All season long, Oakland University has been the team to beat in the Summit League, serving as the measuring stick for other conference teams and playing each game with a target on its back.

After amassing a 17-1 conference record for the second season in a row, the Golden Grizzlies (22-9 overall) enter the Summit League Tournament as the No. 1 seed again, knowing they’ll need three victories to take part in March Madness later this month.

Last year’s team accomplished that feat relatively easily, winning all three tournament games by double-digits. But the look and feel to the 2010-11 squad is significantly different. Four of the top seven players from a year ago are no longer with the team if the injured Blake Cushingberry is counted. New playmakers have emerged to join Oakland’s trio of seniors.

This season’s version of the Golden Grizzlies relies heavily on its high-powered offense, which ranks third in the nation at 84.8 points per game. Complementary to OU’s scoring success is a rebounding game that ranks as the best in the conference.

The area of concern for Oakland is its defensive play, especially of late. While it’s difficult to criticize a team that lost just one conference game, the Grizzlies’ defensive regression over the latter half of the Summit season should be enough to instill an honest notion that they’re not unbeatable in the tournament.

There have been nights when Oakland’s ability to score points well into the 90s was not simply superfluous. Teams like South Dakota State and IUPUI have pushed OU to its limits defensively, adding to the possibility of a tournament upset should the Grizzlies suffer an inevitably poor shooting night.

Head coach Greg Kampe spoke all season long about finding different ways to win basketball games. The Grizzlies have demonstrated the ability to pull out victories on nights when their offense went cold, but Oakland’s calling card has unquestionably been to simply outscore its opponents on most nights.

In a single-elimination tournament, OU’s chances of coming out unscathed will increase dramatically if it can return to the defensive form it displayed near mid-season.

Key contributors

Oakland boasts two of the league’s top 10 scorers in senior Keith Benson and junior Reggie Hamilton. A supporting cast that includes 3-point sharpshooter Travis Bader and the highly-efficient Will Hudson give OU the most diverse scoring attack among teams in the field of eight.

Benson’s track record speaks for itself. By averaging a double-double and swatting away an average of nearly four shots per game, he remains the most imposing player in the Summit League.

Keeping Benson out of early foul trouble will be one of the most obvious, yet critical factors in Oakland’s tournament run. It should be no coincidence that the three most recent losses on OU’s schedule each saw this fear realized, with Benson fouling out twice and forced to spend long stretches of games on the bench. He averaged just 22 minutes in those three losses, or 10 less than his typical allotment.

Hamilton’s emergence as both a dynamic scorer and assist man has really helped to balance Oakland’s offense. In 18 Summit League contests, he has averaged 18.5 points and a conference-best 6.3 assists per game.

Hamilton’s ability to take over a game offensively, as witnessed in both matchups with IPFW, will bode well for Oakland in the tournament.

Recall that it took a 36-point effort from Derick Nelson to defeat IUPUI in last season’s championship game. Hamilton has that type of potential should it become necessary.

Ultimately, it may be Oakland’s depth that presents its biggest advantage. With the benefit of a nine-man rotation, Kampe can throw any number of lineups on the court and often change the pace and style of play at will.

With senior Larry Wright now providing instant offense in his role coming off the bench, player substitutions rarely result in decreased scoring potency for the Grizzlies anymore.

No easy task

With tournament seeding finalized after Saturday’s season finale, Oakland’s path to the championship game is now in focus.

A first-round draw with eighth-seeded Southern Utah offers OU a somewhat precarious matchup since the two teams will be squaring off for the second time in eight days.

The Grizzlies defeated the Thunderbirds with relative ease in both meetings this season, but the prospect of beating any team for a third time in a season is always a challenge.

The other first round matchups each provide considerable intrigue and should be closely contested.

To Oakland’s benefit, Oral Roberts and IUPUI are the second and third seeds, respectively, meaning OU’s stiffest challengers are poised for a second round meeting should they avoid the early upset.

A win against Southern Utah would mean a second-round game against the winner of the IPFW and SDSU matchup — still no easy test for Oakland en route to a potential championship game return.

Overall, the quality and competitiveness of the eight tournament teams has improved over last season when only three teams appeared suited to win it all. While Oakland’s 17-1 record stands four games above second place ORU’s 13-5 mark, the parity of the regular season looms large with seemingly any team capable of knocking off another.

A win in Tuesday’s championship game (9 p.m. EST, ESPN 2) would send the Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history, likely garnering a 13 seed and a prime opportunity to build off an already accomplished season.

Throw the records aside; Oakland’s three-game run to the postseason begins now.

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Follow @DanFenner on Twitter for updates and analysis throughout the tournament March 5-8.