We have just one week (eight days actually, if you count today, but I digress) until the 2024-25 NSAC men’s basketball regular season comes to a close, thereby completing the seedings for the tournament, AND YET there are still questions to be answered! It’s been that kind of a ride. But here’s what we DO KNOW as of today:
- The top four spots are a crap shoot. John Melvin (FL) and Lighthouse are tied for first and are scheduled to play twice this week. Apprentice and MACU are tied for third with the Builders holding the tiebreaker, but these two teams will also play TONIGHT in Newport News, so that tiebreaker is a moot point. Suffice it to say, the three remaining games among these four will settle the order, with various combinations of wins and losses determining the top four seeds, but none of them can fall lower than fourth. So there.
- Beacon and SC Central are tied for fifth, but the Blazers’ conference schedule is complete while the Gladiators host Southeast Christian next Sunday. If S4C wins, it will claim fifth outright and Beacon will fall to sixth. Vice versa if Southeast wins. More on that in a moment.
- Atlantis is locked into seventh. Thus it has been decreed, thus it shall be.
- JMU (LA) is eighth, and Southeast is ninth, regardless if the Eagles win in South Carolina next weekend. Thus, the Millers and Eagles will face off in the lone first round game on Thursday, February 27 for the right to tackle the top seed the following day. Talk about incentive.
And there you have it. The picture at the top will start to clear a bit once tonight’s Battle in the Bay is over and attention turns to the first of two Pensacola Pileups. Gosh, this is fun.