Week 2 (Jan. 28-Feb. 3)

Major conferences: These are the conferences that make up the majority of the at-large bids and which teams will earn those will vary throughout the season. Here are Mike N Mike’s picks so far this season.

ACC:

Mike N Mike’s pick- UNC, Duke, Clemson
Work to do- B.C, Maryland: Wake still has work to do in conference and the Seminoles have made a strong run but still need to prove their worth. If B.C. and the Terps can keep it going they’ll leave Wake and FSU in the dust.

Big Ten:

M.N.M.- Michigan St., Indiana, Wisconsin
Work to do- Minnesota, Purdue: The Buckeyes just haven’t done enough to show they deserve an at-large while Purdue has had some quality wins. The Gophers played IU and Michigan St. within five but need to get a Top 25 win to get a lock.

Big East:

M.N.M.- Pitt, Georgetown, Marquette, Louisville
Work to do- Villanova, UConn, Syracuse, West Virginia, Notre Dame: We dropped the Irish out of a lock after a couple big losses while moving Louisville up after a big win over Marquette. UConn is on a role and has the best chance at getting a lock while ‘Nova could sneak in with their solid play. ‘Cuse and WVU have a lot of work to do as well as ND.

Big 12:

M.N.M.- Texas, Kansas
Work to do- Baylor, Texas A&M, Kansas St.: The Big 12 will have two more teams in but right now the Aggies haven’t done enough to stand out from strong Baylor and Kansas St. teams. The Wildcats will go as far as Beasley can take them, while Baylor only needed that win at College Station to catch everyone’s attention.

SEC:

M.N.M.- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., Ole Miss
Work to do- Florida, Georgia: The Gators have to hold home court against Tennessee and Vandy to be a sure lock while Georgia has a ton of big games and they need to prove their worth or their out. Miss St. and Old Miss need to keep winning to stay where they are.

Pac-10:

M.N.M.- UCLA, Washington St., Stanford, Arizona
Work to do- Oregon, USC, Arizona St.: The Ducks are playing solid but need to step it up while ASU is on an elevator to the top. We see all seven teams making the tournament unless one makes a big fall.

A-10

M.N.M.- Xavier, Rhode Island, Dayton
Work to do- UMass, St. Joe’s: One of the top three would have to fall for UMass to get in, especially with RIU on the downfall right now. St. Joe’s is showing potential but has a lot of work to do.

Two team conferences: These conferences will have two teams in the tournament, though, as the season progresses they could have more or less.

C-USA

M.N.M.- Memphis
Work to do- Houston: The Cougars have to stay really strong and play Memphis really close to make a run at the CUSA conference tournament. Jan. 30th will be the deciding factor in this decision.

Horizon

M.N.M.- Butler
Work to do- Cleveland St., UW-Milwaukee: It all depends on seeding going into the Horizon tournament. If Milwaukee can beat Butler they have a good chance at a late run, but no one but Butler earns an at-large out of the Horizon. Panther and Viking fans want Butler to win and lose all at the same time.

Missouri Valley

M.N.M.- Drake
Work to do- Creighton, Illinois St.: If Southern Illinois can turn their streak into a big run in the MVC the Salukis could be a contender but the Redbirds and Jays are the only options right now.

"#"Mountain West

West Coast

M.N.M.- St. Mary’s
Work to do- Gonzaga: Both of these teams should be in for sure. The Gaels have done enough already and Gonzaga has such a tough schedule it should get them in without a problem.

"#"=Moved to one team conferences

One team conferences: These are the teams that will win their conference titles and be the only team in the tournament from their respected conferences.
America East: UMBC
A-Sun: Belmont
Big Sky: Northern Arizona
Big South: UNC-Asheville
Big West: Cal St. Northridge
Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth
Ivy: Brown
Metro Atlantic: Niagara
Mid-American: Akron
Mid-East: Hampton
*Mountain West: UNLV
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
*Patriot: American
*Southwestern: Alabama St.
Southland: Sam Houston St.
*Southern: Davidson
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: South Alabama
*Western: Boise St.

*= New team from Week 1

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