The invites are starting to go out, Kent State and Cornell are the first teams to clinch automatic bids and now the games get more fast and furious. Most of the bigger conferences begin to fight it out for their invites and the intensity will ramp up. This is the beginning of the best week of the year in basketball. I will begin to list conference tourney dates and sites where applicable in lieu of key games.
 
Atlantic Coast
Conference Class-Power
Locks: Duke, Wake Forest , Maryland
Playing Their Way In  Georgia Tech, Clemson , Florida State
Playing Their Way Out: Virginia Tech
Skinny on the ACC: Maryland is now the top dog in the ACC, having defeated Duke. Wake has faded badly and is now in real danger of playing their way out, they will need to win at least one game in the ACC tourney to be safe. Clemson on the other hand has worked their way to bulletproof status.   Florida State is pretty much safe, but not quite bulletproof as long as they don’t take a stupid loss in the first round of the ACC tourney they should be good. Georgia Tech needs to win a couple games in the Greensboro and Virginia Tech needs to get to at least Saturday (ACC Semis). Im not real sold on six teams going but I sure won’t speculate that seven teams get in…don’t believe that hype.
Key Games: North Carolina at Duke Saturday 9p ESPN So what if this isnt the usual clash of the titans, its always a fun game to watch
Projected Bids: 6
 
Atlantic Ten
Conference Class-Mid Major
Lock:  Temple , Xavier, Richmond
Playing their way out: Saint Louis ,  Dayton , Rhode Island , Charlotte
The A-10 Spec is:  Suddenly the A-10 contenders thinned out in a hurry, Saint Louis and Charlotte are needing deep runs in the A-10 tourney now. Dayton blew a golden chance to really improve their profile but lost in Richmond . Rhode Island smashed Charlotte and looks more like that 4th team that could come out of this conference. Barring a bad loss between now and the A-10 semis, I like the Rams chances here
Key Games: Charlotte at Rhode Island Wednesday 7p(A-10 regional TV)  Both these teams are desperate for a win and the loser all but needs to win the A-10 tourney to get an invite
Projected Bids: 4
 
Big East
Conference Class-Power
Lock: Syracuse , Villanova , West Virginia , Georgetown , Pitt, Marquette , Louisville
Playing Their Way In UConn, Notre Dame
Playing Their Way Out: Cincinnati
Big East Skinny: Im gonna take a flyer here and say that both Marquette and Louisville are safe. I think that they have done enough to warrant their inclusion as long as neither take bad first game losses in NYC I think that they are safe. I think UConn have are a bona fide tourney team, but Im not sure that Notre Dame is. But I do think that the selection committee will take them both. I wish that I could say the same about my alma mater, Cincinnati . The Bearcats keep getting chance after chance to get a statement win but continue to waste these chances and have all but toasted their chances at making the tourney
Key Game: Syracuse at Louisville Saturday 2p (ESPN) Louisville closes down historic Freedom Hall and looks to do it in style upsetting the top ranked Orange .
Projected bids: 9           
 
Big Ten
Conference Class-Power
Lock: Michigan State , Purdue , Wisconsin , Ohio State
Playing their way In: Illinois
Playing Their Way Out: Minnesota
The word on the Big Ten is: The Bucks have clinched no worse than a share of the regular season crown, Michigan State needs only a win over Michigan to gain a share and Purdue can also claim a share of the Big Ten title with a win. Im still not sold on Illinois being a tourney team. They need not flame out in Indy early or they might get left on the wrong side of the cut line.
Big Ten Championships: Mar 11-14 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Projected Bids: 4
 
Big 12
Conference Class-Power
Lock: Kansas , Texas , Kansas State , Texas A&M, Baylor
Playing Their Way In Missouri , Oklahoma State
 Skinny from the heartland: This conference is sending 7 teams...give a good argument against any of the teams listed. Mizzou and Oklahoma St. have to only guard against a bad first round loss in Kansas City next week and they are good.
Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship: Mar 11-14 Sprint Center Kansas City, Mo
Projected Bids: 7
 
Colonial
Conference Class-Small
Playing Their Way In: Old Dominion, Northeastern, William & Mary
Colonial Spec: Its Old Dominions tourney to lose, but the CAA always has its share of thrillers , Northeastern is the one team that could steal a bid but they and William & Mary would need to get to the final to have a real shot.
Colonial Athletic Association Championship: March 5-8 Richmond Coliseum, Richmond VA
Projected Bids: 1
 
 
 
 
Conference USA
Conference Class-Major
Lock: UTEP
Playing Their Way In: Marshall , UAB, Memphis
Playing Their Way Out: Tulsa
Oh Say Can You C-USA Spec: UTEP may very well be the only team coming out of this conference though, if Memphis or UAB can steal the C-USA tourney, the selection committee will not leave the Miners home. But as of right now, I only have this as a one-bid conference
Conference USA Championships: Mar 10-13 BOK Center Tulsa, OK 
Projected Bids: 1
 
Horizon
Conference Class-Mid Major
Lock:  Butler
Spec on The Horizon: Butler completed an unbeaten league schedule and is the heavy favorite to win here, the big boy conferences want nothing to do with Butler but are rooting hard for them to win, as they have made more than enough bones to get an at-large if they get upset at Hinkle.
Speedway Horizon League Championship: Mar 2 First Round at Higher Seeded Campus  Sites, Second Round March 5 at Hinkle Fieldhouse,  Semifinals Mar 6th at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Finals at Higher Seed
Projected Bids: 1
 
Ivy
Conference Class-Small
Playing Their Way In: Cornell
Playing Their Way Out Princeton , Harvard
Spec on the Ivy Vine: Cornell gets the first guaranteed invite as they clinched the Ivy Group title Friday, they will be the only team coming out of this conference
Ivy Group Champion: Cornell
Projected Bids: 1
 
 
Missouri Valley
Conference Class-Mid Major
Lock:  Northern Iowa
Playing Their Way In Wichita State
Playing Their Way Out:  Illinois State
Missouri Valley Skinny:  UNI won the regular season title outright and has the #1 seed, this makes them the team to beat. The Shockers and Redbirds are not to be taken lightly, they will be tough outs and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they stole the title and the Panthers take an at-large bid.
State Farm Missouri Valley Mens Basketball Tournament aka “Arch Madness”: Mar 4-7 Scottrade Center , St. Louis
Projected Bids: 2
 
 
Mountain West
Conference Class-Major
Lock: BYU, New Mexico
Playing Their Way In UNLV, San Diego St
Spec from the Mountains: I still have 4 teams coming out of this deep conference. Though the Aztecs really need to get to the MWC semis to feel safe about their chances. As long as UNLV doesn't take a first round pratfall they will get their invite.
Conoco Mountain West Championship Mar 9-13 Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas
Projected Bids: 4
 
 
Pacific 10
Conference Class-Power
Lock:  California
Playing Their Way In Arizona State
Playing Their Way Out: Washington
Spec from the left coast: Suddenly the wonks started realizing that the Pac-10 while weaker than usual, is not a one bid league. Im hearing that suddenly Washington & Arizona State both are in line to snare bids. I'm not too sold on the Huskies just yet. As long as they don't take an early loss in LA, they will move up in stature. But we will hold off on giving the Pac-10 more than 2 bids just yet.
Pacific Life Pac-10 Championships: Mar 10-13 Staples Center, Los Angeles
Projected Bids: 2
 
 
 
Southeastern
Conference Class-Power
Lock: Kentucky , Vanderbilt , Tennessee
Playing Their Way In Florida , Mississippi St .
Playing Their Way Out: Ole Miss
Spec is Down South: Im still debating on who the 4th team coming from his conference will be. I can't be really sold on the Gators, Bulldogs or Rebels since they all have way too many flaws to be legit. But I'm sure that this conference sends 4 teams. Kentucky is a bona fide lock for a #1 seed.
SEC Championship Mar 10-14, Sommet Center Nashville 
Projected Bids: 4
 
 
Western Athletic
Conference Class- Major
Lock: Utah State
 Playing Their Way Out: New Mexico State , La. Tech
Spec on the WAC: This might be a one bid, because even though the Utah State Aggies have 22 wins and are leading the WAC, their numbers are so-so at best. If the New Mexico State Aggies or La. Tech steals the bid, Utah State could be on the outs.
Western Athletic Conference Championships: Mar 11-13 Lawlor Events Center; Reno, NV
Projected Bids: 1
 
West Coast
Conference Class- Mid Major
Lock:  Gonzaga
Playing Their Way out: St. Mary’s
West Coast Spec:  The Bulldogs are the team to beat here, and unless St. Mary’s gets to the final and puts a mammoth scare or beats Gonzaga, this is a one bid league.
West Coast Conference Basketball Championships: March 5-8 Orleans Arena, Las Vegas
Projected Bids: 1
 
 
 
There are others in the mix to be sure. The champions from the following conferences get an automatic bid (projected winners in parentheses/actual winners in bold ) : Amer. East (Vermont) , Atlantic Sun (Belmont) , Big South (Coastal Carolina),  Big Sky (Northern Colorado) , Big West (Pacific), MAC (Akron/Kent State) , MAAC (Siena), MEAC (Morgan State), Northeast (Quinnipiac), Ohio Valley (Murray St.), Patriot (Lehigh), Southern (Charleston), Southland (Sam Houston State), Sun Belt (North Texas), Summit (Oakland), and SWAC (Jackson State)
 
Conference Breakdown
ACC-6
A-Ten -4
Big East-9
Big Ten-4
Big XII-7
C-USA-1
Colonial-1
Horizon-1
Ivy-1
Missouri Valley-1
Mountain West-4
Pac-10-2
SEC-4
WAC-3
WCC-1
Small Conferences-16
Total-65
 
 
Keep in mind that this is just spec, these are merely projections and we haven't even brought up the possibility of upsets. But those never happen, right?
 
 
Next Spec Sheet March 8 or 9

Cheers From The Cheap Seats!!!