in this conference, and it will be their tournament to lose, as they are the big favorites going into the weekend. Here is a look at my 3 favorites to win and a sleeper I think could sneak their way into the the title game if everything goes their way. Bet Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.
1. Davidson Wildcats (25-6, 18-2 Southern)
The Wildcats looked pretty much unbeatable in conference play this season, as they started out 13-0 before falling by 2 to Charleston at home. The Wildcats are riding a 3 game winning streak into the tournament, and besides the fact that this is the best team in the conference, they also have one of the best players in the country in Stephen Curry, as the junior is averaging 28.4 points and 5.8 assists per game and is also getting it done on defense with 2.6 steals per game. The Wildcats can go a long way with Curry at their back, and we think he will be ready to put on a show this weekend, and put Davidson back into the NCAA Tournament.
2. Citadel Bulldogs (20-11, 15-5 Southern)
The Bulldogs are likely all that stands in the way of the Wildcats this weekend, and it would be quite the showdown if these two teams met up in the finals. The Bulldogs are red hot winning 12 of their final 13 games, including a 64-46 win on the road against the Wildcats. The Bulldogs have an offensive duo in Demetrius Nelson and Cameron Wells, as Nelson averages a team best 16.1 points with 6.6 rebounds, while Cameron is close behind with 15.5 points and 5 rebounds a game. These two will have to carry the Bulldogs this weekend, and the way these two are playing they will likely do just that.
3. Charleston Cougars (23-7, 15-5 Southern)
For those of you that follow the Southern Conference you will see that I am heavily favoring the South division of this conference, as I don’t feel there is a single team in the North division that has a chance at winning this tournament. The Cougars have won 7 of their last 8 games, and the only loss was to a very good Citadel team. They nearly have 6 players averaging double digits points, but the go to guy is Andrew Goudelock, and they will not only need a strong weekend from him, but the rest of the team as well.
Sleeper: Wofford Terriers (16-13, 12-8 Southern)
The Terriers, like the Cougars, had a better record than every team in the North division, but they are still forced to play 4 games in 4 days if they want to win this thing, while the two teams that finished 11-9 in the North get first round byes. The reason we like the Terriers is they got a pretty easy first round matchup in Elon, and then get the No.1 team from the North in Chattanooga in the 2nd round, a team they have beat already this season, and then to get to the finals they will likely have to face Citadel, who they just beat last week 62-55. The Terriers get plenty of scoring from Noah Dahiman and Junior Salters, as Dahlman averages a team best 17.8, but Salters is close behind with 15.2 points a game.
Prediction: Davidson Wildcats
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