The Jerome is an annual tradition among college basketball writers, who have been doing the contest for 14 years. The objective is to select winners in each of the 31 Division I men’s college basketball conference tournaments contested between March 3 and March 15, 2015. You pick one team per league and earn points based on how far your squad advances.
If your team reaches its tournament final, you earn two points. If it wins the tourney, you win three more points, for a total of five. There’s a chance for bonuses, too. Any selected winner that 1.) entered its tourney seeded third or lower, AND 2.) played no more than two conference tourney games on its home court, gets you an extra two points. In the case of conferences that seed by division finish, all teams except the No. 1 seeds in each division will be eligible for the bonus. So, you can earn a maximum of seven points in some of the tournaments. Bonus points do not apply for teams that make the finals and lose.
Here are my picks for the Week 1 portion of this year’s contest, including my (ill-conceived) rationale for each. Bonus: Listen to me and Student Section head honcho Matt Zemek talk about the first batch of conference tournaments.
America East
The highest seeds host each game in this conference tournament, and No. 1 seed Albany finished three games clear of second place Vermont and Stony Brook. Smells like chalk.
My only concern with Albany: A great dane might be the lamest mascot in Division I.
The pick: Great Danes over Catamounts, begrudgingly.
Atlantic Sun
Watching Florida Gulf Coast now, it’s hard to believe we’re only two years removed from Dunk City. The Eagles have slowed down their game since Andy Enfield left for USC. They might not have the same flash, but they’ll still be vying for the league title with top-seeded North Florida. (Yeah, I know, me neither.)
I’ll take the pedigree over Johnny Come Lately.
The pick: FGCU over N. Florida.
Big South
The VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men’s Basketball Championship is the early highlight of the highlight of the year in the Redneck Riviera. It’s the talk of the town in Conway, S.C. – until Bike Week rolls around in May, at least.
Those descending on the Palmetto State for the hoops extravaganza have a wide-open field awaiting them this year. The neutral site format plays right into the hands of crafty Cliff Ellis and his cunning Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
The pick: Coastal Carolina over Charleston Southern.
Colonial Athletic
The big story here is No. 1 seed William & Mary’s bid for its first trip to the NCAA tournament in school history. Easy to see the Tribe psyching themselves out.
That opens the door for James Madison. No one will ever accuse JMU students of overthinking anything.
The pick: Dukes take down the Tribe and then win the whole thing.
Horizon
No need to overthink here. Valpo is the best team and is positioned to host all of its games in the Horizon invitational.
The pick: Crusaders conquer Green Bay.
Metro Atlantic
I’m all Manhattan here. Lying on your resume about your educational background demonstrates the kind of whatever-it-takes attitude that I’m down with, Steve Masiello.
The pick: Jaspers step all over Iona on their way to the top.
Missouri Valley
To me, Arch Madness is kind of like the mid-major equivalent of the Big East Tournament. Its permanent home in St. Louis combined with the Mo Valley’s rich hoops tradition mean it’s a true event unto itself, not a way station en route to March Madness.
Any participants who don’t play for Wichita State or Northern Iowa should plan on their trips to the Lou being short. This conference has a definitive top two. As for which one wins the tourney, the Wheat Shockers are rounding into form after an 8-0 run in February that included a 14-point win over UNI to cap off the season. Watch for Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet to do even more damage in the big dance.
The pick: Shockers cut down the Panthers.
Northeast
Hipsters have to love this league, which features two teams from Brooklyn. Even better, one of them, St. Francis Brooklyn, is gunning for its first trip to the big dance ever.
There will be fedoras and ironic facial hair aplenty at Generoso Pope Athletic Complex on Tuesday night when the Terriers earn a trip to Dayton for a play-in game.
The pick: St. Francis Brooklyn over Robert Morris.
Ohio Valley
Plenty of good mid-major basketball being played in the OVC. I’ll say Eastern Kentucky plays the best ball this week.
The pick: EKU beats Murray State.
Patriot
The Patriot League has held a special place in my heart since I won a nice chunk of change on Lehigh in 2012 when the Mountain Hawks upset Duke in the first round of the big dance. Of course, my affinity for the conference doesn’t necessarily translate into logging time in front of the tube watching Bucknell-Army or Holy Cross-Colgate.
So why not Colgate?
The pick: Colgate over Bucknell.
Southern
Zemek says Wofford is legit. Let’s roll with it.
The pick: Wofford over Mercer.
Summit
I liked this tournament a lot better when it took place back in the day at the Union High School Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Okla. Played just a stone’s throw from Woodland Hills Mall, a trip to the food court for some Arby’s or to Best Buy to pick up that new Dave Matthews Band CD between games was imminently doable.
This year, the Summit is playing in Sioux Falls, S.D. That should makes this a cakewalk for the top-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The pick: S.D. St. over North Dakota State.
West Coast
Not one, not two, but three conferences will be sending the NCAA their regards from Sin City for their conference tourneys this year. First up is the West Coast Conference, which holds its end-of-year bash in a rec center at the Orleans Hotel & Casino.
Speaking of Orleans, perennial power Gonzaga is still the one seed for this tournament – and has a shot at the top line in the big dance. A loss to BYU last weekend might have dampened the Zags’ spirits temporarily, but they look like they’re still having fun.
The pick: Bulldogs get revenge on the Cougars.
