We have officially entered the post-season.
This past Sunday marked the end of the regular season, and next Sunday starts the best three weeks of the college basketball calendar.
Selection Sunday falls on the Ides of March this year – a day that will make its own kind of history. The committee will have their work cut out for them this season with teams all over the place with good wins and bad losses. For instance, UConn looked to be the final one-seed for the bracket, but following an upset loss to Marquette they are now projecting a two-seed.
Florida is the new favorite for the final top-seed, next to Duke, Arizona and Michigan. This list is not official as conference tournaments can shake up the rankings, but some are almost a guarantee.
The most notable conferences to watch are the big five.
The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Big East will all be on display this weekend.
For the ACC, the top favorites to take home the crown are the No. 1 team in the country, Duke. The Blue Devils have been near perfect this season at 29-2 and have only lost one game in conference. The loss came to rival UNC on a last second buzzer-beater a few weeks ago. However, the Blue Devils got the last laugh and took down the Tar Heels 76-61 to end the regular season.
The Big Ten has Michigan standing above the pack at 19-1 in conference play after slipping to Wisconsin about midway through the season. Since then, the Badgers have been taking down ranked teams left and right, including their regular season closer beating Purdue on the road 97-93. If you are looking for a potential underdog to win the Big Ten or make a surprising run in March; Wisconsin might be your team.
In the Big 12, Arizona takes the top spot at 16-2 in conference play and ranked No. 2 in the country. Houston is close behind but went on a three-game losing streak in the middle of February against the top three teams in the conference. The tough schedule could show their struggle to take down ranked opponents consistently. It took Arizona a while before their two-game blunder, but have since won six straight, including four against ranked opponents. They are starting to get hot at just the right time, showing just how dangerous they can be.
The SEC has had all sorts of ranking mixes this season. Defending national champion Florida was on top until their rough start to the season. Other teams such as Alabama and Vanderbilt took more of the spotlight in the first half of the season, but it has since returned to the defending champions. Florida has ended their season on an 11-game winning streak and sealed the SEC regular season crown. They will have to fight for the SEC championship with Alabama and Arkansas close behind along with a three-way tie between teams for fourth place in the conference.
Lastly, the Big East is always sure to bring some scrappy basketball to Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm will be No. 1 in the conference tournament following UConn’s loss to Marquette. The rematch between St. John’s and UConn looks promising but as anyone knows the Big East can get physical and anything can happen in March. Villanova is the three seed and the last projected Big East team to make March Madness. They will look to help their bid into the tournament with a solid performance in the Big East this week.
As conference tournaments tipoff this weekend, the final teams make their case for a spot in March. For some, they look to make their case on why they belong. As for others, it is all about building momentum before madness.
The madness is coming – this week will decide who gets to be in it.