Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Championship Week: Day 2 Preview

spt-120227-greenbay2

Mike Miller

Over the next 13 days, the brackets will start to take shape. Teams with no at-large aspirations will make one final push at the post-season. Teams on the bubble will look to assert themselves as worthy members of “The Big Dance”, and contenders will start priming their engines for a national Championship run. While “March Madness” officially begins following Selection Sunday, the real madness starts now.

For the next 13 days, this will be your home for Championship Week recaps and previews. The players and teams are starting to prepare for March Madness, so you should too.

Here is what’s happening on Day-2 of Championship Week:

Game of the Night: UW-Green Bay at Youngstown State
Green Bay enters the first round of the Horizon League Tournament having won five in a row. Youngstown State has lost three of their last four games, but defeated Green Bay 77-47 the last time they faced off in Ohio. Both teams finished the season at 10-8 in the conference, and split the season series.

Player to Watch For: Ben Averkamp, Loyola (Ill.)
The senior forward is one of the league’s most accurate shooters, and will need to find his shot early and often if the Ramblers hope to notch the first upset victory of Championship Week by defeating the Detroit Titans. With Walt Gibler’s health still uncertain, Averkamp will need to carry his team to victory.

Miscellaneous Madness: With no at-large aspirations left, Butler’s hopes of returning to a third consecutive National Championship game hang in the balance tonight when they host Wright State. The Bulldogs beat the Raiders both times during the regular season, but this game will have added pressure for Butler and their fan base.

Schedule:

Horizon League First Round

7 p.m. - #10 Loyola (IL) at #3 Detroit
7 p.m. - #8 Wright State at #5 Butler
7:05 p.m. - #7 UW-Green Bay at #6 Youngstown State
8 p.m. - #9 Illinois-Chicago at #4 UW-Milwaukee