"It's Awesome, Baby! With a Capital A!" - Dick Vitale

March is upon us!!! Naturally, this means today's article will center around recapping the recent events in college basketball, as well as previewing some March Madness action. Below you'll find a guide to every conference in the country, starting with the teams who will be dancing with the stars after already having claimed their conference titles.

Ivy League - The only conference that stresses academics is also the only conference that stresses regular season conference play. Cornell earned the automatic bid by winning the regular season championship.

Atlantic Sun - We anticipated this would be the most up in the air (no, not THAT Up in the Air) small college tourney. The top 4 teams all tied for 1st at 14-6 in league. Conference tiebreakers eventually awarded the #1 seed to the team with the worst overall record (Lipscomb 17-12). The 4th place team actually had the best overall record (19-10 Campbell). That being said, you knew it was going to be a wild weekend. Only ONE of the top 4 seeds would make the semi's and the finals would see #5 East Tennessee outlast #6 Mercer. This tournament was the epitome of small college basketball: exciting and unexpected.

Big South - Winthrop is King of the Castle in the Big South. All they did was destroy a Radford (they have the nation's #1 Rebounder and #12 Scorer) team in the semi's. They then went on to post a double digit win over Coastal Carolina on CC's home floor.

Missouri Valley - Usually, this is the best mid-major tournament. Unfortunately, Northern Iowa was just too good this year. They blasted through their opponents faster than Andy in the 40 Year Old Virgin and won every game by at least 15 points. The only thing up for debate is how high of a seed they'll earn.

Ohio Valley - No surprise here either. Murray St. became the first team to reach 30 wins and only had one game decided by single digits en route to earning the automatic bid.

Onto the tournaments that will be handing out automatic bids tonight.

West Coast - What happens in Vegas usually causes itching. Unfortunately, there is no cream to cure the itch to get into the NCAA tournament. If the favorites survive in Sin City, we will be treated to the best conference championship game of the year. Two 25-win heavyweights will go toe to toe for bragging rights. The good news is that the loser of this game SHOULD get an at large bid. Unfortunately, a Saint Mary's loss will leave them sweating out a NCAA birth till Selection Sunday,

CAA - Old Dominion managed to survive an overtime scare from Virginia Commonwealth in VCU's backyard. By doing so, they all but guaranteed themselves a spot in the tournament. Since their fate is decided, the sentimental favorite has to be William & Mary. The Tribe are a single win away from removing themselves from a short list of teams that have never made the NCAA Tournament (Army, Citadel, Northwestern & St. Francis (NY).

MAAC - Siena should win against Fairfield. They've been the best team in the conference all year and have the best shot at winning a first-round game in the NCAA's. Plus the Saints already won the Superbowl so why can't they beat Fairfield? Different sport, Different team, Same Who Dat Nation.

Southern - Wofford and Appalachian St. have both breezed through the tournament thus far. This will be the best game that nobody watches.

These three leagues will hand out bids mid-week.

Summit - Oakland and IUPUI (Couldn't the founders of this school have found a better name?) will likely meet in the finals. Based on their head to head games, we're going with the long-school-name Jaguars.

Sunbelt - If Western Kentucky can get by #1 Troy in the semi's, they've got a great chance to repeat their NCAA tournament magic.

Horizon - Is there any pick besides Butler? They've won 50% more league games than 2nd place Wright State.

The following conferences won't hand out their bids until the weekend, but you can get a head-start with our quick previews of each league.

America East - We anticipated #2 Vermont playing the top-seed Stony Brook in the finals and thought Vermont would win. Now that they are playing #4 Boston, we really like Vermont to pick up their 25th win and punch their ticket in the process.

ACC - It's Duke's tournament to lose in a mediocre ACC field this year. Sure, there are a couple teams capable of knocking off Duke and winning the tournament. But truthfully, there is a greater chance that Bruno bangs a female.

Atlantic 10 - We would like to see two things happen in this tournament. First, we'd like to see #5 Rhode Island catch lightning in a bottle and roll off 4 straight wins to win the championship. Second, we'd like the people running the A-10 to take a math class. Maybe they'd change the conference to Atlantic 14 to appropriately represent the 14 schools in the league.

Big East - Syracuse is the best team in the best league, and they typically play well at Madison Square Garden. They'll need to outlast a Gajiliion contenders. All of top 8 teams have at least 20-wins (Villanova, WVU, Pitt, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame). There's nothing we can tell you that anyone with a pulse doesn't already know. This tournament is really, really good.

Big 10 - Two weeks ago, Purdue was the pick. But without team-leader Robbie Hummel, Ohio State and Michigan State claim favorites. However, the tournament is in Indianapolis, giving them a fighter's chance. If Evan Turner is who we thought he was, the Buckeyes will win. If he's not, Tom Izzo won't lettemoffthehook and the Spartans will cut down the nets.

Big 12 - Kansas is the obvious pick. But rivals Kansas State, Baylor and Texas all have more than enough talent to win the championship.

Big West - We'll be honest. This is one league we know little about. We like #2 Pacific, but as far as Big West predictions, we're about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop.

Big Sky - We're renaming this the Ringer conference. If Northern Colorado fails to beat top seed Weber St. they'll earn the distinction of being the team with the most wins (25) that fails to make the NCAA's. Johnny Knoxville accomplished a greater feat by beating Jimmy for the Gold medal.

Conference USA - For the first time in what feels like centuries, C-USA will have an open tournament race. It's in Tulsa, so you can't rule out the #5 Seed "home-team". If UTEP can win the semi-final on the road, they'll earn themselves a pretty nice seed on Saturday.

MAC - Akron and Kent State are dead even, 12-3, 22-8. So naturally, going with the team that has a "home-court" advantage would make sense. But we are both geographically challenged and unaware of which Ohio city is closer to the tournament site (Cleveland). We'll take Akron, but if Kent State wins we just might edit this post to make ourselves look smarter.

NEC - Another league where top-seeds get home games. Robert Morris has a share of the "regular season championship" and sole-possession of "best NEC coach" so they get our pick. Whatever our pick is worth.

MEAC - Morgan State should have little trouble winning this tournament. There are only two other schools with winning records. Apparently no one in this league knows you play to win the games. Hello! Even with their 25 wins, they will probably be a one and done 16 seed unfortunately.

Mountain West - Has to be one of the most underrated conferences. It's out west and gets little media attention. Truth is, the MWC is actually the best league left of Texas this season, and it's not even close. New Mexico and BYU could be 30-win teams playing in the finals. In addition, the league will still have another pair of almost-25-win teams in UNLV and San Diego State. The tourney is in Las Vegas, which shifts the "home-court" advantage considering the non-basketball distractions. BYU's players are the least likely to succumb to those temptations, so we're picking the "Y".

PAC 10 - Has to be the worst year for this league ever. UCLA and Stanford have losing records. Arizona is at .500. Only 3 teams have 20 regular season wins. I'm not Joe Lunardi, but I can't ever remember a BCS conference only getting one bid. Except for Cal, will anyone else from the Pac 10 make the tournament? Playoffs? You kiddin' me?

SEC - We really can't see John Wall & the Cats losing this one. It is in Tennessee, though. This gives the Creamsicle suit wearing Bruce Pearl and his Vols a chance at the championship.

Southland - Two colleges named after Southern Guys will most likely battle for the championship. We heard Sam Houston was a jerk, and would absolutely love it if Stone Cold Stephen F. Austin University gave Sammy the Stunner in the finals.

SWAC - The nickname for this tournament is the "play-in conference". In the nine years of play-in games, the SWAC has been involved 4 times. That will likely be the case this year. The "best" team standing in the way of Jackson State is 16-13 Prairie View A&M. Tough to build a quality RPI. We'll be rooting for the SWAC to pull off the first ever 16 vs. 1 upset.

WAC - Utah State is one of the best small college programs in the country. They won 30 games last year and almost beat Marquette in the tournament. They've also won at least 23 games every year this decade. They'll be challenged by 3 other 20-win teams, but we like the Aggies in this one.

Patriot - We started with an academic conference, so it's fitting we end with the second Ivy league conference. They only have two teams with winning records. That usually means the 1st place team is a lock. But Lehigh hardly has breathing room at the top over Bucknell and Lafayette. Lehigh lost to both of those teams this season on the road, but dismantled both of them at home. Good thing for Lehigh then that the Patriot league rewards home games to its top seeded teams. Welcome to the Big Dance, Lehigh Mountain Hawks.

We're only a week away from the most exciting tournament of the year.