Colonial Conference Tourney Preview
By Red Dog Sports
Take ODU +180 to win the CAA tournament that starts on Friday. Here is why the Monarchs are my pick to win it on Monday night.
Old Dominion won the CAA tournament and went to the NCAA tournament last year. They beat Notre Dame in the first round before losing a close game to Baylor. The Monarchs have a good coach in Blaine Taylor and have plenty of experience with Kent Bazemore, Frank Hassell, Ben Finney, Darius James, Chris Cooper and Trey Iliadis. The Monarches rebound well and play great defense. ODU was able to win at VCU and did beat George Mason at home.
VCU is the home team since the games will be played in Richmond. THe Rams won at ODU in a close game back in January. VCU misses the inside defense of Larry Sanders, who is now with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. Joey Rodriguez, Burgess, Skeen and Rozell lead VCU but I expect them to lose and go to the NIT.
George Mason won the regular season crown and is the favorite at +125. They have a nice mixture of veterans like Ryan Pierson, Mike Morrison and Luke Hancock. They are coached well by Jim Larranaga and split with ODU this year.
JMU is a good team but have a young coach (Matt Brady). They just won at VCU but are erratic on defense. Denzel Bowles is the only senior who plays much and he can disappear at times.
William and Mary made it to the finals last year buth they were led by several seniors (Schneider and Sumner) and are down this year. Hofstra has Charles Jenkins to score and lead the way but not much else.
It should come down to VCU, GMU or ODU winning it all on Monday night. No team has won it by having to win four games in four days so that eliminates many of the underdogs like Northeastern, UNC Wilmington and William and Mary. I like the ODU Monarchs to win the Colonial Athletic Association tournament and suggest a small play at +180.
Delaware +1200
Drexel +650
George Mason +125
Hofstra +500
James Madison +800
Old Dominion +180
VA Commonwealth +500
Field +1000