This is part 1 of a 32-part series previewing every conference tournament in the country. We'll detail what you need to keep track of in each tournament and the various stakes for each team.
Final standings:
FGCU 12-2
Lipscomb 11-3
North Florida 8-6
USC Upstate 7-7
Kennesaw St 7-7
Jacksonville 5-9
NJIT 3-11
Stetson 3-11
Tournament format:
Quarterfinals on Monday February 27, semis on Thursday March 2, final on Sunday March 5. The better seed hosts each game, so home court advantage is in play.
The matchups:
8) Stetson at 1) FGCU
5) Kennesaw St at 4) USC Upstate
6) Jacksonville at 3) North Florida
7) NJIT at 2) Lipscomb
The stakes:
A-Sun is the 26th ranked conference out of 32, by RPI. That translates into a 15 seed. FGCU has the overall RPI and profile to avoid a 16 seed, easily, and might even get to the 14 line with some help elsewhere. FGCU actually has a Top 50 win against Texas-Arlington in its pocket which will help. Lipscomb would be borderline with an RPI around 150 and a very pedestrian profile even for an A-Sun team. Everyone else would be Dayton fodder.
As for the CBI/CIT tournaments, Lipscomb being 2nd in this conference and 19-12 overall, they will most likely have the option to play. USC Upstate and Jacksonville are both 17-14 overall thanks to 4 non-D1 games; they really don't deserve the CIT by any measure but you never know these days. Everyone else is out.
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