Patriot League conference tournament preview

This is part 5 of a 33-part series in this blog, designed to give you all the information you need to know about every conference's tournament, and the postseason prospects of every single team in the conference.

Final standings:
Bucknell 13-5
Colgate 12-6
Lehigh 10-8
Lafayette 9-9
Boston 9-9
American 8-10
Navy 8-10
Holy Cross 8-10
Loyola(MD) 7-11
Army 6-12

As a side note, I believe this is the most balanced conference in the country.  13-5 to 6-12, 7 games from first to last.  That's tough to do.  Even the overall records reflect this.  Everyone's win total is between 12 and 18 and the loss total between 12 and 18 too.  What?

Conference tournament format:  All 10 teams play, but every game is at the site of the higher seed.  1st Round Tuesday March 3, quarters Thursday March 5, semis Sunday March 8, finals Wednesday March 11.

Bracket:
1) Bucknell vs. 8/9) Holy Cross/Loyola(MD)
4) Lafayette vs. 5) Boston
3) Lehigh vs. 6) American
2) Colgate vs. 7/10) Navy/Army

The stakes:
Hold on, let me show you the full record of all 10 teams:
18-13, 15-16, 16-13, 17-12, 13-16, 15-15, 12-18, 13-15, 11-18, 15-14
That's incredible.  Incredible parity.  Problem is, the conference isn't that good to begin with, and everyone absorbed bad losses along the way.  The winner of this conference is going to Dayton.  It's inevitable.  I suppose if Bucknell wins and upsets happen in several other places, then they can avoid the 16 line, but it's doubtful.

Bucknell obviously has the NIT bid in case, with no one else within 10 miles of that tourney.  What's interesting is 2nd place Colgate is just 15-16 overall, and will need to make the finals here just to be eligible for the CIT.  Lehigh and Lafayette will be CIT eligible and are bubble postseason teams.  Further down, American needs to win once to be CIT eligible as well.

Fun fact;  Army's last in this conference, but 15-14 overall.  Theoretically, they could receive a postseason bid, but there is a postseason bubble, and Army would likely be last among all eligible teams to receive a postseason invite, if only because they finished last in a bad conference.

If I had to predict, I expect carnage in this conference tourney, which means Bucknell in the NIT, Colgate with no postseason for finishing under .500, and Lehigh and Lafayette with CIT bids.