The annual Bad Boy Mowers Battle for Atlantis tournament is going to start next week. This is by far the tournament to watch with a lot of strong teams and exciting players to watch. There are excellent matchups in this tournament. Teams with recent NCAA tournament success in this tournament include Gonzaga, Michigan, North Carolina, and Oregon. This has the potential to be the best Battle for Atlantis tournament ever.
Previewing the Battle for Atlantis games
Michigan Wolverines vs Iowa State Cyclones
Michigan is coming off easy wins against Appalachian State and Elon. They also had a good win in the Gavitt tip-off games against Creighton. Iowa State lost a close game at Oregon State 80-74 and easily defeated Northern Illinois, Southern Miss, and Mississippi Valley State.
Both teams are expected to contend for an NCAA tournament bid. There is a very good point guard matchup of Tyrese Haliburton vs Zavier Simpson. Simpson is one of the best defensive point guards in the country so Haliburton will have to earn his points.
Also, watch for each team’s best defensive players Jon Teske and George Conditt IV. Conditt IV is averaging 10.5 points per game with an astonishing 4.0 blocks per game. Teske is averaging 16.7 points per game and 2.5 blocks per game. Make sure to check out Isaiah Livers he could be Michigan’s most improved player from last season.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs Alabama Crimson Tide
Roy Williams has a special player in Cole Anthony, he is the son of former NBA Greg Anthony. In his first game for the Tar Heels, he dropped 34 points at home against Notre Dame. He leads his team in points, assists, and steals. Anthony is averaging 22.8 points per game, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He has the potential to win ACC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year if he continues to play like this.
Alabama is off to a rocky start after losing to Rhode Island and Penn. The Crimson Tide did defeat Florida Atlantic and Furhman. Despite a rough start Kira Lewis Jr. is averaging 21.5 points per game and is shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range, North Carolina is a heavy favorite to win this game and have a chance to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Alabama has a promising freshman in Jaden Shackleford, who is averaging 15.8 points per game.
Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Gonzaga has been known as the best mid-major team in recent memory. The Bulldogs frequently year after year always ranked highly in the polls. Once again they get another transfer to join their team this time it’s guard Admon Gilder who transferred from Texas A&M. It will be interesting to see how Killian Tillie plays this season after coming off an injury last season where he missed most of the season. He’s a great player if he can stay healthy and it’s important for him to stay healthy because of what Gonzaga lost last season.
Filip Pertrusev, a freshman from Serbia, is the team’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game. The Bulldogs blew out Texas A&M 79-49. They had a close win, 72-66, over UT Arlington.
Southern Miss is off to an awful start at 1-3. They got blown out by Iowa State and had close losses vs North Florida and Southern Alabama. This is a mismatch and a Gonzaga blowout should be expected. For Southern Miss, watch Boban Jacdonmi, who is averaging 16.8 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Oregon Ducks vs Seton Hall Pirates
This is the best first-round matchup in this tournament. Both teams are expected to make the NCAA tournament and are among the favorites to win their conference. This game has two veteran point guards in Myles Powell and Payton Pritchard. Seton Hall comes into this game 3-1 with a three-point loss to Michigan State. Despite losing, Powell still had 37 points and going into that game he was a game-time decision. They got easy wins against inferior competition in Stony Brook, St Louis, and Wagner.
Meanwhile, Oregon is undefeated with a win over Memphis 82-74. That was an impressive win because Memphis has the projected number one overall draft pick in James Wiseman and the number one recruiting class under Anfernee Hardaway.
For Seton Hal,l make sure to watch Sandro Mamukelashvili, he is averaging 13.5 ppg for the Pirates. For Oregon, watch freshmen Anthony Mathis, who is averaging 14.3 points per game and had a great game against Boise State, scoring 30 points. This game has the feel of a tournament final game, don’t miss it.
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