The road to the NCAA Tournament typically ran through the sleepy upstate New York town of Hamilton. Matt Langel had a stranglehold on the conference for years, but his perch atop the Patriot League came to an unceremonious end as American ended Colgate’s season in the semifinals last year in Washington, D.C.
It advanced the Eagles to face Navy in the Patriot League Championship game. A year later, the Midshipmen have taken the bull by the horns, and everybody else will have to try to sink their battleships in their own shipyard.
First Round — Tuesday, March 3 | Hosted by Higher Seed | ESPN+ | Time
No. 10 Holy Cross at No. 7 Lafayette | Easton, Penn. | 7 p.m.
No. 9 Army at No. 8 Bucknell | Lewisburg, Penn. | 7 p.m.
Quarterfinal Round — Thursday, March 5 | Hosted by Higher Seed | ESPN+ | Time
No. 6 Loyola MD at No. 3 Colgate | Hamilton, N.Y. | 7 p.m.
No. 5 American at No. 4 Boston University | Boston, Mass. | 7 p.m.
Winner of No. 10/No. 7 seeds at No. 2 Lehigh | Bethlehem, Penn. | 7 p.m.
Winner of No. 9/No. 8 seeds at No. 1 Navy | Annapolis, Md. | 7 p.m.
Semifinal Round — Sunday, March 8 | Hosted by Higher Seed | CBSSN | Time
Winner of No. 6/3 vs. Winner of 10/7/2 | TBA | TBA
Winner of No. 5/4 vs. Winner of No. 9/8/1 | TBA | TBA
Championship Game — Wednesday, March 11 | Hosted by Higher Seed | CBSSN
Winner of No. 6/3/10/7/2 vs Winner of No. 5/4/9/8/1 | TBA | 7 p.m.
It’s hard to look at the Midshipmen and not call them the clear favorite to cut down the nets. While it may only be year one for Jon Perry, the program has been building to this moment for years. The core of players was assembled under former head coach Ed DeChellis – while Perry was an assistant, and has been developed through the years. It culminated in a 25-win season and a dominant 17-1 Patriot League record. Should the Midshipmen win the conference tournament, they would eclipse 26 wins for just the second time in program history. Point guard Austin Benigni and big man Aidan Kehoe are the two first names you sharpie on the all-conference first team. Two seniors who have played a lot of basketball for the Academy.
2. Lehigh (11-7 Patriot, 15-16 overall)
From 6-6, Lehigh finished the season with five wins out of the last six games, with the only loss coming at Navy, to finish 11-7 and snag the second seed. Nasir Whitlock is playing his best basketball at the right time, scoring 30 points in three of the last six contests. The Mountain Hawks will go as far as he – the conference’s leading scorer – can take them. Sophomore big man Hank Alvey has taken a leap as well, averaging 16.4 points per game in league play.
3. Colgate (11-7 Patriot, 17-14 overall)
Colgate’s chances to reclaim the throne in the conference hinge on whether star point guard Jalen Cox will be able to play. He missed Saturday’s game against Navy with a concussion. The Raiders have found ancillary scoring from Andrew Alekseyenko, Sam Wright, and Ben Tweedy throughout the year, but are losers of four of the last five games heading into the conference tournament.
4. Boston University (10-8 Patriot, 15-16 overall)
Winners of seven of the last eight games, Boston University is the hottest non-Navy team in the Patriot League right now. The Terriers’ offense can ignite at any moment with three-point snipers Michael McNair, Sam Hughes, and Azmar Abdullah along with the pick-and-roll combination of freshman Chance Gladden and big man Ben Defty. BU won on the road on Saturday at American to clinch the fourth seed and home-court in the rematch on Thursday’s quarterfinal.
5. American (9-9 Patriot, 16-15 overall)
The only team to beat Navy this year, American has championship pedigree with a group of players that were key in last year’s run. Greg Jones, Geoff Sprouse, Wyatt Nausadis, and Matt Mayock were all part of the rotation last season, but it’s the play of freshman point guard Madden Collins that could be the ceiling raiser for this year’s group.
6. Loyola MD (8-10 Patriot, 12-19 overall)
For the first time since 2022, Loyola MD won’t play in a play-in game on Tuesday in the conference tournament. The underclassman duo of Braeden Speed and Emmett Adair gives the Greyhounds strong production at the point guard and center spots. Interestingly, Loyola has lost each of the last six games that 13 ppg scorer Jacob Theodosiou has played at least ten minutes in. During that stretch, the Greyhounds are 7-2 in games where he doesn’t play at least ten minutes.
7. Lafayette (8-10 Patriot, 11-20 overall)
Last year, Lafayette lost Mark Butler right before the Patriot League Tournament, but still managed to win its first game and push second seeded American in the quarterfinal. This year, Butler is playing his best basketball as the Patriot League Tournament approaches.
8. Bucknell (6-12 Patriot, 9-22 overall)
Freshman big man Amon Dorries is averaging 22.2 points in his last 11 games on 58% from the field and 39% from three. Despite that, Bucknell has won just three of those contests. Both times the Bison played against Army this year, the road team won by one possession.
9. Army (5-13 Patriot, 11-20 overall)
The Black Knights have won just one of the last eight games as star point guard Ryan Curry has hit a massive shooting slump at the worst time imaginable. He made 65 threes on 38% in his first 22 games of the year, averaging 15.5 points. Since then, he’s averaging just 7.8 points per game and has made multiple treys in just one game.
10. Holy Cross (5-13 Patriot, 10-21 overall)
Even with Gabe Warren playing some of his best basketball of the season to complement Tyler Boston, the Crusaders are struggling heading into the Patriot League Tournament. It’s back-to-back years finishing in tenth place after finishing ninth in Dave Paulsen’s first season two years ago. Losing Joe Nugent in early February hurt as well.
The Pick: Navy continues its dominance of the league and claims its first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.
