NCAA Tournament 2011: Conference-By-Conference Guide To the Round of 32
March Madness started with 68 teams, and now we are down to 32.
Thirty-one teams earned automatic bids by winning their respective conference.
Now, only 12 conferences are represented as we start the "third round" games.
Let's look who is still in from each of those dozen conferences, and see how each conference might fare in the Round of 32.
Horizon Conference
1 of 12
Butler was the one and only school that represented the Horizon League.
But they won their first round game in dramatic fashion, with Matt Howard sinking a buzzer-beater put-back against Old Dominion.
Now, the Bulldogs have a much larger task going into Saturday's game. They play No. 1 seed Pitt.
Butler will need to rekindle some of their 2010 NCAA Tournament magic, when the Bulldogs made a miracle run to the championship game by beating Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State to get there.
Do you believe?
Ohio Valley Conference
2 of 12
Morehead State was the only school representing the Ohio Valley Conference.
But represent, they did.
The No. 13 seed Eagles shocked the world with an unlikely upset of their neighbors, Louisville, to advance to the Round of 32.
It was the school's first tournament win since 1964.
MSU now goes up against another surprise participant in this round: the No. 12 seed Richmond Spiders.
David vs. David?
No, just two good teams that showed everyone that all the best basketball isn't necessarily played in the bigger conferences.
West Coast Conference
3 of 12
Like the two previous conferences, the WCC had one entry (Gonzaga), and they had one team advance (Gonzaga).
The Bulldogs easily handled St. John's setting themselves up for a Saturday match-up with their soon-to-be conference rival, BYU.
The Zags are no strangers to playing further into the tournament.
This is their 14th appearance, and they have advanced to at least the second round in 10 of those appearances.
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Southeastern Conference
4 of 12
The SEC started with five teams (Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Georgia), in the original field of 68.
Two teams advanced to the Round of 32, and these were two very different stories.
Last second heroics helped Kentucky to barely survive their contest with Ivy League champion, Princeton.
No. 4 Kentucky faces No. 5 West Virginia on Saturday.
Florida had no problem dispensing with UC Santa Barbara. The 28-point final margin didn't even demonstrate how one-sided this game really was.
Florida definitely looks like it recovered from its less-than-spectacular performance in the SEC final against Kentucky.
The No. 2 seed Gators square off against the No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins on Saturday.
Colonial Athletic Association
5 of 12
The CAA had three teams (Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, and George Mason) that were in the original field of 68 teams, and two advanced to the Round of 32.
Many people questioned VCU's credentials of being included at all. They played their way into the "second round" by beating USC in their play-in game.
And then the Rams blew out Big East member Georgetown, in spite of the fact that the Hoyas had their point guard, Chris Wright, back for the first time in several games.
VCU will now play No. 3 Purdue on Sunday.
George Mason showed another Big East member, Villanova, the exit door as the Patriots put themselves on track for another possibly historic run.
Head coach Jim Larranaga will have GMU ready to face the overall No. 1 seed Ohio State in a Sunday showdown.
That's why it's called March Madness, right?
Atlantic Ten
6 of 12
The A-10 had three teams (Temple, Xavier and Richmond) representing their conference.
Two teams moved on to the Round of 32.
Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with less than a second to play to help Temple get by Penn State.
No. 7 Temple goes up against No. 2 San Diego State on Saturday.
In less dramatic but still impressive fashion, Richmond took out SEC-opponent, Vanderbilt, in their opening game.
The No. 12 seed Spiders will now face the No. 13 seed Morehead State on Saturday in a battle of the not-so-mid-majors.
Mountain West
7 of 12
The MWC started with three teams (Brigham Young, San Diego State, and UNLV) in the tournament, and two are still playing this weekend.
BYU pulled away in the second half against pesky Wofford.
The No. 3 Cougars face another challenge as they go up against No. 11 Gonzaga on Saturday.
San Diego State cruised to an 18-point win against Northern Colorado for their first NCAA win in school history.
The No. 2 seed Aztecs face No. 7 Temple on Saturday in what could be a fantastic game.
Both BYU and SDSU are likely to advance to the Sweet 16, but they have to take care of business on the court, don't they?
Atlantic Coast
8 of 12
The ACC started with four teams (Duke, North Carolina, Florida State and Clemson) in the tournament.
Three of these teams moved into the Round of 32.
Even without getting Chris Singleton back from injury, FSU knocked off Texas A&M for its first NCAA tournament win in 13 years.
The No. 10 seed Seminoles, not satisfied with one win, move on to face No. 2 Notre Dame on Sunday.
North Carolina ran up the biggest score so far in this year's tournament as they easily defeated Long Island.
The No. 2 seed Tar Heels battle the No. 7 seed Washington Huskies on Sunday.
Not that they need it, but Duke received a shot-in-the-arm with the return of point guard Kyrie Irving on their way to taking apart the over-matched Hampton Pirates.
No. 1 Blue Devils advance to play No. 8 Michigan on Sunday.
I wonder if the Fab Five will be watching...hmmmm
Big 12
9 of 12
The Big 12 had five teams (Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri) in the tournament.
Three advanced to the Round of 32.
Kansas State hung on to beat a hard-charging Utah State Aggies.
The No. 5 seed Wildcats face the always physical Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday.
Texas held on to beat a challenging Oakland Golden Grizzly squad.
The No. 4 seed Longhorns will face No. 5 Pac-10 champs Arizona on Sunday.
Kansas had no problems with Boston University.
The No. 1 seed Jayhawks now go up against (on Sunday) the tallest team in the tournament, No. 9 Illinois.
Pac-10
10 of 12
The Pac-10 had four teams (Arizona, UCLA, Washington, and USC) in the field of 68.
They had three teams advance to the Round of 32.
UCLA held a commanding second-half lead, only to see it all but slip away. The Bruins ended up beating Michigan State in a close one.
The No. 7 seed Bruins now face No. 2 Florida in what is essentially a home game in Tampa.
Washington held off a late-charging Georgia.
The No. 7 Huskies now face No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday.
Arizona needed some last-second heroics again from Naismith and Wooden award-candidate Derrick Williams to beat Memphis.
The No. 5 seed Wildcats now face No. 4 Texas on Sunday.
Big Ten
11 of 12
The Big Ten had seven teams (Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State) to open this year's tournament.
Five advanced to the Round of 32.
Michigan obliterated a reeling Tennessee team.
The No. 8 seed Wolverines now face No. 1 Duke on Sunday.
Illinois pummeled UNLV.
The No. 9 seeded Fighting Illini now go up against No. 1 Kansas in a size vs. size matchup.
Wisconsin pulled away late against a tough Belmont team.
The No. 4 seed Badgers now face a dangerous No. 5 Kansas State Wildcat team.
Purdue had no trouble putting away the Peacocks of St. Peter's.
The No. 3 seed Boilermakers face the suddenly relevant No. 11 seed VCU Rams on Sunday.
Ohio State looked tough as they torched UTSA.
The overall No. 1 now face No. 8 George Mason.
Big East
12 of 12
The Big East had a record breaking 11 teams (Pitt, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Louisville, St. John's, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Georgetown, Connecticut, Villanova, and Marquette) in the original field of 68.
Seven of their teams advanced.
Marquette dominated Xavier, and Syracuse did the same with Indiana State.
The two conference foes now square off on Sunday...you knew it had to happen that two Big East schools were going to meet, right?
Marquette won their only contest this year.
UConn didn't have any problems with Bucknell, and Cincinnati punched Missouri in the mouth.
Okay, it didn't just happen once. It happened again.
Now No. 6 Cincinnati goes up against No. 3 UConn Saturday.
UConn won their only matchup during the season.
West Virginia easily put away Clemson.
The No. 5 seed Mountaineers battle No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday.
Notre Dame handled Akron without much of a struggle.
The No. 2 seed Fighting Irish face off against No. 10 Florida State. Shouldn't these two be playing football?
And finally, Pitt ran over NC-Asheville.
The No. 1 seeded Panthers now take on No. 8 Butler.
Watch out for the Bulldogs! They could be up to the challenge.
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