NFL Daily: Horizon League tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and results

Friday, 6 March 2015

Horizon League tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and results

Valparaiso and Green Bay are headed down a possible collision course for the Horizon League's automatic NCAA bid.

The Horizon League Tournament offers some of the most intriguing matchups in the mid-major scene, and the results could alter the at-large bid picture for the NCAA Tournament.

Valparaiso and Green Bay went toe-to-toe for first place all season, splitting their regular-season series. In the end, the Crusaders took the title and top seed for the tournament. Both teams will be motivated to grab the auto-bid with their at-large bubble hopes dwindling. Green Bay boasts a road win over Miami and one of the country's best players in senior Keifer Sykes, but their resume might not add up in the selection committee's eyes. Either team will likely have to win the tournament to go dancing this year.

Those aren't the only teams in the tourney, and a couple of the lower seeds could end up crashing the party. Cleveland State is the obvious choice, having swept Green Bay in the regular season. Oakland is another name to watch after beating both Valpo and Green Bay at home.

The format

Milwaukee is ineligible due to APR violations, so eight teams are competing in the tourney. It doesn't follow the standard eight-team format, though -- the top two seeds get a double-bye into the semifinals, while seeds 3-4 get a single bye into the quarterfinals. The bottom four seeds have to win three games just to make the final round.

The tournament takes place at campus sites, with the higher seed hosting each round. Valparaiso hosts the second round and semifinals due to claiming the top seed. The top remaining seed hosts the championship game.