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akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

WASHINGTON — If an NCAA Tournament bubble team bursts, and doesn’t hear its name chosen on Selection Sunday, it is possible that one of the culprits will be the result of the highly-anticipated conference tournament taking place in our nation’s capital.

There will be nothing lazy about this Sunday, as A Lot of Sports Talk‘s coverage of championship week concentrates on the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament, as the top two seeds, co-champions Hofstra and the College of Charleston, take the Entertainment & Sports Arena court for the first time in the tourney. Pat Kelsey’s College of Charleston Cougars started the season 21-1, including becoming the first mid-major to win the Charleston Classic, and reached as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll in late January. That hot run ended on January 28 at the hands of Speedy Claxton’s Hofstra Pride, who, like Charleston, also went 16-2 in the league, and the head-to-head win in Charleston is the reason Hofstra is the No. 1 seed.

Of course, the scenario that many anticipate on Tuesday night is a championship matchup between the Cougars and Pride. If that were to come to pass, many bubble teams would be rooting for the Cougars, who harbor legitimate at-large hopes and could possibly make the CAA a two-bid league.

Furthermore, a Charleston appearance in the championship game would give them 30 wins on the season, and every 30-win team in the past 30 seasons has made the NCAA Tournament, either by way of the automatic big or an at-large selection. See why this may be the most-anticipated of all of the mid-major conference tournaments.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday’s games, with the photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 10 pictures in total.

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Tags : Charleston CougarsColonial Athletic AssociationDelaware Blue HensDrexel GragonsHofstra PrideStony Brook SeawolvesTowson TigersUNCW SeahawksWilliam & Mary Tribe

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