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We have a couple of Rams colliding to go head-to-head in the Atlantic-10 Conference finals as the Rhode Island Rams look to secure their first NCAA Tournament bid this century with a win—and the accompanying auto bid—over the VCU Rams. In all likelihood both are going to the Big Dance regardless of the outcome, but the only Rams that truly find themselves on the bubble at this point are the ones from Rhode Island. Will that give them that little added bit of motivation to top VCU?... 

The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers and No. 8 Michigan Wolverines meet in the Big Ten Conference finals on Sunday afternoon, but the two teams got there in very different ways. After a bad end to the regular season, the Badgers still earned a No. 2 seed granting them free admission into the quarterfinals were they took on a couple surprising teams in Indiana and Northwestern. They’ll get another one in the Wolverines after Michigan took down the top dog in Purdue and then followed suit with the No. 4 seed in Minnesota.... 

The Texas State Bobcats are rolling through the Sun Belt conference tournament, blowing out top-seeded UT-Arlington last time out. They have positioned themselves one victory away from March Madness and have to defeat the Troy Trojans in the conference championship game.... 

Returning to an all too familiar place, the Kentucky Wildcats will go for their third consecutive SEC title on Sunday. Not familiar with the pageantry are the three freshmen studs who led the Wildcats to another tournament championship game. And it’s likely the only one for them as the one-and-dones look to send KU to the Big Dance on a winning note. The Arkansas Razorbacks will seek a better performance against UK than their 26-point loss back in January in the only regular season meeting.... 

It’s only fitting that the Pac-12 end its tournament with the top two teams in the league standings battling for the title. The Oregon Ducks and Arizona Wildcats finished in a tie for first place with identical 16-2 records and they even have the same overall ledger at 29-4 heading into Saturday night’s title fight. The tie-breaker here is Oregon’s 85-58 thrashing of the Wildcats when the teams met in Eugene in their only regular season matchup.... 

The Big 12 Tournament championship game will feature contrasting styles and the one that performs the best will take home the title. The Iowa State Cyclones advanced by averaging 88 points per game and are one of the highest scoring teams in the country. The West Virginia Mountaineers used defense and relentless pressure to hold their two opponents to an average of 51.5 points. WVU won both regular season meetings and did it by scoring in the 80s both times.... 

The defending national champions are getting ready for another run in the NCAA Tournament and it starts with a trip to the Big East title game. Making their third straight appearance playing for the crown, the Villanova Wildcats needed a thrilling play from their player of the year candidate to advance. The Creighton Bluejays are hoping the third time is the charm as they attempt to beat Nova for the first time this season after losing two earlier meetings by an average of 13 points.... 

What we’re seeing from the Duke Blue Devils now is what most expected when they were tabbed the preseason No. 1 team in the country. There were injuries to key players and even Coach K was sidelined with a back issue, but the Dookies never gave up on the season, especially knowing that the group would be back in time for the ACC and NCAA tournaments. No team has ever won four games in four days at the ACC tourney, but with a victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Duke can be the first.... 

After surviving in overtime in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament, the No. 2 seed Norfolk State Spartans punched their ticket to the title game by coming back to win and cover against Howard. The top seed N.C. Central Eagles waltzed their way to the championship game with a pair of blowout wins over Bethune Cookman and Maryland Eastern Shore. The conference winner will have to deal with playing the Spartans on their home court, but will take to the hardwood confident knowing it beat them handily earlier this season.... 

The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders won the Conference USA Tournament as a No. 2 seed last season. They’ll have a shot to do it as a No.1 seed on Saturday night when they run up against the No. 6 seed Marshall Thundering Herd. With this being the Herd’s fourth game in four days and the Blue Raiders third in three, the defenses could suffer which could see a bunch of points hit the scoreboard in the title game.... 

Firmly on the wrong side of the bubble heading into the AAC tournament, the Connecticut Huskies knew it was either win the whole darn thing to get into the Big Dance or settle for a likely bid to the NIT. While it passed its first two tests with flying colors, the challenge is going to get a whole lot tougher against the No. 2 seed Cincinnati Bearcats who boat raced them in the team’s pair of meetings in the regular season.... 

One of the more efficient offenses in the country will square off against one of the more efficient defenses in the semifinals of the AAC tournament on Saturday afternoon when the top seeded SMU Mustangs and No. 4 seed Central Florida Knights collide for the second time this season. These teams played to a competitive 65-60 final at UCF in their lone meeting that SMU won and covered by the slimmest of margins.... 

The top two seeds in the Southland tournament are set to collide for the right to go to the NCAA tournament on Saturday night when the New Orleans Privateers and Texas AM CC Islanders match wits for the second time this season. These rivals lone meeting needed an overtime session to decide the victor, and as evenly matched as these teams are, it wouldn’t be a shock if more time was needed to determine the winner of this one as well.... 

And then there were four. We’re now down to the Semifinals in the SEC Tournament with the Kentucky Wildcats set to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats are the reigning champs and have 29 tournament championships. It seems fitting that it’s the Tide going head-to-head with the Wildcats here in the Semifinals as Alabama claims the second most titles in conference history, of course with just six, it’s a far cry from Kentucky’s total.... 

As Yogi Berra would say: it’s like deja vu all over again as the Akron Zips find themselves in the Mid-Atlantic Conference championship game for the ninth time in the last 11 years. This year’s opponent: the six seed Kent State Golden Flashes. Obviously, the Zips have been the cream of the crop in the MAC this season, but were pushed to the edge against Ball State in the Semifinals. Nevertheless, they’re still in great position to earn that automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.... 

We have an interesting matchup between two strong defensive programs set to meet in the second Big Ten Conference Semifinal game on Saturday night as the Wisconsin Badgers and Northwestern Wildcats set to take to the floor in the nation’s capital. Northwestern shocked Maryland in the quarterfinals to get to this point, but the Wildcats have their first ever NCAA Tournament to keep them motivated and dangerous.... 

The Vanderbilt Commodores were a dark horse team even before knocking off the Florida Gators in the quarterfinals; now they’re a real contender. The Commodores stand to gain a lot from another good showing on Saturday. As a bubble team, Vandy is looking for a few big wins to help tip them into the March Madness picture. The next one will have to come against the Arkansas Razorbacks who already have the resume to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament.... 

We lost out on the possibility of a Michigan versus Michigan State matchup here in the Semifinals of the Big Ten Conference Tournament. While the Michigan Wolverines did their part to make it happen, the Spartans fell short against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers will be happy to see the Wolverines as their next opponent in place of the Purdue Boilermakers, but Michigan will be running high off their Quarterfinal victory leading to what should be a very interesting—although unexpected—showdown.... 

So far, the Nevada Wolf Pack has proven why it’s the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament with easy wins against Utah State and Fresno State to arrive in Saturday’s final. But, there’s still a big hurdle ahead as the Wolf Pack prepares to face the No. 2 seed Colorado State for the conference title.... 

The UC Irvine Anteaters have used a tenacious defense to get within one win of the NCAA Tournament. They need to pick up the final victory next time out in a clash with the UC Davis Aggies in the Big West conference championship game.... 

The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners had to scratch and claw for their lives on Friday night, surviving a four-overtime classic in the semifinals of the WAC tournament. They must turn around and try to avoid some fatigue as they need one more win to qualify for March Madness.... 

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks excelled down the stretch to win the Big Sky regular season title, and have performed well in the conference tournament. It has them one victory away from March Madness, but they will have to knock off formidable foe the Weber State Wildcats in the championship game.... 

The Texas Southern Tigers have been the best team in the SWAC throughout the entire season, and are one step away from securing their bid in the NCAA tournament. The last hurdle will be a victory over the Alcorn State Braves in the conference championship game.... 

Two of the best teams in the country will collide in the second semifinal of the Pac-12 tournament on Friday night when Steve Alford’s No. 3 seed UCLA Bruins lock horns with Sean Miller’s No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats. These teams split their regular season meetings with both clubs earning wins on their opponent’s home floors. There’s no love lost between these two programs, so Sin City is in for a treat to close out the festivities.... 

The No. 7 seed Xavier Musketeers knew entering the Big East tournament that they likely had to win it in order to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. They’re now just two wins away from doing just that and will look to advance to the title game on Friday night when they run up against the No. 6 Creighton Blue Jays. Both of these teams played to a pair of tightly contested games that went right down to the wire in the regular season, so the MSG crowd looks to be in for a treat....