Championship Week Preview

By Sunday, we will know which 65 teams will comprise the NCAA Tournament field, but there plenty of key games to play before we get there. Some squads are playing to secure the seeding while others need to win just to keep on playing. Here are the battles to keep an eye on...

Multiple Bid leagues - number of NCAA teams currently in the field in parenthesis

Big East (8): Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame - The Cardinals and Irish played their way into the field over the last two weeks and even with the large number of teams, all appear safe to stay come selection Sunday, though the Irish and the Golden Eagles need to avoid an early upset in the conference tournament. ..The Mountaineers have an outside shot to join the Orange as a No. 1 seed if they win the Big East Tournament... Villanova and Georgetown were in the mix for top seed consideration, but have faded of late. The thin Hoyas are probably better served for the NCAA's if they do not make a deep run in the Big East, while the Wildcats need to get some positive momentum going... UConn would need to make the championship game, if not win it to get in. They have the talent, but Seton Hall actually has a better shot and likely would advance with a win over Notre Dame in a potential second round matchup... South Florida gets into the discussion if they beat Georgetown in round two... Tournament Prediction: Syracuse over West Virginia, gets No. 1 seed; all eight teams remain in the field as the Irish take down the Pirates and the Bulls fall to Hoyas.

ACC (7): Duke, Maryland, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech - Only the Blue Devils and Terps are assured of being a top-eight seed or greater, but the Yellow Jackets and their 7-9 conference record are the only team in serious need of a win (or two) during the ACC Tournament. If they get by UNC, they would face the Terps, whom they lost to in a nail biter on the road... Duke can clinch a No. 1 seed with the ACC Tourney title, maybe even just a run to the finals and you know they want the Terps after getting knocked off at College Park last week... Tournament Predictions: Duke over Maryland, gets No. 1 seed; Georgia Tech stays in the field

Big 12 (7): Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma State - Again, all teams look to be in good shape to make the field of 65. Kansas State likely blew their chance at a one seed, though a win over Kansas in the Big 12 Final could do wonders... Baylor is the sneaky pick win the Big 12 tourney while Missouri and Oklahoma State are two largely under the radar teams that could be Sweet 16 bound with the right draw... still not really sure what happened to the Longhorns... Tournament Prediction: Kansas over Baylor, gets No. 1 seed

Big 10 (5): Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois - The Fighting Illini are still alive despite dropping five of their last six, but they may need to beat the Badgers in their first BIG 10 Tourney game to secure their bid... Minnesota is not dead, but close enough, meaning they need likely two tourney wins to have a shot... With National Player of the Year candidate leading the way, the Buckeyes are one of those teams with a shot at the fourth No. 1 seed if they win their conference tourney. Not comparing him to Danny Manning or Glen Rice, but with a relatively weak field by historical standards, this could be a year where a stud player carries a team to the Final Four... The Boilermakers have won two of three since losing Robbie Hummel for the year. As long as they get by Northwestern/Indiana in their opening game, they should be able to maintain at least a No. 3 seed and could have a claim at a No. 1 seed if they win the Big 10... Tournament Prediction: Michigan State over Wisconsin; Illinois late season collapse knocks them out the field, leaving only four Big 10 teams.

Mountain West (4): New Mexico, BYU, UNLV, San Diego State - Seriously, who could have predicted at the start of the season that the Lobos would be a lock for the tourney, let alone challenging for a two or three seed. Anything less than a loss to BYU in the finals likely drops then down to a four seed, but otherwise they could finish as high as a two if all breaks go their way... UNLV Lon Kruger is a proven tourney coach and makes the Rebels a team to fear in the postseason... The Aztecs are one of the pure bubble teams, but could have the ball on their racket if they face the Lobos in the conference semis. They did knock off the Lobos and Rebels earlier this year, but those are their only wins against the RPI-top 80... Tournament Prediction: New Mexico over UNLV; San Diego State gets bounced in semifinals, meaning MWC sends only three teams to NCAA's

SEC (4): Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida - John Wall and crew have a No. 1 seed wrapped up, but the SEC Tourney will be a good test for the young Cats to show their mental toughness... After losing five of eight, the Gators will need to win perhaps two games in the conference tournament to remain in the field. The good news is that they are 2-0 this year against the two teams in their path, Auburn and Mississippi State and that second game could also determine the Bulldogs fate. They need at least to beat the Gators, if not reach the SEC finals to have a shot... The Ole Miss Rebels have wins over Kansas State and UTEP on their resume and are in line to be the fifth SEC team in the field, but they likely will face and need to beat the Volunteers in their first tournament game. With the win, they are in... Tournament Prediction: Vanderbilt over Kentucky; Ole Miss becomes the fourth SEC team; Kentucky gets No. 1 seed

Atlantic 10 (3): Temple, Xavier, Richmond - The top three are securely in. At one point this season, it looked like as many as six teams would get in, but Dayton, Rhode Island and Charlotte faded down the stretch... The sleeper to make this an NCAA quartet, how about St. Louis. The Billikens finished fourth in the conference, won eight of their last 10 and could get some RPI help with potential games against Rhode Island and Temple. A poor non-conference schedule means they still likely need to win it all... Tournament Prediction: Richmond over St. Louis; Run to the finals gets the Billikens the A-10's fourth bid