2009 NCAA basketball bubble teams, who is in and whose bubbles are burstig?

             Which conference will get the most teams in, and which ones will be on the outside looking in in 2009? It looks to be a good year for the mid-major conferences and their tournament hopes this year. Only two power conferences are flexing their muscle this year, while the others are stumbling and beating each other up in conference. The ACC and Big East are looking strong, while down years in the SEC, Big 12, and PAC 10 are creating a jumble of mediocre looking teams with no true leaders.

             The ACC and Big East will probably get 8 teams a piece into the tournament. Usual juggernauts like the SEC and Big 12 will likely only get 4 in each. With the top SEC schools all hovering around 20 wins and 10 losses, it will be difficult to seperate the mud from the dirt as to who is truly deserving to dance from the south this year. The Big 12 has a couple championship capable teams, but outside Oklahoma(26-3, 12-2) and Kansas(24-5, 13-1), they won't pose much of a threat. The Big 10 will probably get 6 teams in, but whose scared of anybody from there other than Michigan State(23-5, 13-3)? The PAC 10 has four high profile teams at the top then alot of white noise if you look past Arizona(18-11, 8-8), who could sneak in as a fifth team from the PAC 10.

           This could be a year of many mid-major schools sneaking in over some more common big dance teams such as Florida(21-8, 8-6) who has a strength of schedule in the 80's and only two wins vs. top 50 RPI schools, Kentucky(19-10, 8-6) who has a putrid strength of schedule and RPI, Georgetown(15-12, 6-10) whose s.o.s. top 5 is starting to wear on as they have lost 8 of their last 11, not to mention Wisconsin(18-10, 9-7), Washington State(16-13, 8-9), USC(16-12, 7-9), just to name a few.

             With Gonzaga and George Mason paving the way in the past few years, the mid-majors have developed a Cinderella sexiness to them that any average Joe can identify with. With opportunities abound this year with the subpar play in the SEC, Big 12, and PAC 10, the door could be wide open for more no names to become households than in the history of the Big Dance. Teams like Sienna(23-7, 6-2), Utah State(26-4, 13-2), Virginia Commonwealth(21-9, 14-4), and Weber State(20-8, 14-1) very well could see themselves sneaking  a final four away from a bigger name school this year. All the mediocracy from the bigger conferences leaves the floodgates unattended for these and others to skate by this year.

             So, when the dust settles, who will be left standing? Will we have another year of all number 1's, or will we see some other "George Mason" emerge from this conglomerate of parody to ascend the ranks of immortality? My bet is on the little guys this year. Stay tuned.