Prelude
Ebs and flows, not enough time to prepare, roster issues, gameplan flaws - all can and will continue to have an agonizing and thrilling place in league races nationwide.
Welcome to Changing of the Guard. A new weekly column here at Bracketeer.Org solely focused on the conference races. This will be your one-stop shop in the future to see what is happening for the race for the regular-season crown in each of the 32 leagues.
Some leagues provide us with a different leader or a proverbial “Changing of the Guard” at the top of the standings each and every week. Other leagues, may have one team run away with it from wire to wire. No matter how it shakes up, we will be here to provide the summary for you. If you happen to be new to Bracketeer this season, conference race changes are leveraged in each Bracket Forecast update to A) Exhibit a variety of outcomes within the Bracket that could very well be in play come March and B) Give more schools notoriety for the stellar play and achievements during the regular season.
Changing Of The Guard
A brief summary (this will be reflected on the upcoming Bracketology Big Board) of who our new leaders are this morning, following this weekend’s action.
ACC - Clemson Tigers
America East - New Hampshire Wildcats
ASUN - Stetson Hatters
Big South - Longwood Lancers
Horizon - Milwaukee Panthers
IVY - Princeton Tigers
MAAC - Siena Saints
Pac-12 - UCLA Bruins
SoCon - Samford Bulldogs
Southland - Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders
Sun Belt - Southern Miss Golden Eagles
WAC - Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Conference Race Recap for All 32 Leagues
Big12 – Iowa State (3-0) knocked off TCU on the road with Gabe Kalscheur’s heroic shot, 69-67. Kansas (3-0) ran away from WV in Morgantown, 76-62. Kansas State (3-0) won a classic in HC Tang’s return to Waco, 97-95 in OT. All three leaders picked up road wins. K-State’s Marquis Nowell had another impressive day, with 32 points and 14 assists!
B1G – Wisconsin’s (3-1) loss to Illinois, 79-69, and Michigan’s (3-1) loss to MSU, opened the floodgates for a massive six-way tie in the loss column (1 Loss) between the Badgers, Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Northwestern. No unbeaten teams remain.
SEC – Alabama (3-0) rolled over Kentucky, 78-52. Tennessee (3-0) blitzed South Carolina on the road, 85-42, and Texas A&M (2-0) took care of home business over LSU, 69-56.
Big East – Providence (6-0) fought tooth and nail to beat St. John’s, 83-80. Xavier (5-0) won at Villanova in The Finn, 88-80. The Musketeers have a perfect 4-0 record in true road games. Zach Freemantle was big here with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
Pac-12 – Utah’s (5-1) home loss vs. Oregon, 70-60, opened the door wide open for UCLA (5-0) to have full control of the standings. Bruins had the weekend off and will face the Utes on Thursday Night in Pauley Pavilion.
ACC – Clemson (5-0) stands alone at the top of the standings after winning the league supremacy showdown at Pittsburgh, 75-74. Tigers will host Louisville and Duke next week.
MWC – San Diego State (3-0) got the job done in Laramie, defeating Wyoming 80-75. Nevada (4-0) stayed hot with a 67-40 win at San Jose State. The Pack has won six in a row. Utah State (2-1) fell from the unbeaten group, suffering a loss to Boise State (2-1), 82-59.
AAC – Temple’s (3-1) home loss to Tulane, 87-76, cleared the path for Houston (4-0) to have the league lead to themselves. Cougars once again handled business, this time at Cincinnati, 72-59.
WCC – Gonzaga (3-0) rallied past an eager Santa Clara team on the road, 81-76. Saint Mary’s (3-0) demolished Portland, 85-42.
CUSA – Florida Atlantic (4-0) held off a late charge from Charlotte, 71-67. The Owls have won 13 straight and remain in first place alone.
A 10 – Dayton (3-0) was idle. St. Bonaventure (2-1) fell from the unbeaten ranks at Saint Louis (2-1), 78-55. The Flyers have first place in the loss column all to themselves, heading to Fordham on Tuesday.
WAC – Stephen F. Austin (4-0) outlasted Grand Canyon (3-1) in a key matchup, 73-68. Utah Valley (4-0) remained perfect by winning at UTRGV, 75-61.
MVC – Indiana State (6-0) has a commanding two-game lead in the standings now. ISU Blue took care of UIC, 80-60.
Ivy – Princeton (3-0) had an impressive road win at Cornell (2-1) who was previously hot, 75-68. The win puts Princeton alone at the top of the Ivy League.
Sun Belt – Southern Miss (3-1) took down UL Monroe (3-1), 65-60.
Troy (3-1) handled home business vs. Arkansas State, 66-54.
Georgia Southern (3-1) took an OT loss vs. Old Dominion, 81-75. That gives us a four-way tie for first here. There are also no teams without a win and a bunch with a 2-2 record. About as unpredictable of a league race as you will see early on.
Big West – UC Santa Barbara (3-0) picked up a road win at Cal Poly, 62-57. Gauchos have won eight straight. UC Irvine (3-0) won the Black & Blue Rivalry game over Long Beach State, 87-70.
SoCon – Samford (4-0) went on the road to win the important showdown at UNC Greensboro (3-1), 70-68. Spartans had a final three attempts partially blocked at the buzzer.
MAC – Kent State (2-0) survived a scare from Miami-Ohio, 69-66.
Ball State (2-0) continued to impress with a 70-63 victory over Akron.
Buffalo (2-0) ran past Northern Illinois, 80-62.
Bowling Green (2-0) had a quality win over Ohio U, 88-79. Four-way tie for first here early on.
ASUN – Liberty (3-1) fell on Sunday to the hands of Eastern Kentucky, 62-59. Stetson (4-0) has improved tremendously this year and now has first place all to themselves – following the 95-85 OT win at North Alabama. Jalen Blackmon had 29 points to lead the way for the Hatters.
Big Sky – Eastern Washington (4-0) picked up another solid win, over Sacramento State, 78-75.
The surprising Idaho State Bengals (3-0) got a win at Weber State to keep the party going, 67-57.
Big South – Longwood (4-0) handled Winthrop at Home, 85-71. Lancers will face each of the teams tied for second place during the upcoming week (At UNCA on Thursday, and USC Upstate on Saturday).
MAAC – Iona (4-1) got smacked at Quinnipiac in a surprising result, 81-58. Siena (5-0) seized the opportunity and now has full control in the MAAC race following the Saints’ victory over Rider, 68-63.
CAA – Charleston (4-0) and UNC Wilmington (4-0) continued to lead the CAA charge for the title. Cougars took down Delaware, 75-64, and the Seahawks outlasted North Carolina A&T on the road, 66-61. The day we’ve all been waiting for comes this Wednesday when Charleston gets its stiffest road test since facing UNC, playing at UNCW with a true Changing of the Guard moment sitting right in front of the Seahawks. Will be an excellent battle.
Horizon – Milwaukee (5-1) capped off a wonderful week by winning at Purdue Fort Wayne, 74-70. Northern Kentucky (5-1) held on for a 78-76 thrilling OT win over Detroit Mercy to keep pace with the Panthers. These two leaders will meet on Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Summit – Oral Roberts (4-0) – “Midcourt Max” Abmas hit the shot heard round the Summit from (of course) midcourt to stun Kansas City, 74-71 at the buzzer. Abmas finished with 35 points in another epic performance. ORU now owns a two-game lead in the loss column. ORU did suffer a loss on Monday in non-conference play at New Mexico, but still sitting pretty in the league standings.
America East – Vermont (2-1) suffered a surprising loss at New Hampshire (2-1), 67-60. UMBC (2-1) rolled into Bryant and got an impressive win, 81-73. UMass-Lowell (2-1) suffered the biggest stunner of all, losing badly to Albany, 89-63. So, it’s a four-way tie for first.
Patriot League – Colgate (4-0) got a close call from Army but prevailed 77-75.
American (4-0) also had to squeak one out against Boston U, 76-74.
MEAC – Norfolk State (2-0) cruised by Delaware State on Monday, 78-65. Morgan State (1-0) got an important home win in OT vs. NC Central, 78-73.
Ohio Valley – SIU Edwardsville (3-1) became the first team to win at Southern Indiana all year, 69-62. Morehead State (3-1) kept pace with the aforementioned Cougars by defeating Eastern Illinois, 69-59.
Southland – Texas A&M Corpus Christi (3-0) is the last of the undefeated teams as they beat Incarnate Word for the second time in the same week 80-71. A five-way tie (UNO, Nicholls, SE Louisiana, TAMU Commerce, McNeese) for second exists at 2-1.
SWAC – Jackson State (3-0) handled Alabama A&M, 72-64 and Southern U (4-0) smoked Bethune-Cookman, 102-75. SU’s Tyrone Lyons had 23 points/eight rebounds/three assists to lead the Jags to the comfy victory.
NEC – St. Francis PA (3-0) pulled away late to beat Wagner on the road, 68-63. Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0) was red-hot in a 101-89 win over LIU.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the Bracketology Big Board’s 2023 debut. You will see each of these leaders stack ranked by tiers which should provide you with simple digestion of the info.
Rocco Miller