A-10, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, WAC Tournament Preview

Over the past few days, I have previewed the so-called mid-major conferences of college basketball, but these five conferences are the true mid-majors.

All of these conferences will have multiple teams in the big dance and have bubble teams fighting for their tournament lives.

Atlantic 10 (First Round Games at Higher Seed, Rest of Tournament at Atlantic City)

Seeds

(1) Temple (2) Xavier (3) Richmond (4) Saint Louis (5) Rhode Island (6) Charlotte (7) Dayton (8) St. Bonaventure (9) Duquesne (10) George Washington (11) UMass (12) St. Joe's

2009 Tournament Champion

Temple (Lost to Arizona State in NCAA First Round)

Game Schedule

Tuesday: (12) St. Joe's at (5) Rhode Island, (11) UMass at (6) Charlotte, (10) George Washington at (7) Dayton, (9) Duquesne at (8) St. Bonaventure

Friday: (1) Temple vs. 8/9 winner, (2) Xavier vs. 7/10 winner, (3) Richmond vs. 6/11 winner, (4) Saint Louis vs. 5/12 winner

Saturday: Semifinals

Sunday: Final

At one time in the year, bracketologists had at least six A-10 teams as solid locks to make the tournament. Now, that number has been cut in half. Temple, Xavier, and Richmond are locks, with Saint Louis, Rhode Island, and Charlotte on the bubble.

Saint Louis needs to win their quarterfinal and beat Temple in the semis to be a lock, while Rhode Island has the same situation by beating the Billikens in the 4/5 game. Charlotte needs to make the championship game with wins over Richmond and Xavier to have a chance at dancing.

C-USA (Tulsa, OK)

Seeds

(1) UTEP (2) Memphis (3) UAB (4) Marshall (5) Tulsa (6) Southern Miss (7) Houston (8) SMU (9) UCF (10) East Carolina (11) Tulane (12) Rice

2009 Tournament Champion

Memphis (Lost in Sweet 16)

Game Schedule

Wednesday: (5) Tulsa vs. (12) Rice, (6) Southern Miss vs. (11) Tulane, (7) Houston vs. (10) East Carolina, (8) SMU vs. (9) UCF

Thursday: (1) UTEP vs. 8/9 winner, (2) Memphis vs. 7/10 winner, (3) UAB vs. 6/11 winner, (4) Marshall vs. 5/12 winner

Friday: Semifinals

Saturday: Final

UTEP and Memphis are locks to make the tournament, with UAB on the outside looking in. UAB needs to make the final with a win over Memphis and get help to reach the big dance without an automatic bid. If anyone else in the conference wins the tournament, the Blazers can say goodbye to their tourney hopes, especially if they are beaten in the final.

MAC (Cleveland)

Seeds

(1) Kent State (2) Central Michigan (3) Akron (4) Miami (OH) (5) Buffalo (6) Eastern Michigan (7) Western Michigan (8) Ball St. (9) Ohio (10) BGSU (11) Northern Illinois (12) Toledo

2009 Tournament Champion

Akron (Lost to Gonzaga in NCAA First Round)

Game Schedule

Sunday: (5) Buffalo 72, (12) Toledo 54; (6) Eastern Michigan 65, (11) N. Illinois 59; (7) Western Michigan 75, (10) BGSU 73; (9) Ohio 85, (8) Ball St. 77

Thursday: (1) Kent State vs. (9) Ohio, (2) Central Michigan vs. (7) Western Michigan (3) Akron vs. (6) Eastern Michigan, (4) Miami (OH) vs. (5) Buffalo

Friday: Semifinals

Saturday: Final

With the win by St. Mary's over Gonzaga on Monday night, the MAC's hopes of getting two teams in were dashed. Now, it is all focused on who wins in Cleveland.

Mountain West (Las Vegas)

Seeds

(1) New Mexico (2) BYU (3) UNLV (4) San Diego State (5) Colorado State (6) Utah (7) TCU (8) Wyoming (9) Air Force

2009 Tournament Champion

Utah (Lost to Arizona in NCAA First Round)

Game Schedule

Wednesday: (8) Wyoming vs. (9) Air Force

Thursday: (1) New Mexico vs. 8/9 winner, (2) BYU vs. (7) TCU, (3) UNLV vs. (6) Utah, (4) San Diego State vs. (5) Colorado State

Friday: Semifinals

Saturday: Final

New Mexico has been the surprise of the year and could earn as high as a two seed and as low as a five seed on Sunday. A strong tournament run would benefit both the Lobos and BYU. UNLV and San Diego State are both on the bubble and need a quality win over either one of the top two teams to have a shot at getting in.

WAC (Reno, NV)

Seeds

(1) Utah State (2) Nevada (3) New Mexico State (4) Louisiana Tech (5) Fresno State (6) San Jose State (7) Idaho (8) Boise State

2009 Tournament Champion

Utah State (Lost to Marquette in NCAA First Round)

Game Schedule

Thursday: (1) Utah State vs. (8) Boise State, (2) Nevada vs. (7) Idaho, (3) New Mexico State vs. (6) San Jose State, (4) Louisiana Tech vs. (5) Fresno State

Friday: Semifinals

Saturday: Final

This year will only have one WAC representative, but Utah State and Nevada are teams that have made runs before in the big dance and could be a dangerous first round opponent.