Twenty-four automatic bids have been handed out to our teams - one remains. Richmond and Dayton will battle it out on the boardwalk for Atlantic-10 supremacy and a shot at going to the Big Dance. 

The Spiders by virtue of their conference-best 26 wins (including one's over Purdue and Temple) is very likely a safe bet for an at-large bid regardless of how today plays out. For the Flyers on the other hand, their NCAA Tournament begins now. A 22-win season is strong to be sure, but a sub-.500 record in conference is their undoing. 

For the casual fan and those who closely follow the NBA Draft, Dayton is the team to pull for here as a win ensures at least one more opportunity to see super athlete Chris Wright on the national stage. Richmond's Justin Harper - a 6-10 face up forward with tremendous range - is the better pro prospect, but a big game here could put Wright back on the map after somewhat of a down year. 

Regardless, this is sure to be a hotly contested game so come on in and share your thoughts!

On a day chock full of conference championship games, this one will be the nightcap out west. Utah State steamrolled through the conference during the regular season and muscled their way to a national ranking by the end of the regular season - now they want their second automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in three years.

Boise State believe it or not does have success in places other than the football field. The Broncos were on the heels of the Aggies during the regular season, finishing second overall in the conference and reaching the 20-win mark. Should Boise win tonight there is certainly a chance that the WAC would suddenly morph into a two-bid conference, but ultimately history indicates that the winner of this game and the winner alone will have a happy Selection Sunday.

Let's meet the contestants.

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The epic match-up of Mountain West titans has reached its third act and on the biggest stage afforded the conference. BYU and San Diego State will duke it out for a conference championship tonight in Las Vegas with a number-one seed in the NCAA Tournament likely on the line for the Aztecs. 

There are more than enough plot lines for even the most casual of fans: Jimmer Fredette's continued dominance, Kawhi Leonard's development as a surefire pro prospect, the Cougars 2-0 mark in the regular season against SDSU, the role that Brandon Davies absence will play tonight and moving forward and of course the simple fact of conference bragging rights being on the line.

Even for those who don't follow the game all that closely they can at least look at the simple fact that it will be a game of two programs ranked in the top ten nationally. So yea, kind of a big deal. Team breakdowns are after the jump.

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A year ago at this time UNLV had to watch as the San Diego State Aztecs celebrated a Mountain West Conferece championship on their home court. The loss ultimately wouldn't prevent the Runnin' Rebels from earning an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, but it's a game that still lingers in the minds of those who experienced it.

Both teams know full well what it's like to be at this stage and what it takes to be here. SDSU is vying for it's third consecutive appearence in the conference title game, while UNLV has been there in three out of the last four seasons. The two programs are the winnnigest postseason teams in Mountain West history, having each claimed three conference titles to their respective names. Beyond simple bragging rights though, is the sheer maginitude of the impact this game stands to have for both schools NCAA Tournament aspirations. Winning the conference tournament all but guarentees the Aztecs no less than a two-seed on Selection Sunday. The Rebels who are sitting on the bubble - though quite comfortably - can put any concerns to rest with a win tonight.

Toss in some star power in the Aztec's Kawhi Leonard and UNLV's Tre'Von Willis, plus four straight wnis by SDSU and this game easily has all the makings of being the best game on the national schedule tonight.

Come on in and share your thoughts after the bump!

The Patriot League has been best known in recent years as a conference that produces bracket busters come March. Few will forget the 2005 upset of the Kansas Jayhawks by Bucknell, quite possibly the biggest moment the conference has had in the last decade.

This afternoon the Bison will be playing for a chance to go back to the NCAA Tournament, facing off with Lafayette. Bucknell was expected to be here, running through the conference regular season while barely breaking a sweat. The Leopards on the other hand are the cinderella story of sorts, reaching the final game as a massive underdog and a six seed.

Continue on after the jump for a breakdown of each team and a final prediction for who is moving on to the Big Dance.

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Coming off the best regular season in program history, San Diego State takes its first step towards the Mountain West Championship and the push for NCAA Tournament seeding. The days of the Aztecs being meniotend as a possible #1 seed are over, but a second straight MWC title would almost surely put them square in position for a two-seed - not bad at all.

SDSU has won four straight games against the conference's seven-seed Utah and the Utes will possibly be without their best player as second team All-MWC selection Will Clyburn is nursing a contusion on his right heel. If the junior does in fact sit out, Utah will be hard pressed to replace his 17 points per game, the second best average in the conference.

Have some thoughts on this game? Let's hear it! Want to hype up action from earlier in the day? We want that too! It's all after the jump!

The title of this post probably sounds a tad redundant. Typically a team that finishes tied for second in a conference is going to be a legitimate threat to win the postseason tournament. But somewhere along the way, the Miners have been lost in the shuffle of discussing the NCAA Tournament resumes of UAB and Memphis, both of whom are square on the bubble pending the outcome of the C-USA playoffs.

Well now that East Carolina has fired the first major blow in this tournament by upending the top-seeded Blazers, UTEP is on the hot seat as the favorite. For those casual observers who know Conference-USA as that far away land once dominated by Memphis, no, the Tigers aren't public enemy number one anymore and they aren't the team to beat.

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Having grown up in northern New Jersey I've always had a soft spot for the NEC. I was a 15-minute drive from the campus of Farleigh Dickinson and attended the Knights summer basketball camp as a youth. Tonight we'll crown a champion of the Northeast conference at the WRAC where the Long Island Blackbirds will host the Robert Morris Colonials. 

We know Robert Morris, we're familiar with Robert Morris. The Colonials have won back-to-back NEC championships and reached tonight's final with a 64-62 victory over Quinnipiac in the semifinals. Then there's LIU, a team whose greatest claim to fame in the last 20 years might be the presence of Charles Jones who led the nation in scoring in back-to-back seasons in 1997 and 1998. Of course, the Blackbirds also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in that 1997 season, the last time the school made a trip to the Dance. 

Will number-one seed LIU snap a 14-year NCAA Tournament dry spell or is a three-peat in the cards for the third-seeded Colonial? Come on in and share your thoughts!