Views from 400’s Guide to College Basketball Championship Week, Major Conferences Part 2

If you read last week’s blog you are well aware by now how much I truly love the prelude to March Madness. With that, I figured I’d share my love and offer some insight into when you should be turning your televisions (or computers/phones) onto ESPN+, Big 10+, (or maybe even Mountcock+) as we approach Selection Sunday.

Since we are a brand that loves giving out some spicy futures I’ll throw some of my favorites in as we go along too.

We have finally made it to the end. After a week of in-depth looks into each college basketball conference tournament, here is the final part to our guide.

Atlantic 10 Championship

When/Where: March 17 at 1:00 PM EST CBS

The Contenders: Richmond (1 seed), Loyola Chicago (2 seed), Dayton (3 seed), UMass (4 seed), VCU (5 seed), St. Joes (9 seed)

The A-10 tournament is must watch television. 3-seed Dayton is a lock for an at-large bid in the Big Dance but every other program needs a championship to qualify.

The pure madness of this tournament can be seen in the fact everyone at Section 400 picked a different team to win it. Richmond’s Jordan King and Dayton’s Daron Holmes were Co-Players of the Year in the conference, so if you want a future it’s probably best to go with one of the two.

Personally I like VCU with the juice because of the backcourt duo of Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile.

Conference Tournament Winner: VCU (+800)

SEC Championship

When/Where: March 17, 1 PM EST, ESPN

Contenders: Tennessee (1 seed), Kentucky(2 seed), Alabama (3 seed), Auburn (4 seed), South Carolina (5 seed), Texas A&M (7 seed), Arkansas (12 seed)

I’ll mostly refrain from analyzing the SEC Tournament because of my Auburn bias (war damn), but you can watch Matt’s prediction below.

@views.from.400

The #SEC #basketball Tournament starts now!! See you Matt is going with to win it. #nba #collegebasketball #cbb #cbbpicks #sportsbetting

♬ original sound – Views From 400

I will say, Kentucky is playing its best basketball of the season right now so I do have to agree with most of Matt’s analysis. Auburn is simply not losing to South Carolina though.

If you want a sneaky future, Arkansas has the talent to run the table. They probably won’t, but it’s worth a flier if you have the bankroll built up.

Conference Tournament Winner: Auburn (+240)

American Championship

When/Where: March 17, 3:15 PM EST ESPN

Contenders: South Florida (1 seed), Florida Atlantic (2 seed), Charlotte (3 seed), UAB (4 seed), Memphis (5 seed),

If you’ve been following Section 400 at all, you know how much our guy Zach loves the South Florida Bulls. USF probably needs an AAC title in order to make the NCAA Tournament despite an incredible regular season.

Unfortunately for them, I get the feeling FAU is about to flip the postseason switch like they did a season ago. As good as Chris Youngblood is, Johnell Davis is the best player in this conference. FAU center Vlad Goldin is probably the second.

Tournament Winner: FAU (+165)

Big 10

When/Where: March 17, 3:30 PM, CBS

Contenders: Purdue (1 seed), Illinois (2 seed), Nebraska (3 seed), Northwestern (4 seed), Wisconsin (5 seed), Indiana (6 seed), Iowa (7 seed), Michigan State (8 seed), Minnesota (9 seed), Ohio State (10 seed)

As is the case every season, the final tournament to wrap up will be the Big 10. The Tournament is also once again wide open. I will urge everyone to be careful fading Purdue. Matt Painter’s squad is more experienced, and talented frankly, than the frauds of years past. Ohio State and Indiana are probably going to be playing with the most juice considering both teams are hot but need to run the table for a bid.

Iowa is on the outside of the bubble and can make a run at an at-large bid with two or more victories. Even Maryland, who I didn’t list as a contender, still has Jahmir Young, Julian Reese, and Donta Scott.

I picked Northwestern to win the Big 10 on today’s podcast, but to be honest this thing is unpredictable.

Conference Winner: Purdue (+100)

That’ll do it! We’ve gone through every single conference tournament over the last week. Hopefully some of you have gotten some insight and enjoyed the prelude to March Madness as much as I have.

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube so you catch our live reaction show to the NCAA Tournament bracket on Selection Sunday!

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