Week 3 (Feb. 4 – Feb. 10)

With conference play in full swing every match-up in the major conferences will have NCAA tournament implications. Some teams have already punched their tickets to the big dance while others still need to find a date. With rivalry week coming up and student spirit week already upon us many teams will look to hold home court against some tough rivals.

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, Maryland, Clemson
Work to do- B.C., Virginia Tech: Clemson is falling fast and needs one more quality win while Virginia Tech sits in third place within the ACC they still need to stay strong down the stretch.

Big Ten:

M.N.M.- Michigan St., Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue
Work to do- Minnesota: Minnesota has a lot of work, probably more of a load then the young Gophers can handle. Tubby Smith has the team playing some inspired ball but they might fall just short of the NCAA tournament this year. Purdue is in after a big win over Wisconsin.

Big East:

M.N.M.- Pitt, Georgetown, Marquette, Louisville, UConn
Work to do- Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia, Notre Dame: These teams are playing some decent basketball, but decent will not keep you playing deep into March. ‘Cuse is probably the hottest team with West Virginia bringing up the rear. The Big East will have six teams to the dance with West Virginia being left out.

Big 12:

M.N.M.- Texas, Kansas, Kansas St., Texas A&M
Work to do- Baylor: The Bears played well against Texas but need to win two of their next three to get in. Kansas St. punched their ticket with a win against Kansas, even if it was in Manhattan.

SEC:

M.N.M.- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., Ole Miss
Work to do- Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas: Florida suffered a tough loss to Arkansas but should bounce back quickly while Kentucky, who was without Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper for the first half of the season, will return to show the tournament committee that they are Final Four quality.

Pac-10:

M.N.M.- UCLA, Washington St., Stanford, Arizona, USC
Work to do- Oregon, Arizona St.: If the Ducks can win their next two without a problem they should be in, while USC dominated the Sun Devils to punch their ticket leaving ASU with some work to do.

A-10:

M.N.M.- Xavier, Rhode Island, St. Joe’s
Work to do- UMass, Dayton, Charlotte: St. Joe’s moves up after two wins over UMass while Dayton lost three conference games in a row to lower their stock. Charlotte is creeping up so look for them to make an impact in the committee’s decision.

New M.N.M teams in italics

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: The win over Houston drops the idea that the Cougars could win the C-USA Tournament.

Horizon

M.N.M.- Butler
Work to do- Wright St.: The Raiders are starting to play ball the way they used to after a disappointing start to the season. Butler is still a lock.

Missouri Valley

M.N.M.- Drake
Work to do- Creighton, Illinois St.: Creighton needs to win out while the Redbirds need one more quality win to get an at-large. Only one of these teams will get in, and our pick is ISU if they can beat Drake Feb. 5.

West Coast

M.N.M.- St. Mary’s
Work to do- Gonzaga: They play Monday, Feb. 4, and if Gonzaga can win that, not only will they work their way into the Top 25, but St. Mary’s will have some work to do in order to show they deserve an at-large.

“#”=Moved to one team conferences from last week
New teams in italics

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: George Mason
C-USA: Memphis
*Ivy: Cornell
*Metro Atlantic: Rider
*Mid-American: Kent St.
Mid-East: Hampton
Mountain West: UNLV
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
*Patriot: Lafayette
Southwestern: Alabama St.
*Southland: Stephen F. Austin
Southern: Davidson
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: South Alabama
Western: Boise St.

*= New team from last week

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