Week 5 (Feb. 18 – Feb. 24)

With BracketBusters coming up, mid-majors are dreaming of earning an at-large, and after last year it’s looking pretty good. Major’s are still out there working their way to the top to make sure the tournament is Cinderella-less.

Major conferences: These are the conferences that make up the majority of the at-large bids. Here are Mike N Mike’s picks after five weeks.

A-10:

M.N.M.- Xavier, Rhode Island, St. Joe’s
Work to do- Richmond: With Charlotte and Dayton out of the way, Richmond has the best chance at being the fourth team in the tourney from the A-10 because they still have a tough schedule ahead. If the Spiders can beat Xavier, and run their conference tourney, they’re in.

ACC:

Mike N Mike’s pick- UNC, Duke, Maryland, Clemson
Work to do: The rest of the conference doesn’t stand a chance at making a run at the tournament and it is looking like a down year in the ACC. Wake Forest could make a surprise in the tourney but we only see four from the ACC in.

Big Ten:

M.N.M.- Michigan St., Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue
Work to do: This is the same situation as the ACC. Minnesota had a chance to make an argument but losing down the stretch to Wisconsin sealed the deal. The Big Ten gets only four in this year.

Big East:

M.N.M.- Georgetown, Marquette, Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame, Syracuse
Work to do- Pitt, Villanova, Cincinnati: Pitt needs to step up and prove themselves, just like ‘Cuse did against Georgetown. ‘Nova is on its way down and the Bearcats are still lingering around but the Big East should only see six teams in the big dance.

Big 12:

M.N.M.- Texas, Kansas, Kansas St., Texas A&M
Work to do- Baylor, Oklahoma: The Sooners are playing exceptionally well right now and Baylor lost a heartbreaker to Texas. Both teams are still lingering and Oklahoma could make a break in the Big 12 tourney.

Pac-10:

M.N.M.- UCLA, Washington St., Stanford, Arizona, USC
Work to do- Oregon, Cal, Arizona St.: When a conference is this strong you can’t help but to look eight deep. The Sun Devils and Cal both need a hot streak to end the regular season and the Ducks have to win at USC and UCLA in order to get in.

SEC:

M.N.M.- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi St., Arkansas, Florida
Work to do- Kentucky: Ole Miss just pulled a Clemson of last season and fell off after a great start. The Wildcats have made a great case but the beginning of their season could doom them, therefore, they need to beat Ole Miss and play Tenn close.

Teams out from last week: Minnesota, Dayton, Charlotte, Seton Hall, Ole Miss

Teams moved up in italics
Teams moved down are in bold and italics

Two team conferences: These conferences should have two teams in the tournament.

Horizon

M.N.M.- Butler
Work to do- Wright St.: Someone can beat Butler, and the Raiders have a great chance at it late in the season. Though it won’t lead to an at-large it would give everyone else in the conference confidence going into the tourney.

Missouri Valley

M.N.M.- Drake
Work to do- Illinois St.: Drake locked conference, but there are three teams that could still make a run in the MVC tourney, the Redbirds having the best chance.

Mountain West

M.N.M- BYU
Work to do- UNLV: New Mexico just has too much work and UNLV is the second best team in the Mountain.

West Coast

M.N.M.- St. Mary’s
Work to do- Gonzaga: This one is up for grabs, but the Gaels are the better team.

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 State Fullerton*
Colonial: Virginia Commonwealth
C-USA: Memphis
Ivy: Cornell
Metro Atlantic: Rider
Mid-American: Kent St.
Mid-East: Morgan St.
Northeast: Robert Morris
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: American
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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