Tag: Charleston Cougars

Chris Mack returns to college basketball, replaces Pat Kelsey at Charleston

College of Charleston replaced Pat Kelsey with former Louisville and Xavier coach Chris Mack, a proven winner in college basketball.

Two years and three months after getting fired by Louisville, veteran college basketball coach Chris Mack is back after accepting the open position at Charleston vacated by Pat Kelsey – who is now at Louisville after replacing Kenny Payne.

Mack was dismissed by Louisville in January of 2022. The program made Payne the next head coach in a move that could not have gone more poorly –  as the program tanked over the last two seasons under Payne, and now will hope Kelsey can get them out of the cellar in the ACC.

For Charleston, Mack comes in hoping to keep this program relevant after Kelsey’s excellent tenure, especially as the program remains in consideration to join the Atlantic 10 as a replacement for UMass.

Mack has experience in the A-10, leading Xavier to a pair of regular season titles before they moved to the Big East, where he also took them to a title.

All told, Mack has reached the NCAA Tournament in nine of his ten seasons as a head coach, not including 2019-20 when he had Louisville at one point ranked No. 1 in the country before the tournament was cancelled due to COVID.

Mack has had success at every stop in his career, with an overall record of 278-133. This hire sends the message that Charleston has no intention of fading back to obscurity following Kelsey’s departure, and could keep them relevant regardless of whether they take the leap to the A-10.

March Madness: Final Four long shots worthy of NCAA Tournament futures bet

Analyzing NCAA Tournament futures betting odds and listing the best 4 long-shot predictions and picks to make the Final Four.

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March Madness is here. And it’s called madness for a reason because you never know what will happen in the coming weeks.

Below, we look at 4 teams with decent value and their NCAA Tournament Final Four futures odds from Tipico Sportsbook and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.

Futures bets are a fun way to make small plays and hope one of them can pay off big. The fun is not always to take the favorites, but to find that Cinderella team and follow along with them.

While a long shot usually doesn’t win, what if, for once, it did. Here are 4 teams seeded 5 or lower who could win the National Championship. But remember, these are not likely to hit, so just put a taste on them and do not overextend yourself.

See Top 25: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

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Final Four long-shot predictions

Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines for team to make Final Four last updated Tuesday at 7:31 a.m. ET.

Duke Blue Devils (+750)

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No one is hotter entering the tourney than 5-seed Duke (26-8), which beat Virginia to win the ACC Tournament title on Sunday for its 9th straight victory.

Duke has a tough opening game against Oral Roberts (30-4). The Golden Eagles finished the Summit league season 18-0 and were the only team in Division I with an undefeated conference record. Its offense ranks 3rdin the nation at 84.1 points per game. Of course the members of the Summit League do not have the athletic talents of Duke.

The East region is loaded with great coaches and some good teams that Duke would need to beat out. First-year coach Jon Scheyer has his team ready. If Duke can continue to make its shots, something it finally started to do late in the season, the Blue Devils could be in for a Final Four run.

Arkansas Razorbacks (+1500)

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Arkansas (20-13) somehow have a higher seed in the NCAA tournament than it did in its own conference tournament.

After starting the year ranked in the top 10, the 8th-seeded Razorbacks struggled after the loss of Nick Smith to injury. This midseason falter left Arkansas in a hole it could not climb out of when Smith returned. Coach Eric Musselman has a team which can knock down shots. But it can also go into long dry spells which makes it a dangerous proposition to bet on them to move on.

If Arkansas is able to defeat Illinois in Rround 1, Kansas likely awaits followed by a potential Sweet 16 meeting with St. Mary’s or UConn. This is an extremely difficult path to the Final Four, but Arkansas has the talent to  make it to Houston.

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Iowa Hawkeyes (+2000)

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Another 8 seed I like for a run is Iowa (19-13), which opens against Auburn in the 1st round. Despite only 19 wins, Iowa has been battle tested in the Big Ten. If it gets past Auburn, it will not be afraid to bang with Houston in the paint. If Houston G Marcus Sasser is unable to be back, or not fully healthy, Iowa can take control of the game and defeat the Cougars.

All the teams in the Midwest have warts. Iowa can hit the shots needed to go far into this tournament. And despite 1-seed Houston standing in the way, I can see the Hawkeyes getting by the Cougars and getting to Houston for the Final Four.

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College of Charleston Cougars (+8000)

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I picked College of Charleston (31-3) over the Utah State Aggies (26-8) because I like the Cougars’ matchup with San Diego State in the 1st round better than the Aggies’ matchup with Missouri.

Charleston will run up and down the floor and hyper speed against an Aztecs team which does not want anything to do with that style of play. San Diego State could easily get worn down and the Cougars could pull away in the 2nd half of the game.

Charleston, which average 80.8 points per game (18th in the nation) can run and shoot like few others in the tournament. If it gets hot, it can beat anyone. Including Alabama in a potenial Sweet 16 showdown with Alabama. Is it likely? That’s whythey call is a long shot.

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Six more teams set to go dancing after conference title wins

The NCAA men’s basketball bracket is starting to become more clear.

Six more mid-majors punched their tickets to The Big Dance on Monday and Tuesday after winning their respective conference tournament championship games.

After five teams punched their own tickets over the weekend, Charleston, Furman, Gonzaga, Louisiana, Northern Kentucky, and Oral Roberts clinched their own spots on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Charleston, Cougars left little doubt this season of how strong of a team they were, going 31-3 on the year, including 16-2 in CAA conference play. The only three games they lost all season were to North Carolina, Hofstra, and Drexel, the latter two coming in back-to-back games. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Charleston has won each of their last ten games.

Furman, 27-7, was eyed as a team all season that was likely to win their conference and go dancing in March. They completed that prophecy on Monday with a 88-79 win over Chattanooga, using a 50-point second-half effort to fend off the Mocs.  Their trip to the NCAA Tournament will be the program’s first in 43 years, their last appearance coming in 1980. It’s overall the program’s seventh tournament appearance.

Gonzaga, 28-5 one of the country’s top-10 ranked teams, officially earned their auto-bid with a 77-51 win over St. Mary’s; the Bulldogs dominated the first half, leading 37-19 at halftime, and never looked back. The Bulldogs have now made each NCAA Tournament since the 1998-99 season and will likely be a four-seed or higher for the sixth consecutive season.

Louisiana, 26-7, was the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament defeating Georgia Southern and Texas State before facing off against South Alabama in the tournament’s championship game. After finding themselves trailing 37-33 at halftime, the Ragin’ Cajuns outscored the Jaguars 38-29 over the final 20 minutes before winning 71-66. It’s the program’s 11th trip overall to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and first since 2014.

Northern Kentucky had to outlast Chicago State 63-61, earning their third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and the first since the 2018-19 season. The Norse went 22-12 this season, including 14-6 in conference play. They’ll look to make it past the Round of 64 for the first time in this year’s tournament.

Finally, Oral Roberts is headed to its second tournament in three years after getting there in 2020-2021. They defeated North Dakota State 92-58 in the Summit League Championship game. The Golden Eagles won 30 games for the first time this season, going 30-4 while running through their conference schedule with an 18-0 record. The last time they got to the Big Dance, they upset No.2 Ohio State and No.7 Florida before narrowly losing to Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen.

List of auto bids: 

ASUN: Kennesaw State (26-8)

Big South: UNC Asheville (27-7)

Colonial Athletic Association: Charleston (31-3)

Horizon League: Northern Kentucky (22-12)

Missouri Valley: Drake (27-7)

Northeast: Farleigh Dickerson (19-14)

Ohio Valley: Southeast Missouri State (19-16)

Southern: Furman (27-7)

Summit League: Oral Roberts (30-4)

Sunbelt: Louisiana (26-7)

West Coast: Gonzaga (28-5)