College of Charleston favored to win 2023 CAA Conference Tournament
The CAA Conference Tournament runs March 3-7 in Washington D.C. and will decide the conference’s lone bid in the NCAA Tournament. College of Charleston has a reasonable case for an at-large berth, but their nonconference schedule just wasn’t strong enough and they only have two Quadrant 2 wins. It looks like they’ll have to win their way in, but they are favored to do so.
All 13 teams in the conference qualify for the tournament.
AAC | ACC | BIG EAST | BIG TEN | BIG 12 | BIG WEST | C-USA | IVY | MAC | MOUNTAIN WEST | PAC-12 | SEC | WAC
How to Watch the CAA Conference Tournament
When: March 3-7
Where: Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington D.C.
Format: Seeds 5-11 get bye to second round; Top four seeds get double bye to quarterfinals
Watch: FloHoops and CBS Sports Network; Championship Game on CBSSN on Mar. 7 at 7 p.m. ET
CAA Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
1. Hofstra (+180)
2. Charleston (-115)
3. Towson (+600)
4. UNC Wilmington (+1000)
5. Drexel (+2500)
6. Delaware (+5000)
7. North Carolina A&T (+30000)
8. William & Mary (+25000)
9. Elon (+25000)
10. Stony Brook (+50000)
11. Northeastern (+40000)
12. Hampton (+50000)
13. Monmouth (+50000)
Favorite To Win CAA Conference Tournament
College of Charleston has been the best team throughout the season and is the favorite to win the conference tournament at -115. The Cougars did lose at home to Hofstra in the lone meeting between the two teams, so the Pride are the No. 1 seed, but the Cougars are still the favorites. Towson and UNC Wilmington are the other contenders.
CAA Conference Tournament Darkhorse
Hofstra and College of Charleston are clearly the top teams in the league. It generally isn’t a big stretch to take a team like Towson and call them a darkhorse, but that may be the case in this league. Towson beat Hofstra and took Charleston to overtime, so they’ve at least proven that they can play with the big boys. Drexel is the other team to beat Charleston and the Dragons have a chance because they really slow games down, but they’re lacking offensively. That leaves Towson as the best option outside of the top two.
Players to Watch in CAA Conference Tournament
Hofstra’s Aaron Estrada is one of the nation’s top scorers with over 20 points per game. He’s also second on the team in assists per game with 4.3. He had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win over Charleston.
As good as Charleston has been, they have more of a balanced attack. Five players average double figures on a nightly basis, led by Dalton Bolon with 12.8 PPG. That is much different than how Delaware operates, led by Jameer Nelson Jr. with 20 PPG and Jyare Davis with 15.9 PPG. The Blue Hens were the surprise winners of this conference tourney last season.
Betting Pick to Win The CAA Conference Tournament
By virtue of beating Charleston in the regular season, Hofstra got a huge advantage. The gap in rankings between Towson and Hofstra is about as big as the gap between Towson and UNC Wilmington. The Pride look to have a much easier semifinal game, therefore they have a better chance of getting to the title game.
Charleston is definitely the best team in this league, but Towson played them tough in both games, including one that went to overtime. Hofstra, meanwhile, crushed Drexel and UNC Wilmington in the regular season. Hofstra having the better path to the final makes them the more worthwhile pick at +180, which is probably 30-40 cents higher than what their moneyline would be in the title game against Charleston.
