Five teams are in on the upcoming NCAA tournament fun, and five more will join them Monday night, as the Colonial Athletic Association, the Metro Atlantic, the Southern, Sun Belt and West Coast all play their conference tournament championship games.
March Madness inches closer: Ohio leads MAC conference odds
Five teams are in - including one Cinderella candidate in Liberty - and Ohio is favored to get the automatic bid in the MAC. Check out the latest college basketball odds and bubble situation.
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It’s not the busiest week on the schedule for those who want to bet on college basketball - that comes next week - but it is the next best thing as the March bracket gets set.
In the Colonial title game in Richmond (7 pm ET, NBC Sports) top-seeded Northeastern, with a chance to make the Big Dance for the first time since 1991, takes on third-seeded James Madison, which last made the tournament in 1994.
In the only other meeting this season between these teams, the Huskies beat the Dukes on a basket in the final seconds three weeks ago 66-64.
Up in Springfield at the MAAC tournament fourth-seeded Iona, an upset winner over top-seeded Niagara Sunday, and sixth-seeded Manhattan, 13-17 on the season, meet to decide that conference’s Big Dance bid (7 pm ET, ESPN2).
The Gaels and Jaspers split two meetings this season, each winning close games on their home courts. Bovada.lv had the Gaels as 4-point favorites as of midday. [ Get college basketball odds on every game everyday here at SBNation ]
Down in Asheville the Southern Conference tournament title game (7 pm ET) matches top-seeded Davidson, which has lost just once in league play this season, against third-seeded College of Charleston.
Over in Hot Springs the Sun Belt Conference championship game will pit fourth-seeded Florida International, which pulled the upset on top-seeded Middle Tennessee Sunday night, against either second-seeded Arkansas State or sixth-seeded Western Kentucky.
And out in Vegas the West Coast Conference title game offers up the one-vs.-two match-up as Gonzaga and St. Mary’s get together for the third time this season (9 pm ET, ESPN3).
The Zags, the top-ranked team in the land, have already beaten the Gaels twice this season, and they’re listed as five-point favorites for Monday night’s game.
