Summit Somethings

As I have already beaten into the ground, the Summit League Tournament starts this weekend. Bart Scott will summarize my feelings.

Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple said Thursday that there has never been this many quality players and teams in the tournament. I can't agree with him more. I think the top 5 seeds on both sides are capable of coming out of Sioux Falls as the conference champion. Now, Oakland (men) and Oral Roberts (women) are the prohibitive favorites for a reason and they have proved that they will be the teams to beat. Regardless, it should provide for an interesting weekend of basketball.

Tournament Matchups
Men:
(1) Oakland vs. (8) Southern Utah-Saturday, 6 p.m.
The only real runaway game of the first round, in my opinion. Oakland is far better than the T-Birds and I think this is Summit League Player of the Year Keith Benson's best game of the tournament.

(4) IPFW vs. (5) South Dakota State-Sunday, 6 p.m.
A rematch of last season's 4 vs. 5 game, except the seeds are swapped this year. SDSU has owned IPFW this season and could be able to do it again. Even though IPFW head coach and Bobby Knight prodigy Dane Fife has publicly said that his team doesn't match up well at all with SDSU, I don't see this being nearly as easy again. There will be plenty of scoring and the Jackrabbits advance in a close affair.
*Programming Note: This game can be seen on ESPN3.com.

(3) IUPUI vs. (6) UMKC-Sunday, 8:30 p.m.
The Kangaroos are the grittiest team in the tourney and if they can make shots at all, they will be in this game. Nevertheless, I like the Alex Young-Leroy Nobles tandem to lead the Jaguars into the semifinals.

(2) Oral Roberts vs. (7) North Dakota State-Sunday, 8:30 p.m.
I will preface this by saying that I'm a huge Saul Phillips fan for NDSU. He's a great coach and Bison fans should enjoy having him before he gets snapped up by a bigger school. ORU is unbelievably talented and I think they win a close game but if NDSU brings any of their play from last weekend against SDSU, they will advance.

Women:
(1) Oral Roberts vs. (8) Western Illinois-Saturday, 12 p.m..
Oral Roberts. In a landslide. WIU head coach Leslie Crane will be in no mood to talk about her clothing selection.

(4) Oakland vs. (5) Southern Utah-Sunday, 12 p.m.
I'm a big Challis Pascucci supporter and when you pair her with Caitlin Sears, this is a really good team. I think they have a chance to make the championship game. Or Oakland's Bethany Watterworth could just take over and prove me wrong. Who knows?

(3) South Dakota State vs. (6) North Dakota State-Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
Even though these teams just played, this will be a great game again. If SDSU holds down Abby Plucker and defends the Bison guards, they will advance.

(2) IPFW vs. (7) UMKC-Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
The Mastodons are the "most talented team in the tournament" and the team to beat in Sioux Falls, according to their coach Chris Paul. While I disagree with him on that, they will beat UMKC handily.

It's Spring Break for me, starting right now because Geography class just ended. Check out sdsucollegian.com this weekend. Thanks