Championship Week!

I apologize for the lack of posts recently; school called, and I had to answer. It's been a crappy few weeks, but Spring Break is finally upon us! And that means basketball. Conference tournaments around the nation have already begun: let's check out some of the results.

ACC: Conference tournament begins on March 10.

America East: Nothing surprising yet. 1 seed Vermont defeated 9 seeded Binghamton, and Stony Brook (5) defeated Albany (4).

Atlantic-10: Conference tournament begins on March 8.

Atlantic Sun: In a surprising twist, the 6 seed North Florida Ospreys defeated the heavily favored 2 seed East Tennessee State in the semifinals. The 1 seed Belmont Bruins (who are in the conversation for an at-large berth) will definitely have the edge against the Ospreys.

Big 12: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

Big East: Conference tournament begins on March 8.

Big Sky: Conference tournament begins later tonight with Eastern Washington (6) vs. Weber St. (3), as well as Montana State (5) vs. Northern Arizona (4).

Big South: First ticket has been punched to the Big Dance! North Carolina-Asheville took down a depleted and wounded Coastal Carolina team, 60-47, to be the first automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. Asheville didn't have to take on 2 seed Liberty, as they fell in the first round to 7 seed High Point in the only other upset of the tournament.

Big Ten: Conference tournament begins on March 10.

Big West: Conference tournament begins on March 10.

Colonial: George Mason and VCU have held serve with wins in their first games of the tournament, albeit in different ways. George Mason blew out the competition yet again, while it took a buzzer-beating layup from Jamie Skeen to take down the Dragons of Drexel.

Conference USA: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

Great West: Conference tournament begins on March 9.
**This conference does not receive an NCAA berth.**

Horizon: Not a single surprise yet, as all of the higher seeds have won. (2) Butler plays (3) Cleveland State right now, and (1) UW-Milwaukee plays (4) Valparaiso tonight.

Ivy: The lone conference without a conference championship; the regular season winner gets the bid. Tonight, the top two teams in the conference face each other: (1) Princeton (11-1) and (2) Harvard (11-2). Princeton still has 2 games remaining.

MAAC: Only the 4 bottom seeds have played before today. (1) Fairfield continued their feared defense, allowing only 31 points against (9) Marist, and (4) St. Peter's easily defeated (5) Loyola (MD).

MAC: Conference tournament begins on March 8.

MEAC: Conference tournament begins on March 8.

MVC: (1) Missouri State eked out a close win over (8) Southern Illinois, and followed that up today with a solid 10 point defeat of (5) Creighton. At this point, it appears (3) Indiana State will upset (2) Wichita State, ending their hopes of an NCAA berth when previously, their chances looked very good. (It's a final: INST - 61, WICH - 54.) Missouri State will be the favorite in the championship game, for sure.

MWC: Conference tournament begins on March 8.

NEC: Yawn fest. All the top seeds have won, and the 1 and 2 seeds in convincing fashion.

OVC: (1) Murray State lost? Well, hell, that blows this tournament wide apart. (4) Tennessee Tech took them down, and will face (2) Morehead State in the final tonight. Look for Kenneth Faried to dominate the glass in pursuit of a berth.

Pac-10: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

Patriot: The only upset so far is (6) Lafayette taking down (3) Holy Cross.

SEC: Conference tournament begins on March 10.

Southern: (4S) Davidson surprisingly lost to (5N) UNC-Greensboro, who still haven't gotten to double-digit wins this season. Everything else has gone by the book.

Southland: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

Summit: Conference tournament begins tonight.

Sun Belt: Conference tournament begins tonight.

SWAC: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

WAC: Conference tournament begins on March 9.

West Coast: (8) Loyola Mariemount took down (5) Portland, and (6) Pepperdine beat (7) San Diego, but this conference is all about (1) Saint Mary's and (2) Gonzaga. They don't have to play until the conference semis.