Stretch Run on the Women's Side

The most compelling basketball this weekend (I'm counting Thursday night as the weekend) is on the women's side. The top two seeds are both up for grabs as March approaches. What's the best part of all? Every game until the tournament championship on March 14th can be seen right here on HLN.

The standings are tight at the top with Detroit, Butler, and Green Bay all tied in the loss column. Detroit has an extra win in the bag at 12-3. The two 11-3 squads have a huge matchup on Saturday. We'll get to that in a second.

First, let's make sure we know the how this whole thing works. Unlike the men's side, the top two seeds only get one bye in the HL tournament. The First Round games, starting on Monday, March 8th, consist of the #7 and #8 seeds hosting the #9 and #10 seeds. The #10 seed is set, Youngstown State will travel that Monday and may still be looking for their first win of the season.

The second round begins Wednesday, March 10th with the #1 seed hosting the #8 vs. #9 winner and the #2 seed hosting the #7 vs. #10 winner. This round also includes the #3 vs. #6 match-up and the #4 vs. #5 game.

After the Quarterfinals, the site for the remainder of the tournament is the highest remaining seed. This is extremely important because of the way home-court advantage has played out during the regular season. For example, Green Bay is undefeated at the Kress Center and Butler has only lost one game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Semifinals are scheduled for March 12th and can be seen LIVE on HLN. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, March 14th (at the same site as the Semifinals) on ESPNU.

Ok, so we've gotten all of the tournament particulars out of the way. Here are the games to watch this weekend:

Thursday 5:00 PM – Detroit @ Cleveland State

The Titans hit the road trying to avoid stumbling against Horizon League Preseason POY Kailey Klein and the Vikings. Detroit held Klein to 5-15 shooting and 1-8 from three in their last meeting, an 8-point win for the Titans. This game will set the tone for Saturday's slate.

Saturday 2:00 PM – Green Bay @ Butler

Both teams will need to avoid those dreaded ‘trap' games on Thursday night. Butler hosts Milwaukee and Green Bay travels to Valpo.

This is the single biggest game left on the schedule in terms of seeding. Green Bay shot a staggering 75% from the field in the first half against Butler in late January. The Bulldogs fought back behind a balanced scoring attack but ultimately fell to the Phoenix 73-62. Taking care of the basketball (there were 37 combined TOs the first time around) and 3-point shooting will be keys for each team.

There's also this fact: Green Bay has beaten Butler 27 straight times.

If Green Bay wins they'll put Butler in a tough spot for the #1 seed. Green Bay would be 2-0 vs. Butler, and hold the tie-breaker if each team ends up tied at the end of the regular season. If Butler beats Green Bay, they'll have earned a split with the Phoenix. If the Bulldogs end up tied with Detroit atop the HL Standings, Butler would get the nod as the #1 seed since they swept the Titans this season.

The Horizon League has never had an at-large team in the NCAA tournament so every team is desperate, even the previously nationally-ranked Phoenix. Desperate teams are what makes the month of March fun.