A deep dive into the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.By
Adam Burke
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2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
The 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament kicks off the conference tournament season beginning on March 4 with games played on campus sites. The winner will get the conference’s lone bid to the NCAA Tournament.Ten of the 12 teams qualified for the conference tournament, but if Queens College wins as the No. 8 seed, they are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, so regular season champ Eastern Kentucky would get the bid.
How to Watch the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
When: March 4-5, March 7, March 10Where: Campus sites
Format: Top six seeds get bye to Quarterfinals
Watch: ESPN+, ESPN2; Championship Game on ESPN2 on Mar. 10 at 2 p.m. ET
College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings
Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
1. Eastern Kentucky (+140)2. Stetson (+300)
3. Lipscomb (+300)
4. Austin Peay (+700)
5. North Florida (+2000)
6. North Alabama (+2500)
7. Florida Gulf Coast (+3000)
8. Queens (+8000)
9. Kennesaw State (+4500)
10. Jacksonville (+13000)
(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)
Favorite To Win Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Eastern Kentucky is in search of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2014. The Colonels were the most balanced team in league play, finishing third in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, while No. 3 Lipscomb and No. 4 Austin Peay were first and second in adjusted offensive efficiency. No. 10 Jacksonville and No. 7 Florida Gulf Coast were the top defensive teams, but that’s all relative in a conference where defense is largely optional.Interestingly, EKU did lose to both Lipscomb and Austin Peay to finish the regular season. The Colonels beat both teams at home and will have home-court advantage throughout their stay in the field. This is EKU’s second season after moving from the Ohio Valley Conference and they were the CBI runner-up last season after losing to Liberty in the 2 vs. 3 matchup in last year’s conference tourney.
Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Darkhorse
Florida Gulf Coast is the team I’d look at the most as a darkhorse with their 30/1 price tag. Patrick Chambers is a solid head coach and defense travels. The Eagles were actually third in eFG% offense in road games and led the conference in adjusted defensive efficiency away from home. The quick turn from facing Queens to potentially facing Stetson in a back-to-back with travel is a little tricky. The re-seeding in the semifinals does mean FGCU would likely have to beat the No. 3 or No. 2 and No. 1 seed before even making it to the finals, but that’s why the price is where it is.Players to Watch in Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
A lot of these teams love to fire away from 3-point land, including Stetson, who has conference scoring leader Jalen Blackmon (21.1 PPG). He’s a 39.9% shooter from deep and one of three Hatters in double figures.Queens has the best 1-2 scoring punch with AJ McKee (18.5 PPG) and Deyton Albury (17.4 PPG). Those two guards slash to the rim a lot with 380 Close Two shot attempts between them. Queens takes a high rate of Close Twos and 3s, but doesn’t really have a big to rely on, which is part of why they’ve struggled defensively.
Kennesaw State lost a lot from last year’s team because several players followed head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim to South Florida, but Terrell Burden is one who stayed and he averaged 6.2 assists to lead the conference, along with his 16.5 PPG, but his supporting cast is definitely limited.
Eastern Kentucky’s Isaiah Cozart is the best player in the conference with 15.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, not to mention 3.9 blocks per contest to lead the league by a huge margin.
Betting Pick to Win The Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
Eastern Kentucky definitely has the best path here and the most dominant player in Cozart. Lipscomb would have been more intriguing had Derrin Boyd not torn his ACL in mid-February. EKU comes in riding a bit of a low, but neither of those regular season games mattered to them, so I’m not reading too much into that. As intrigued as I am by the 30/1 on FGCU, this is Eastern Kentucky’s to lose at +140.Pick: Eastern Kentucky +140
