Nine more conference tournaments tipping off this weekend

The first three conference championship games are tomorrow. This is where students rush the court and celebrate the right to be a 15-seed somewhere in the NCAA Tournament. Still, it's much more fun than watching the Fox NFL crew unveil BCS bowl bids, isn't it?

Actually, the first ticket to the NCAA's could be handed out as soon as tonight if Cornell clinches the Ivy League.

The Daily News continues its conference tournament preview with the nine leagues set to start their postseasons over the next few days. Keep an eye on the West Coast Conference where Saint Mary's is trying to play its way into the big dance.

Colonial Athletic Association

Regular season champ: Old Dominion (23-8) probably has to get to the championship game to lobby for at-large bid consideration. Obviously if they win it, it would open up a spot for someone else to lobby.

Watch out for: Northeastern (19-11), which made life difficult for itself by dropping three of its last five. The Huskies started season 2-7, but should be in postseason somewhere.

RPI watch: Old Dominion 39, Northeastern 70.

SCHEDULE

At Richmond, Va.

FIRST ROUND/Today

9-UNC Wilmington vs. 8-Towson, 12

12-Delaware vs. 5-VCU, 2:30

10-Georgia St. vs. 10-Hofstra, 6

11-James Madison vs. 6-Drexel, 8:30

QUARTERFINALS/Tomorrow

In Bracket Order

Towson/UNC Wilm. vs. 1-Old Dominion, 12

VCU/Delaware vs. 4-George Mason, 2:30

Hofstra-Georgia St. vs. 2-Northeastern, 6

Drexel-J. Madison vs. 3-William & Mary, 8:30

SEMIFINALS/Sunday

Quarterfinal winners, 3 & 5:30

CHAMPIONSHIP/Monday

Semifinal winners, 7 (ESPN)

Regular season champ: Siena, coached by Philadelphia native Fran McCaffery, is looking for its third consecutive conference tournament title. Ronald Moore (Plymouth-Whitemarsh) leads the nation with 7.7 assists per game. The Saints have won an NCAA Tournament game each of the last 2 years.

Watch out for: Fairfield lost a pair of close games against Siena. Red-hot senior center Anthony Johnson had 24 points and 23 rebounds on Sunday against Niagara for his seventh double-double in the last eight games.

RPI watch: Siena 40, Fairfield 91.

SCHEDULE

At Albany, N.Y.

FIRST ROUND/Tonight

9-Manhattan vs. 8-Loyola (Md.), 7:30

10-Marist vs. 7-Canisius, 9:30

QUARTERFINALS/Tomorrow

In Bracket Order

5-Rider vs. 4-Saint Peter's, 2:30

Loyola (Md.)-Manhattan vs. 1-Siena, 5

Canisius-Marist vs. 2-Fairfield, 7:30

6-Niagara vs. 3-Iona, 10

SEMIFINALS/Sunday

Quarterfinal winners, 4 & 6:30

CHAMPIONSHIP/Monday

Semifinal winners, 7 (ESPN2)

Regular season champ: Wofford (South) and Appalachian State (North) were the division winners and are officially considered co-champions. But since Wofford had the better record, we'll crown them. Plus, the Terriers are riding a 10-game winning streak, tops in school history since joining D-I in 1995-96.

Watch out for: App. State junior shooting guard Donald Sims is on his way to setting the single-season scoring record and next year will probably break the school record of 1,794 held by Don King (1958-61). No, not THAT Don King.

RPI watch: Wofford 78, Appalachian State 111.

SCHEDULE

At Charlotte

North and South Divisions

FIRST ROUND/Today

6n-Elon vs. 3s-Davidson, 2

5s-Furman vs. 4n-UNC Greensboro, 4:30

5n-Samford vs. 4s-Citadel, 7

6s-Ga. Southern vs. 3n-Chattanooga, 9:30

QUARTERFINALS/Tomorrow

In Bracket Order

Davidson/Elon vs. 2n-Western Carolina, 2

UNC Greens./Furman vs. 1s-Wofford, 4:30

Citadel-Samford vs. 1n-Appalachian St., 7

Chatt./Ga. Southern vs. 2s-Charleston, 9:30

SEMIFINALS/Sunday

Quarterfinal winners, 6 & 8:30

CHAMPIONSHIP/Monday

Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN2)

Regular season champ: Gonzaga won its 10th consecutive regular season title. Only the UCLA dynasty, which won 13 from 1967-79, has more.

Watch out for: Saint Mary's is the two-seed and right on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Gaels (24-5), who were swept by Gonzaga, almost surely have to reach the WCC championship game - and they better not get blown out in it.

RPI watch: Gonzaga 35, Saint Mary's 45.

SCHEDULE

At Las Vegas

FIRST ROUND/Tonight

8-Pepperdine vs. 5-Loyola Marymount, 9

7-Santa Clara vs. 6-San Diego, 11:30

SECOND ROUND/Tomorrow

LMU/Pepperdine vs. 4-San Francisco, 9

San Diego/Santa Clara vs. 3-Portland , 11:30

SEMIFINALS/Sunday

SF/LMU/Pepp. vs. 1-Gonzaga, 8:30

Portland/SD/SC vs. 2-Saint Mary's, 11

CHAMPIONSHIP/Monday

Semfinal winners, 9 (ESPN)

America East

Regular season champ: Stony Brook won its first America East regular-season title. The Seawolves were a dreadful 4-24 in 2005-06, their first season under coach Steve Pikiell.

Watch out for: New Hampshire, which hammered Stony Brook, 77-55, on Sunday. UNH, coached by former Drexel head man Bill Herrion, also held Pittsburgh to 47 points in December. Unfortunately, they scored only 32. It was 15-7 at halftime, the lowest combined total in Division I since the shot clock debuted in 1985.

RPI watch: Stony Brook 127, New Hampshire 254.

SCHEDULE

At West Hartford, Conn.

FIRST ROUND/Saturday

8-Albany vs. 1-Stony Brook, 12

5-Hartford vs. 4-Boston U., 2:15

7-UMBC vs. 2-Vermont, 6

6-New Hampshire vs. 3-Maine, 8:15

SEMIFINALS/Sunday

Stony Brook/Albany vs. BU/Hartford, 5

Vermont/UMBC vs. Maine/New Hamp., 7:30

CHAMPIONSHIP/Saturday

At higher remaining seed, 12 (ESPN2)

Regular season champ: Weber State. Guard Damian Lillard last year became the first true freshman to make the all-Big Sky first team. This season, he leads the league in scoring at 19.7 per game and is the conference MVP.

Watch out for: Portland State. Though the Vikings went just 12-18, they beat Weber State on Sunday and played them to a three-point loss in January. If PSU beats Montana State in tomorrow's opening round, they'd play Weber on Tuesday. Could be high drama in the Big Sky. (That's sarcasm, folks.)

RPI watch: Weber State 80, Portland State 230.

SCHEDULE

FIRST ROUND/Tomorrow

6-Portland St. at 3-Montana St., 9

5-Northern Arizona at 4-Montana, 9

SEMIFINALS/Tuesday

At Ogden, Utah

Higher-seed first-round vs. 2-N. Colorado, 6:30

Lower-seed first-round vs. 1-Weber St., 9

CHAMPIONSHIP/Wednesday

At Ogden, Utah

Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN2)

Regular season champ: Oakland went 17-1 (.944) and set the league record for highest winning percentage. The school is located in the Oakland County town of Rochester, Mich. - not where Jimmy Rollins grew up.

Watch out for: IUPUI. The Jaguars have the conference's top two scorers (Robert Glenn and Alex Young) and were the only Summit League team to beat Oakland. If only they could do something about the school's convoluted name (Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis).

RPI watch: Oakland 57, IUPUI 90.

SCHEDULE

At Sioux Falls, S.D.

FIRST ROUND/Tomorrow

8-UMKC vs. 1-Oakland (Mich.), 7

7-Western Illinois vs. 2-IUPUI, 9:30

FIRST ROUND/Sunday

5-IPFW vs. 4-South Dakota St., 7

6-North Dakota St. vs. 3-Oral Roberts, 9:30

SEMIFINALS/Monday

Oakland/UMKC vs. South Dakota St./IPFW, 7

IUPUI/W. Illinois vs. ORU/N. Dakota St., 9:30

CHAMPIONSHIP/Tuesday

Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN2)

Regular season champ: Troy was one of three teams with a 13-5 conference mark and claimed the tournament's No. 1 seed based on tiebreakers. Second-leading scorer Richard Delk's twin brother, Reginald, starts for Louisville.

Watch out for: Middle Tennessee's James Washington drained 10 three-pointers against Houston Baptist in February. The Blue Raiders (seeded third) and North Texas (seeded second) also went 13-5 in league play.

RPI watch: Troy 121, North Texas 125, Middle Tennessee 173.

SCHEDULE

At Hot Springs, Ark. (Two venues)

FIRST ROUND/Tomorrow

9-South Alabama vs. 8-Florida Atlantic, 3:15

13-New Orleans vs. 4-Western Kentucky, 7:30

12-Ark.-Little Rock vs. 5-Arkansas St., 7:45

11-Florida Int'l vs. 6-Denver, 9:45

10-La.-Monroe vs. 7-La.-Lafayette, 10

QUARTERFINALS/Sunday

1-Troy vs. FAU/S. Alabama, 7:30

Ark. St./UALR vs. W. Kentucky/New Orleans, 7:30

2-North Texas vs. La.-Laf./La.-Monroe, 9:45

3-M. Tennessee vs. Denver-FIU, 9:45

SEMIFINALS/Monday

Quarterfinal winners, 7:30 & 9:45

CHAMPIONSHIP/Tuesday

Semifinal winners, 7 (ESPN2)

Mid-American Conference

The MAC concludes its regular season tonight when Kent State visits Akron (8, ESPN2) with the conference tournament's No. 1 seed on the line. Both schools are 22-8 overall and 12-3 in the league. Kent's RPI (48) is much higher than Akron's (88). Buffalo is the only MAC school with wins over the two favorites.

This is a one-bid league that opens with four first-round games on Sunday. The championship is Saturday, March 13 (6 p.m., ESPN2) in Cleveland.

PREVIEW SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 2: Big South, Horizon League, Ohio Valley.

Wednesday, March 3: Atlantic Sun, Patriot.

Yesterday: Missouri Valley, Northeast.

Today: America East, Big Sky, Colonial Athletic Association, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mid-American, Southern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.

Tuesday: Atlantic 10, Big East, MEAC, Mountain West.

Wednesday: Big 12, Big West, Conference USA, Pac 10, Southland, SWAC.

Thursday: ACC, Big 10, SEC, WAC.