Patriot League conference tournament preview

This is part 3 of a 32-part series.

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

Format:
First round March 5, quarters March 7, semis March 10, finals March 13.  Each game hosted by higher seed.  Lotta travel.

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

The stakes:
Bucknell and Lehigh had spent just about all year occupying the autobid spot in everyone's bracket, so naturally Colgate went on a heater and stole the 1 seed and the NIT bid.  They actually have a decent NET (137) compared to Bucknell and Lehigh (154, 151).  (everyone else would be staring Dayton in the face if they won this tourney)

Bucknell owns the only Q1/2 wins among the trio, and we're talking Vermont and St Bonaventure here.  So not a lot to work with.  I'd have all three teams right on the 15/16 seed borderline, which will probably turn into a 15 seed once you account for probable upsets in other conference tourneys.  CNET is 19, so they're just good enough as a conference to keep their champ off the 16 line.