2013 Atlantic Sun Basketball Championship

The Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament is set to kick off tomorrow with the champion getting crowned on Saturday, March 9th. Mercer University in Macon, Georgia is hosting the tournament. Northern Kentucky is not eligible for tournament play during their NCAA reclassifying period. The BWI says the Mercer Bears, who nabbed the regular season crown, will emerge from this gun fight known as Macon Madness.

2013 BWI Atlantic Sun Conference Standings FINAL

1. 6.1 MERCER
2. 8.2 FLORIDA GULF COAST
3. 9.5 STETSON
4. 9.6 USC UPSTATE
5. 10.8 JACKSONVILLE
6. 14.5 NORTH KENTUCKY
7. 15.1 LIPSCOMB
8. 15.6 NORTH FLORIDA
9. 17.7 EAST TENNESSEE ST
10. 21.4 KENNESAW ST

You can see the bracket and complete tournament coverage by clicking here.

2013 Horizon League Championship

The 2013 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship begins today with first-round games at campus sites of the higher seeds. The second-round games and the semifinals are hosted by Valparaiso University. The highest remaining seed gets to host the championship game on March 12th. The Valpo Crusaders won the regular season title belt with a 13-3 record. Green Bay takes the slight edge in the BWI, so look for a tournament surprise.

2013 BWI Horizon League Standings FINAL

1. 5.9 GREEN BAY
2. 6.1 VALPARAISO
3. 6.8 DETROIT
4. 12.3 WRIGHT ST
5. 12.6 YOUNGSTOWN ST
6. 12.6 LOYOLA (CHI)
7. 12.7 ILLINOIS-CHICAGO

8. 17.1 CLEVELAND ST 

9. 19.1 MILWAUKEE

You can see the bracket by clicking here.

2013 Big South Conference Tournament

The Big South Conference Basketball Tournament tips off in roughly an hour in Myrtle Beach with the championship game on March 10th. High Point and Charleston Southern topped their respective divisions during the regular season. The BWI picks the High Point Panthers to take the tournament and walk away as the automatic qualifier.

2013 BWI Big South Conference Standings FINAL

1. 5.1  HIGH POINT

2. 8.0 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN

3. 10.8 UNC ASHEVILLE

4. 12.7 LIBERTY

5. 14.8 GARDNER-WEBB

6. 15.2 VMI

7. 15.4 COASTAL CAROLINA

8. 16.5 RADFORD

9. 18.1 CAMPBELL

10. 18.6 WINTROP

11. 21.9 LONGWOOD

12. 23.7 PRESBYTERIAN

You can see the bracket and get more Championship Tournament information by clicking here.

Its BWI Time!

We happened to run across the old BWI spreadsheet and just in time for conference tournament time. The BWI is a college basketball index. We created it as a way to compare teams and predict the winner of games. The index uses multiple team stats to give each team a value which can then be compared. Some stats that we felt were the most important to a team being successful are FG%, both offensive and defensive; rebounds, assist/turnover ratio, and free throws made. When it debuted a few years ago, the BWI correctly picked Kansas to win the title last year and picked the Steph Curry led Davidson team to the Elite 8. It hasn't been used in a couple years but this seemed like a great time to dust the cobwebs off and try to take advantage of the money lines on the tournament games. We'll be posting out index results as the Conference's wrap up their regular season play. By the way, get ready for the greatest couple weeks of the sports year.

NFL Awards

The NFL season is over. The Super Bowl was great. San Francisco clearly choked and was the better team but congratulations to the Ravens and Ray Lewis. Thanks to getting back in a couple fantasy football leagues, we kept closer tabs on the league and it led to a more excitement.  The SportStew enjoyed the season and we wanted to announce our award recipients for the season. Here’s who we like...

Offensive POY: Adrian Peterson

Why? AP came back from a series knee injury to gain almost 2100 yards and come within a whisker of Eric Dickerson's rushing record. Don't forget to add in his 13 touchdowns and 40 pass receptions. He also is the only offensive weapon the Vikings have so opposing defenses could key on his.

Deffensive POY: JJ Watt

Why? Watt lead the league with 20.5 sacks and was a huge disturbance in opponents passing offense. He may have created a new defensive category, the swat. The former Wisconsin Badger is also a giant off the field, constantly giving back to his community.
 

Best Offensive Rookie: Robert Griffin, III

Why? Wow, what a rookie class. Five different players had seasons that would have won it every other season. RG3 came on top of a super close ballot. Griffin threw for 3200 yards and 20 touchdowns and added another 815 yards, with 7 touchdowns, on the ground. The deciding factor came down to interceptions, where RG3 only tossed five, while Russell Wilson had 10 and Andrew Luck threw 18. Washington's Morris and Tampa's Martin also had stellar rookie years.

Best Defensive Rookie: Luke Kuechly

Why? Kuechly led the NFL in tackles as a rookie with 164. He added a sack, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.

Coach of the Year: Bruce Arians

Why? The Colts improved from 2-14 a season ago to an 11-5 playoff team. Arians was 9-3 in the 12 games he was interim head coach. The Colts had many rookies contribute and under went a massive turnover from last year's roster.

Enjoy the games.