2009 Big Sky Conference Tournament Predictions

The 2009 edition of the Big Sky Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off Saturday, March 7th and concludes on Thursday, March 12th with the conference tournament championship game, which will be broadcast on ESPN 2. The Big Sky is a 9 team league but only 6 teams will get the opportunity to compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The top two seeds, Weber State and Portland State, have put themselves in the best position to win, earning byes to the semifinals. The state of Montana hoops fans get a treat in the first round with No. 6 Montana State facing off with No. 3 Montana. No. 4 seed Idaho State faces off against No. seed Northern Colorado in the other first round matchup. The higher seeds in these early round games will have the edge as games will be played on the home court of those teams. The playing field gets leveled in the semis and finals with games taking place at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. In this article, Jimmy Boyd breaks down the favorite and another team he feels has the best chance of winning. Bet the Big Sky Conference Mens Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.

The Favorite: Weber State Wildcats
The Wildcats are the big favorites to walk away with the conference tournament title and into the Big Dance as they waltzed through conference action with a 15-1 record this season. The next closest teams, Portland State and Montana, finished four games behind the Wildcats. Weber State’s lone conference loss did not come to either of the aforementioned teams. The Wildcats handled them easily. It was actually quite the fluke if you ask me as the Cats lost to No. 6 seed Montana State back in January. Since that defeat, the Cats have won 12 in a row and I can’t see them being denied the title. This is a guard led team with Kellen McCoy averaging 14.1 points per game and backcourt partner Damian Lillard averaging 11.7 to lead the Wildcats.

Another Team That Can Win: Portland State Vikings
If anyone has a chance at knocking off Weber State, it is defending champion Portland State. The Vikings finished 11-5 in Big Sky action and lost both meetings with the Wildcats by 14 and 10 points respectively, but if any team stands in Weber State’s way, it is the Vikings. Portland State is the only other team in the league with more than 20 wins. After losing to Weber State for the second time this season, the Vikes ran off 4 straight wins to close out the year and will try to ride that momentum to a second straight conference title. Portland State was able to beat a Gonzaga team which ran the table in the West Coast Conference earlier this season so there’s no doubt these kids can play. Guard Jeremiah Dominquez leads the way with 12.6 points per game and three other players average double figures as well.

2008 Big Sky Conference Tournament Recap:
Portland State captured its first ever Big Sky Tourney title last March with back-to-back double digits wins over No. 4 seed Idaho State and No. 2 Seed Northern Arizona.

Do your basketball betting on Jimmy Boyd’s college basketball picks this March for the most winners against the NCAA basketball odds.

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