While my preseason projections won’t be available until the end of October, I have cranked out the odds for the holiday tournaments based on my rankings. Today’s column looks at who is likely to win each early season tournament, and what storylines to keep an eye on.

Do not hesitate to print out the tournament brackets and follow along as they happen. It is extremely easy to get busy with the Thanksgiving holidays and miss some of the best games of the season. But if you print out these brackets and fill them in, you won’t miss the upsets. Just click on the handy links throughout this document to find the printable brackets.

Preseason NIT Printable Bracket

I’ve already expressed my doubts about Michigan and my faith in Pittsburgh. But Pitt’s second round opponent will be very dangerous. Both Lehigh (led by NCAA hero CJ McCollum) and Robert Morris (led by super-scorer Velton Jones) have the ability to knock off Pittsburgh. These teams have a real chance to win the Patriot League and Northeast Conference, and this is the type of game that can mean the difference between earning a 15 seed and a 13 seed come March.

2K Sports Classic Printable Bracket

OSU’s Jared Cunningham, Alabama’s JaMychal Green, Purdue’s Robbie Hummel, and Villanova’s Maalik Wayns are gone, and those players were not only their team’s leading scorers last season, they were the heart of their respective offenses. Which rebuilding team will forge a new identity first? Because Anthony Grant has become a dominant defensive coach, while Craig Robinson has not, Alabama is the favorite here.

Charleston Classic Printable Bracket

There are some big name conference schools here, but this tournament is a dream for fans of mid-major squads. Murray St. won’t be able to duplicate last year’s 31-2 record, but with superstar point-guard Isaiah Canaan returning, Murray St. should have enough to beat Auburn and St. John’s. In fact, they might even face the College of Charleston in the semifinals. This offseason Charleston added head coach Doug Wojcik, a veteran coach who hasn’t been able to get to the NCAA tournament, but a coach who has consistently built strong defensive teams. If Wojcik can get Charleston to play great defense this season, he has enough returning talent to make a run at an NCAA tournament bid. Andrew Lawrence is clearly Charleston’s best returning offensive player, but the real player to keep an eye on is Adjehi Baru. Baru was ranked 37^th in the nation out of high school and is one of the highest ranked recruits to ever attend Charleston. And while Baru was a nice complimentary player as a freshman last season, it will be very interesting to see if he can break out as a sophomore.

Of course the clear favorite here is Baylor. Baylor may have lost some key post players to graduation and the NBA, but they have plenty of incoming talent. This will be our first chance to see the highly acclaimed 7’1” freshman Isaiah Austin in action.

Puerto Rico Tipoff Printable Bracket

Oklahoma St.’s odds aren’t poor because Oklahoma St. is a bad team. The Cowboys add Top 10 freshman Marcus Smart alongside former Top 10 recruit LeBryan Nash. That one-two punch will make Oklahoma St. a likely NCAA tournament team this year. But the Cowboys have a terrible tournament draw.  First Oklahoma St. has to face Akron. Akron point guard Alex Abreu may be under-sized, but he’s an extremely talented player, and 7 foot center Zeke Marshall could have played for a number of BCS teams. And while the MAC hasn’t had multiple NCAA bids since 1999, Ohio and Akron are strong enough to break that trend.

Meanwhile Tennessee is a heavy favorite to be the second round opponent. Tennessee may have only finished 19-15 last year, but the Vols played substantially better after Jarnell Stokes joined the team mid-season. And with Trae Golden and Jeronne Maymon becoming efficient scorers for head coach Cuonzo Martin, a lot of people have taken notice. Florida head coach Billy Donovan has gone on the record to say that Tennessee is the team to beat in the SEC this season.

And if Oklahoma St. wins that game, they only have to face NC State in the final, the same NC State team that many people have labeled as the ACC favorite. So no, Oklahoma St. isn’t a bad team. But their path to a Puerto Rico tipoff title is brutal.

Coaches vs Cancer

If you get tired of the sloppy play by all the new players in November, please don’t miss Notre Dame vs St. Joseph’s in the first round of the Coaches vs Cancer tournament. Both teams return all five starters from last season and have plenty of offensive stars. I’m going to keep writing about the shot-blocking CJ Aiken, super-slasher Carl Jones, and the super-efficient Langston Galloway until St. Joe’s gets more love, but this four team field is wide open.

Notre Dame is the favorite, but I do have one question for Irish fans. Given Scott Martin’s middling efficiency numbers in his career, was it a good thing that the NCAA granted him an additional year of eligibility? Martin made just 26% of his threes and 40% of his twos last year, and while injuries may have contributed to that, it is clear he wasn’t an elite player last year.

Paradise Jam Printable Bracket

Despite a host of mid-major schools, this tournament looks very dull. Mercer and Iona might compete for the ASun and MAAC titles this year, but neither looks like a likely at-large bid.

And still Connecticut’s tournament odds are not great. First NCAA tournament sanctions led to a host of transfers this off-season. Then the Huskies lost Jim Calhoun to retirement. And as we’ve seen in recent seasons, UConn has been a different team when Calhoun is out. He’s a special coach who can elevate the level of his players, and he will not easily be replaced.

Steve Alford’s team might actually be a little better on offense this season. The team loses Drew Gordon at the forward position, but New Mexico also loses AJ Hardeman. And as great an offensive player as Gordon was, Hardeman was a black hole on offense. With Alex Kirk returning from injury to provide that shot-blocking presence in the paint, and all the returning talent at the guard spots, New Mexico deserves more preseason praise.

Hall of Fame Tip-Off Printable Bracket

Washington’s Abdul Gaddy has had an injury filled career, but with Tony Wroten leaving early for the draft, this is Gaddy’s team. The senior point-guard will have to integrate some new pieces throughout the Washington lineup. Seton Hall will have a number of new faces as well, including Georgia Tech transfer Brian Oliver and Southern Illinois transfer Gene Teague. Realistically, the winner of this game will probably be headed to the NIT, but a win against Ohio St. would be a fantastic notch on any NCAA resume. While Ohio St. is the clear favorite thanks to the efficient high volume shooter DeShaun Thomas, there are questions about how the Buckeyes offense will run without Jared Sullinger.

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The older I get, the more I see that one of the things I love most about sports is the variety of it, the diversity of it and the CHARACTERS. Men’s tennis is at its best in many years because, for the first time in a long time, the top three or four players all have wildly different styles. The Tim Tebow story was fun on so many levels, but one of those levels was that he was just SO DIFFERENT in how he played — I’d say we are entering a great time for quarterbacks, because Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning and Drew Brees and Michael Vick and Cam Newton and Tebow and others are not really alike at all.

-- Joe Posnanski

As a basketball fan, I’ve never understood the division that exists between fans of the NBA and the NCAA. While the NBA has the best basketball players in the world, March Madness is compelling in its own right and as entertaining as anything that happens on the professional level.

In the NBA, the owners of the 30 franchises consider turning a profit and getting an equal shot at the top players a right, regardless of how well (or how poorly) they run their organization and the respective size of their fan-bases. Since every losing team is a few ping pong balls from the rights to a LeBron James, Kevin Durant or Dwight Howard, personnel determines scheme in the NBA.

In contrast, the vast majority of the 344 Division I programs in college basketball have little chance of ever receiving a commitment from a McDonald’s All-American. But instead of petulantly trying to sabotage the sport in a misguided effort to legislate fairness, schools try many creative ways of leveraging the talents of the players they can recruit. As a result, scheme determines personnel in the NCAA.

At Syracuse, Jim Boeheim has made a Hall of Fame career out of running a contrarian scheme, in his case an aggressive 2-3 zone. The Orange traditionally have rosters full of “1.5’s”, 6’3+ combo guards lacking the quickness to defend elite PG’s and the size to defend SG’s, and “3.5’s”, 6’8+ combo forwards lacking the quickness to defend elite SF’s and the size to defend PF’s. However, because Syracuse never plays man defense, the athletic deficiencies of their players are minimized.

So while nearly every NBA team runs a fairly similar system of isolations, pick-and-rolls and man defense, an incredibly diverse array of styles can be found in the college game. On one end of the spectrum, teams like Missouri play four guards and pressure the ball 94 feet for 48 minutes, on the other, teams like Wisconsin run a deliberate motion offense, trying to minimize the number of possessions and shoot at the very end of the shot-clock.

In the NBA, the players are too good for the “40 Minutes of Hell” system (which Mike Anderson has brought to Missouri and Arkansas in the last few years) to be successful. Like Mike Leach’s bizarre pass-happy offense in college football, Anderson’s system, which he learned as a member of Nolan Richardson’s staff in Arkansas in the 1990’s, has philosophical holes that professional athletes can exploit. Nevertheless, that doesn’t make them any less entertaining on the collegiate level.

And with 68 teams set to compete in the NCAA Tournament, there are a lot more surprises in the college game. Even programs ranked in the top-15 like Murray State have barely been on national TV this season.

We have a pretty good idea of how teams like the Pacers and the 76ers match up with the top of the Eastern Conference but not whether an undersized Murray State squad can handle the size of an elite team from a Power Six conference. It’s an open question how Isaiah Canaan’s speed and athleticism translates outside of the Ohio Valley Conference. Non-conference play in college basketball generally ends in late December, so it’s almost impossible to gauge how younger teams like Texas, Washington and Tennessee who have found their groove in the last two months will fare in March.

In the NBA, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Chicago, Miami and Oklahoma City aren’t three of the final four teams left in the playoffs. In the NCAA, as many as two dozen teams have a legitimate shot at making a run at the Final Four.

Of course, in terms of entertainment, none of this makes the NCAA necessarily better or worse than the NBA, just different. But, as Posnanski writes, there’s something to be said for the concept of “different” in the modern sports world. Basketball fans of all stripes should enjoy March Madness; the NBA will still be here in a few weeks.

In case you missed it, here are some highlights from Wednesday and Thursday’s conference tournament action:

Wednesday

Sad Truth

Big shots only get replayed if you win. Robert Morris sophomore Russell Johnson hit a game-tying three pointer to send the Northeast Conference Tournament Title game into OT. But Long Island won in OT. And so Russell Johnson’s shot will not be shown three times next week on CBS. (Personally, I am going to miss the Robert Morris mascot. I’ve seen him live in person twice in recent tournaments, and he seems oddly non-cartoonish. His apparel is much too accurate for a mascot, in my humble opinion.)

Quotable

Noted during the Marquette game: “He had a career high against Providence earlier this season. But that’s not surprising. Everyone has had their career high against Providence.”

“It was a mistake. But I make mistakes, the players make mistakes, and no matter how smart they think they are, my assistants definitely make mistakes. And those are three fantastic officials.” Mike Rice would probably feel a lot differently if Wednesday’s loss was going to cost Rutgers a slot in the NCAA tournament. But given his intensity on the sideline, Mike Rice earned a lot of respect for handling Wednesday’s referee error like a professional. (Mike Rice did note that if he had known St. John’s stepped out with 1.7 seconds left he might have grabbed one of the officials by the leg and held him on the court.)

Senior Heartbreak

Nebraska desperately needed to beat Oklahoma St. on Wednesday to keep their slim NCAA hopes alive. And the Cornhuskers came back from 14 points down in the second half. But trailing by one, with 8 seconds left, Nebraska’s Lance Jeter lost the ball in the lane, and could not get off a shot to try to win the game. And with that turnover, Nebraska’s NCAA hopes were squashed. The senior leader of the Cornhuskers lay on the ground in agony that his dream was over. But after his teammates could not move him, Oklahoma St. head coach Travis Ford was one of the first to grab Jeter as he got to his feet. And you could tell from Ford’s long conversation with Jeter that he had nothing but praise for the Nebraska point guard. Jeter might not have wanted to hear it at that moment, but if it was not for his fine play all season long, Nebraska would not have even been in the bubble discussion.

Senior Struggles

While everyone wants to talk about how Georgetown’s struggles are because of Chris Wright’s injury, senior forward Julian Vaughn has played his worst basketball of the season down the stretch. Vaughn has averaged eight points per game this year, but he has a total of 6 points in the last four Georgetown games, shooting 1 for 18 from the floor, and grabbing only 4 rebounds in the last two games.

Thursday

Senior Heroics

Northwestern senior Michael “Juice” Thompson scored a Big Ten tournament record 35 points in Thursday’s opening round win over Minnesota. Thompson has absolutely been on fire from three point range lately. In his last four games, he is 18 of 33 or 55% from deep. And when you combine lethal outside shooting with his ability to drive the lane, Thompson is making the most of his final days playing college basketball.

Senior Swan Song

But for every senior who make a difference positive or negative, there are millions of seniors who walk off the court without making a final mark, good or bad. Minnesota’s Blake Hoffarber once hit a crazy buzzer beater to beat Indiana in the Big Ten tournament. He is one of the greatest three-point shooters in Minnesota history. But on Thursday, with his team losing to Northwestern by a dozen, he hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left, and walked off the court for the final time. 30 or so Minnesota fans stood to celebrate, but there was no climax to his great career. (I’m assuming a team that has lost 10 of 11 should not play in any postseason.) Hoffarber’s walk off the court was symbolic of so many hard working players this season, who will make many great plays, only to see their careers end without a dramatic climax.

You call 35 a tournament record?  Try 43!

Washington St.’s Klay Thompson returned from his one-game suspension and made a Pac-10 tournament record eight three-pointers while scoring a Pac 10 tournament record 43 points. On a night when the Big Ten tournament point record fell, the Pac-10 tournament record fell in even more dramatic fashion. Thompson needed every one of his points to keep the Cougars in the game, but they still fell two points short of upsetting the Huskies. (Incidentally, leading by three points, Washington fouled with 2.4 seconds left, preventing Washington St. from getting a shot to tie the game. Announcers always call for the foul in that scenario, and Washington executed perfectly.)

Fear The Other Singler 

Oregon forward EJ Singler (Kyle Singler’s little brother) scored a career high 22 in Wednesday night’s win over Arizona St., and he followed it up with an even more impressive 24 points in Thursday night’s upset over UCLA. Back-to-back career nights is an impressive feat. This goes to prove you should never count against a Singler in March.

Comeback

Arkansas came back from 16 down to tie Tennessee in the final minutes, only to fail to complete the job. But Miami had more than enough to complete the comeback against Virginia. Trailing by 10 in the final minute, the Hurricanes scored 10 points in 29 seconds.

The best example of Virginia’s epic meltdown was when Miami missed a free throw with 15 seconds left only to see two Virginia defenders trip over the ball going out of bounds, without a single Miami player in sight. Or perhaps it was best represented by Virginia’s inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left that was stolen by Miami and gave Miami a shot to win in regulation.  Eventually the Hurricanes prevailed in OT.  Tony Bennett has won a lot of games with an under-manned Virginia squad this year, but this is the type of epic March meltdown that can shorten a coaches’ career.

No Comeback

During the Michigan St. vs Iowa game they flashed a graphic that Michigan St. had not lost a single game all year after they had a seven-point lead. How is that even possible? Perhaps because Tom Izzo is one of the best game managers of all time. Even with the Spartans not playing well, you know his team is going to make smart plays in crunch time. And in a game where a loss would knock Michigan St. out of the NCAA tournament, the Spartans hung on for the close win.

On Tuesday, I mentioned that the Spartan defense struggled mightily in the last 11 games. And while I speculated that it might be the defense of Mike Kebler and Keith Appling whose playing time has increased since Korie Lucious left, the Spartan blog “The Only Colors” set me straight. Both Kebler and Appling are clearly better defenders than Lucious. And Dan Dakich agreed, calling Appling one of the best defenders in the Big Ten. Plus with Iowa down three in the final seconds, Mike Kebler made a fantastic defensive play to force an off-balance miss by Iowa.  Something went wrong with the Spartan defense after Lucious left, but it is not Appling and Kebler.

Doh!

Oklahoma St. and East Carolina were both playing their tournaments one-seeds on Thursday. And both teams were assessed technical fouls for taunting in the second half of the close games. East Carolina won in OT against UAB, and Oklahoma St. lost by a single point to Kansas.  But both plays were epic mistakes in close games.

Oklahoma St. was also called for multiple offensive fouls in the paint late. The Oklahoma St. post players simply lowered their shoulders and ran over the Kansas defenders. Oklahoma St. had a chance to win, but they just did not play smart down the stretch.

What a difference a day makes 

On Wednesday, Colorado trailed last place Iowa St. virtually the entire second half. They were seconds away from being knocked out of the NCAA field thanks to Darion “Jake” Anderson’s 30 points and incredibly hot shooting. But after surviving the Iowa St. upset bid, Colorado beat Kansas St. for the third time this season, and now it looks like Colorado has a solid chance of getting an at-large bid.

Fab Melo Sighting 

The Garden was a lot quieter than I expected on Thursday in the Syracuse – St. John’s game. Given how Syracuse fans always flood the Big East tournament and given St. John’s hometown advantage, I expected a raucous atmosphere. But I actually thought the New Mexico vs Colorado St. game sounded louder on TV.

Fab Melo was the Big East preseason rookie of the year, but he had several “DNP – coaches decision” lines late in the season. So of course, in the huge game at Madison Square Garden, Melo caught an inbounds pass under the basket, spun around in the lane, and made the go-ahead bucket. Melo had a career high 12 points, which is not much of a career high, but it still made all the difference in the win. Also, before you accuse Melo of being over-hyped by the media (like Josh Selby), it was actually Jim Boeheim who said in October that Melo was the most impressive freshman he had seen in a long time. Finally, we got some idea why.

And with Kemba Walker’s dramatic last second basket to beat Pitt, we now get a rematch of the six OT UConn-Syracuse game from Madison Square Garden a few years ago. Friday’s slate also includes three great afternoon games. Alabama vs Georgia, Clemson vs Boston College, and Michigan vs Illinois all have the feel of bubble elimination games, where the winner is comfortably in the NCAA field and the loser may be staying home.

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