Three Point Range

It's 2020, and with the new year, that means that conference play is kicking off across the country, if it hasn't started already. With that, I wanted to give a quick preview of every conference title race and my prediction for who wins the regular season portion of each conference. Please note, this isn't who will gain the auto bid through the conference tournament, as a lot of that depends on who is hot at the right time and some single game variance. Normally on Fridays, I'll talk about some things I saw while watching basketball this week and some previews of upcoming games, but I was busy this week and I decided to write this instead. I talked about the changes that are coming to the blog on Twitter @ThreePointRange, so be sure to follow me there for some instant reactions as well as my thoughts on some breaking college basketball news. Without further ado, let's get into the conference previews. America East:  This one seems pretty cut and dry. Vermont has b...

First Round 1. Gonzaga vs 16. Fairleigh Dickinson This one should be fairleigh cut and dry (get it?). The Zags have an overwhelming talent advantage at every position, and for as much as I love Jahlil Jenkins and Darnell Edge jacking up threes for the Knights, they aren't knocking off Gonzaga. That being said, that three point shooting could keep this game close for a while, but after seeing what Gonzaga did to good WCC teams, I think they cover this spread as well. My Pick:  Gonzaga Confidence:  95% Gambling:  Gonzaga -27 8. Syracuse vs 9. Baylor It's a battle of the zones in Salt Lake City, with Scott Drew and his 1-1-3 janky matchup zone taking on Jim Boeheim and the patented 2-3. From the start, I think Syracuse is just the more talented team, even without Frank Howard, who was suspended by the university last night. Tyus Battle, Elijah Hughes, and Oshae Brissett might be the three most talented guys in this game, and I mean no disrespect to Baylor, but they ...

Season in Review The conference made national news last season when UMBC took down Virginia as the first 16 seed to ever beat a 1 seed. What people forget is that the Retrievers beat Vermont on a buzzer beater from Jarius Lyles to advance to the tournament in what was considered an upset at the time given how well the Catamounts played last season. They continued their domination atop the conference this season, going 14-2 en route to their third straight regular season title. Meanwhile, UMBC struggled early but found their footing in conference play, finishing 11-5 in third place, a game behind Stony Brook, who massively exceeded expectations this year. They went 24-7 on the year and 12-4 in the conference after being picked to tie for fourth in the preseason poll. Throw in Hartford and a quickly improving Albany squad, and the conference tournament figures to be fun once again. Bracket Note: The America East reseeds after each round, and all games are played at the home court of...