Transcript: Hi guys, it's Ry The Guy from CFL Weekly and I am here today to discuss the conference tournaments for NCAA basketball. We will discuss the games in the tournament and who I think will win. But since I am recording this after some of the games happened, I may also give some opinions on what happened in those games. Sorry if I'm spoiling. So we'll start with the American East Conference. This conference tournament has been kind of standard. Not very exciting. The only close game was actually No. 1 Vermont vs. No. 8 University of Albany with a 75-72 finish. If we look at the bracket, not one lower seed has won. The championship is the No. 1 Vermont Catamounts-who come up with these names- and the No. 2 UMass Lowell Riverhawks. This game is at 11 a.m. Eastern at Vermont. So I think Vermont's going to win this one. Well, at least before, I actually don't know what happened, but I thought Vermont was going to win this one 72-68. I thought that because they're at home and they'll have the advantage. This tournament was all at the higher seeds court, so only home teams have won, so that's what I think. And Vermont was also playing for both the regular season and the postseason titles. which will be a motivation for them so I'm just going down the list in alphabetical order for most of it at least so next up is the American Athletics Conference the finals will be between South Florida and FAU. FAU actually made a miraculous run to the final four last year only losing to SDSU or San Diego State which we'll talk about later on a buzzer-beater. FAU is the number 2 seed while South Florida or USF is the number 1 seed I think FAU is going to win this 67-59 because they're very good they've been ranked for most of the year so I think even if they lose FAU is getting in anyway but they'll be dreaming of what happened last year and well if they want to try to get a higher seed they gotta win this game. It is at 3:15 PM Eastern on Sunday on ESPN. Also don't know what happens in this one. Next up it the A-10 or the Atlantic 10. This conference has been very exciting. With 4 teams left, we have the 9 seed, the 5 seed, the 7 seed, and the 6 seed. The number 7 seed St. Bonaventure plays the number 6 seed Duqenese in the semis. My prediction for this game is St. Bonaventure 78 and Duqenese 74. I think it will be a close game but then the Bonnies end up winning that's Saint Bonaventure. The other semifinal is number 5 VCU versus number nine Saint Joseph's I predict this will end in 89-71 VCU win I may be wrong because, after all, it is March but I don't think Saint Joseph has a chance in this one or not much of one this game is at 1 at CBS while the other semi is at 3:30 on CBS then in the finals which is on Sunday at 1 on CBS I think Saint Bonaventure will upset VCU 79-77 with a last second shot to win. So, I know that didn't happen because St. Bonaventure did not win their semis. So next up is actually a conference you might be interested in. I also got this one way wrong, so. But this is the ACC. The ACC Championship might be a surprise to those of you who haven't been following it. oh my god but it is the number one UNC Tar Heels I mean duh they're that good but the number 10 NC State Wolfpack had to make sure I was reading that right especially when I was writing it but honestly I hoped UNC wouldn't hurt NC State's feelings too badly because I thought they might push a 25 point win My prediction was that UNC put up 101 while NC State had 78. I didn't think it would be close because UNC's RJ Davis- I said he was born under a spotlight and will continue to shine for the rest of the season. But yes, UNC is fighting for a 1 seed in March Madness, so actually, let's google what happened in this game. UNC basketball. so oh my god so the NC State Wolfpack beat them 84-76. 10 over 1 upset and your NC State Wolfpack: they're dancing. That is crazy the pack is back ACC champs wow I actually didn't know what had happened in that that's crazy so that's all the A conference the A's so now the next one is gonna be the Big 12 this championship is number one Houston versus number two Iowa State This tournament saw Kansas get beat in their first game against Cincinnati. Texas also lost to Kansas State, but then they lost to Iowa State. So my prediction for the championship was that Houston won 84-79 in overtime. I did think this would be a close game, but then in overtime, Houston still had gas in the tank. Yeah, that did not happen either. so next up is gonna be the Big East this championship but actually I thought it was gonna be a good game I think it was actually let's see let me see really they wasn't really much of a good game 73-57 UConn won but so So, UConn, number one, the reigning national champion. Marquette, though, is the three seed in the Big East, and Marquette has been ranked, I think, in the top 15 almost all of the season. Early in this conference, number two, Creighton, got upset by number seven, Providence. Creighton actually beat UConn earlier this season, but couldn't beat Providence. But then Providence lost to Marquette in the semis. I think UConn is going to win this game. I said 78-71. They won 73-57. I thought that because... You could have... Huh? I said that even the slight chance that they lost that game, they would still get a 1 or a 2 seed for March Madness. That game was at 6.30 on FOX if you watched it. So I got a little confused right there when I stopped talking. So now we got the Big Ten another Power 5 Conference that you might be interested in. So this game was crazy. This game was insane. So we got the Big Ten. It was the semifinals, but Purdue vs. Wisconsin was actually one of the better games I've watched in my life. Wisconsin had a buzzer beater to send it to overtime, and then won in overtime with a late shot. And also Illinois vs. Nebraska in the other one. So I said that I thought Purdue was going to beat Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the five seed, Purdue is the one seed. I said Zach Edey is just too tall for the Wisconsin Badgers. Zach Edey is actually, fun fact, as tall as Victor Wembenyama. I think, I thought, I think Nebraska will beat Illinois, but they lost, but then they'll lose by around 10 to 15 to the Boilermakers. So yeah, that's not going to happen either. That championship is tomorrow at 3:30 on CBS. Next up, we got the Big West. We got Long Beach State versus UC Davis in the finals. I think that Long Beach State is going to end up winning. I think it's around halftime right now. Don't know what the score is. Don't really care. I have no idea how good either of these teams are, but LBSU, Long Beach State, scored and won by more in the semis so I'll go with them like why not that game started at 9:30 now we go to the C's! Conference USA the championship number five UTEP versus West Kentucky I think West Kentucky is gonna win this because they are a better team they're ten games above .500 while UTEP is just three games above .500 So, I think that West Kentucky is going to win this 64-57. They won, actually wait, I was kind of close on this one. I said 60, actually I wasn't that close. They won 78-71. So, West Kentucky also headed to the big dance. We're on to the nerds now. We got the Ivy League tournament. So, I was also pretty wrong on this one. I said Princeton was looking to repeat. They played Brown in the semis. Yale played Cornell in the other semi. I thought Princeton was going to beat Yale in the finals. 91-82. Princeton should not be underestimated. Especially you Arizona fans. but um yeah Princeton kind of lost like 80 to 79 I think that no 80 to 71. 90 to 81 sorry against the Brown Bears So, yeah, that didn't go very well for them. They will not be seen in March Madness, I don't think. So, YES, this is the one that I WANT to talk about. Yes and want in all caps. We got the MAAC. You could call it the MAAC It's called the MAAC. But the next one's also called the MAC, the M-A-C. So I'm just going to call this one the MAAC and that one the MAC. So this championship was at 7.30 on the 16th on ESPN. ESPNU So I watched this one because I like watching the St. Peter's Peacocks. I cheer for them. So the St. Peter's Peacocks played Fairfield. St. Peter's was the five seed. Fairfield was the two seed. St. Peter's beat number one Quinnipiac who, fun fact, never has made it to March Madness. But I said St. Peter's just full of miracles. Just watched the last 11 seconds of yesterday's game against Quinnipiac actually. And I mean they're a lead eight run so And then, all caps, I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK. St. Peter's is going to the Sweet 16 this year. Maybe just as far, or even farther than they did in 2022 when they went to the Elite 8. I mean, that's what I was talking about with their miracles. I mean, it's just crazy. They're just crazy. Latrell Reed, Corey Washington, they're so good. I love those guys. So now we got the MAC, The M-A-C. This tournament is near my hometown, but I'm tired, yeah, sorry. So it was about 30 minutes away from my house. This one's at Rocket Mortgage (Fieldhouse). A little bit more than 30, but I would have loved to go, but I had my own basketball game, so My championship game actually was at this time. We got smoked, so I don't want to talk about that. But it was my third game of the day. I put up 45 points in those three games. Had a double-double in the second one because I got a lot of rebounds in the last couple minutes. So the final was Kent State vs. Akron. I thought that Kent State was going to pull off a miracle in this game with a 77-70 win. Now why it would have been a miracle? They were the 8th seed. But they have won all of their tournament games, including number one, Toledo. But then the thing is, they were up, they were winning by one, like, five seconds left. There was five seconds left. One of their players on their team did not know that they were winning and that he intentionally fouled. Akron then made both free throws
