15 Underrated College Basketball Teams Peaking at the Right Time

The 2011-12 college basketball regular season is almost three-fourths over with and conference tournaments will start in early March.

Teams are fighting for position in their respective conferences amid arguably the most important part of the schedule. You want your school to be playing its best ball in its final remaining games and roll into the postseason on a hot streak.

Although we've seen big-name teams begin to do the opposite—such as the defending national champions, the Connecticut Huskies, who have lost four of six—there are some starting to rise from the abyss at just the right time.

George Mason Patriots

George Mason is on a long stretch of playing quality basketball, as its won six in a row and 11 of its last 12. The Patriots don't have any headline wins, but are currently in first place of the Colonial League and will have plenty of opportunities to face off against second-placed Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion.

If GMU can keep up the success and win its conference, then it will ride the hot streak into the NCAA tournament for the third time since 2006.

Long Beach State 49ers

Long Beach State came out from its brutal non-conference schedule bruised but not broken. The 49ers played teams such as Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina, Xavier and Kansas State, heading into conference play with a 7-6 record.

They're now 16-6.

LBSU coach Dan Monson has done a great job keeping his team together and the 49ers are well on their way to a conference title.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish have won three games in a row, including handing then-No. 1 Syracuse its first loss of the season, while knocking off the defending national champions (Connecticut).

Despite a rough 7-5 start to the season, Notre Dame has started Big East play 6-3, landing it in fourth place in the conference. It will take on No. 18 Marquette on February 4 and needs a big day from leading scorer Eric Atkins to continue the streak.

Wisconsin Badgers

It's been an up-and-down season for Wisconsin, but it looks like the Badgers are content staying on the winning side.

After losing three in a row early in Big Ten conference action, Whisky has won five straight, including back-to-back wins over ranked opponents.

Credit goes to the defense, as the Badgers are holding opponents to 55.4 points per game during their win streak.

Wisconsin still has to play Michigan State once more and Ohio State twice, but it hasn't missed the NCAA tournament since 1998.

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Oral Roberts' four losses have been by a combined 28 points, including two close matchups with West Virginia and Gonzaga.

The Golden Eagles are winners of 13 straight and are shooting 48.7 percent (17th in nation) from the field as a team. They're a perfect 12-0 in the Summit League and will be looking for their first NCAA tournament victory since 1974.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

The Blue Raiders are making a household name for themselves among the other mid-major college basketball teams this year.

Middle Tennessee stands alone in the Sun Belt, sitting 3.5 games in front of Florida Atlantic for first place. It is currently 20-3 with a three-point double-overtime loss to Belmont, a 10-point loss to UAB, and a seven-point loss at Vanderbilt.

MTU has beaten UCLA, MAC-leading Akron and Ole Miss very handily.

If the Blue Raiders were to continue their stretch of dominance in their conference, they'd make an appearance in the Big Dance for the first time since 1989.

Harvard Crimson

The players for Harvard are proving themselves worthy on the basketball court alongside the highest of academics.

The Crimson are an extremely balanced team with three players averaging at least 10 points per game and an extraordinary defense (53.4 points allowed per contest). They stand in first place in the Ivy League and will play six more home games to close out the regular season.

Harvard's lone NCAA tournament appearance was in 1946.

Florida Gators

After losing to Rutgers (12-10, 4-5 Big East) and Tennessee (10-11, 2-4 SEC), it seems as if the Florida Gators are beginning to find their stride.

Winners of five straight—including a 69-57 victory over No. 16 Mississippi State—UF trails just Kentucky in the SEC standings. It has yet to play the Wildcats and will do so twice in the next several weeks.

Marquette Golden Eagles

Darius Johnson-Odum and Jae Crowder have led the way for Marquette this season, combining for an average of 34.9 points per game off nearly 50 percent shooting.

The Golden Eagles haven't faced the upper quartile of the Big East during their six-game winning streak, but no game in this power conference is easy.

Marquette has just two ranked opponents on its remaining schedule and can likely go into the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Nevada Wolf Pack

After finishing 13-19 (8-8 WAC) overall in 2010-11, the Nevada Wolf Pack are enjoying a surprising, yet impressive run.

They began their 2011-12 campaign with two straight losses to Missouri State and UNLV. However, since then, the Wolf Pack are 18-1 and are currently on a 15-game winning streak that features a strong overtime victory over Washington.

Nevada is 7-0 in the WAC and is beating its conference opponents by an average of 11 points.

Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt is enjoying some success after struggling early on in the season. It began the year 6-4 with losses to Cleveland State, Xavier, Louisville and Indiana State.

Since then, the Commodores are 10-1 with huge wins over then-No. 13 Marquette and Alabama. They suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to a good Mississippi State team January 21, but have rebounded quite nicely with two wins against Tennessee and Middle Tennessee.

VU is about to get into the meat of its SEC schedule and will need to continue its solid play to remain one of the conference's better teams.

Creighton Bluejays

Not only are the Creighton Bluejays arguably the best mid-major team in college basketball, but their No. 12 ranking backs it up.

Most credit can go to sophomore forward Doug McDermott—probably the purest shooter in the NCAA—who is averaging 23.5 points (61.7 percent FG) and 8.4 rebounds per game.

The Bluejays are on a 10-game winning streak and have beaten the Big Ten's Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern, along with Mountain West powerhouse San Diego State.

Creighton ranks seventh in the nation with 80.9 points per contest, second with 19.1 assists and first overall in field-goal percentage (51.4 percent).

It is looking for its first NCAA tournament bid since 2007.

Saint Mary's Gaels

If you take away the minor slip-up against Denver early on and a tough loss to then-No. 7 Baylor, Saint Mary's season is unblemished.

Sitting atop the West Coast Conference by two games, the Gaels (21-2, 10-0 WCC) have had no problems taking care of business versus top conference opponents. They have beaten BYU twice by a total of 30 points and put away then-No. 23 Gonzaga 83-62.

Saint Mary's is looking to finish out the year hot and make another run in the Big Dance, as they did in 2010 (regional semifinals).

Murray State Racers

Talk about peaking.

Murray State is the only undefeated team (21-0, 9-0 OVC) remaining in Division I and is ranked inside the Top 10 for the first time in school history.

The Racers have been playing at their best all season long and have beaten quality teams such as Southern Miss, Dayton and then-No. 20 Memphis along the way. They should not be tested very often as the season progresses with a weak conference schedule.

MSU could very well finish the season undefeated heading into the NCAA tournament.

Florida State Seminoles

Just a few weeks ago we weren't even considering Florida State in our bracketology projections. Now it's being widely accepted as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

The Seminoles had lost six of 10 before their January 10 matchup with Virginia Tech. They slid right by the Hokies, winning 63-59 for their first ACC win.

However, it was the next few games that would put them on the map.

A breathtaking 90-57 beatdown over then-No. 3 North Carolina followed by a 14-point win over Maryland and a shocking upset against Duke in Cameron Indoor got everyone talking about Florida State basketball.

FSU topped off its current five-game winning streak last week, where it handled Wake Forest 75-52 on the road. It will face Georgia Tech on February 1 before taking on the No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers just three days later.