Conference Tournament Season Tips off Tonight with the Atlantic Sun Conference

Finally, it is time to get the 2019 conference championships started!  It starts tonight, all 8 Atlantic Sun teams that qualified for the post season will be in action as this conference does not give any teams a bye.  This means all of us will have teams at risk tonight.  The Atlantic Sun conference has 9 teams, but the Stetson Hats did not qualify.  We have 14 days of this ahead of us! #ASUNMADNESS #TIMETOSHINE

Over the next few days I will stop sending out e-mails, you will need to use the Blog link below to stay up to date with what is going on in the pool.  Additionally, you can get to the Standings by clicking on Standings.  Depending on the action going on for the day, I will typically post multiple updates to the Standings each day.  Bookmark this by clicking on the word Standings.

https://2019conferencetournamentchallenge.blogspot.com/

Atlantic Sun Preview

We're only concerned about half the teams in this conference based on how we picked, everyone in the pool can escape without a loss tonight, however that will be no fun at all if that happens.  Below are some of the scenarios that can play out tonight and throughout this specific conference tournament.  Losing a team this early on would certainly not be very fun.

• 22 (64.71%) picks are riding the favorite (1) Lipscomb to the conference championship, a Lipscomb loss would be devastating tonight; they are 25 point favorites so I am thinking this game will be uneventful; TeamRankings gives Lipscomb a 65.12% chance to win the conference tournament, which is right in line with our overall consensus.

• 7 picks are on (2) Liberty, similar to the Lipscomb game, Liberty is a heavy favorite at 14 points, so it would be a major upset if the Flames lost tonight

• For bonus picks we have 1 person on (3) North Florida and then we have Chris Iannuzzi who still thinks (4) Florida Gulf Coast is the same Dunk City team from the 2013 sweet sixteen run

As much as I want to make fun of the North Florida and Florida Gulf Coast picks, these are the kinds of picks that early on could disrupt the standings if they end up winning the championship.  2 people getting a win, plus bonus points, with everyone else losing really would give TrainGuy and Chris Iannuzzi a great start.  As a bonus on top of bonus points, if Florida Gulf Coast wins, we all get pizza from the creepy pizza mascot!  No, you don't get a free gross Papa John pizza, you only get 50% off that gross pizza!

     

Below are the actual Atlantic Sun match-ups tonight, all stream-able on ESPN+.  After the games wrap up tonight I'll update any impacts to standings and post a new blog with a Atlantic Sun recap and preview of tomorrow's action as more conference tournaments get underway.  Now would be a good time to sign up for ESPN+ to use your free 1 week trial and then cancel before next Monday when games move to the regular ESPN channels.



Last reminder to check your picks for accuracy!

Also, as you're watching your teams lose, remember that 16-19 total points wins the pool, so you're trying to win about 40% of your picks, with a few bonus picks mixed in.  In the end, you don't need to win every single game.

Good Luck!