APPALACHIAN STATE MOUNTAINEERS
22-12 (13-5 Southern Conference)
The Mountaineers have notched wins over three conference champions this season (Robert Morris, Winthrop and Wofford) and nearly took out a fourth (ETSU). ASU coach Buzz Peterson is no stranger to postseason success, having led Tulsa to the NIT title in 2000-01. He will try to impart some of that postseason knowledge on sharpshooter Donald Sims, who leads the country in free throw percentage (95.3%) and ranks 16th nationally in 3-point percentage (42%).

CREIGHTON BLUEJAYS
16-15 (10-8 Missouri Valley Conference)
Upon being picked to compete in the CIT, Creighton's postseason tournament streak has been extended to 13 consecutive seasons, which is a Missouri Valley Conference record. Among conference teams, only Drake has made more than the 225 3-pointers that Creighton has drained to this point. Freshman forward Ethan Wragge has been the most proficient Bluejay from long distance, having hit 59-of-140 attempts (42%) on the season.

FAIRFIELD STAGS
22-10 (13-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Ben Jobe Award finalist Ed Cooley has coached Fairfield to three of its nine winning records in MAAC play since the school joined the league in 1981. The 22 victories to this point are the most for the school in over two decades. Cooley's squad leads the MAAC in blocked shots, with senior Anthony Johnson and sophomore Ryan Olander having combined for 121 rejections so far this season.

GEORGE MASON PATRIOTS
17-14 (12-6 Colonial Athletic Association)
Jim Larranaga's squad features a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging more than 7.7 ppg but nobody averaging more than Cam Long's 12.2 ppg. Long has overcome cramping issues to not only lead the Patriots in scoring but in assists as well (3.1 per game). Sophomore forward Ryan Pearson is coming off his best effort of the season, going 10-of-12 from the field for 22 points against VCU.

HARVARD CRIMSON
21-7 (10-4 Ivy League)
This is the winningest team in the history of the Harvard program. Ben Jobe Award finalist Tommy Amaker relies heavily on senior guard Jeremy Lin, who grew up just down the road from Stanford. The Cardinal's loss has been Harvard's gain, as Lin has been named to the USBWA All-District team for the second consecutive year. Amaker's squad shot better than any team in the Ivy, leading the conference in free throw percentage (77%) and field goal percentage (48%).

LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS
23-10 (9-7 Western Athletic Conference)
In his third season at the Louisiana Tech helm, Kerry Rupp continues to improve the program. He fashioned a nine win improvement over his first season and will do no better than a seven win improvement when this season concludes. A core group of five starters (Kyle Gibson, Magnum Rolle, Jamel Guyton, DeAndre Brown and Olu Ashaolu) have accounted for 87% of the team's scoring on the season.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
18-15 (7-7 West Coast Conference)
The Lions don't feature a senior on the roster and rank 300 out of 343 Division I teams in terms of experience. Max Good has led this young bunch to 18 wins on the season, the most for the program since the 1995-96 season. That's an improvement of a mind boggling 15 victories over last season's 3-28 mark. Taking better care of the basketball has helped the turnaround, with the Lions leading the WCC in turnover margin (+0.50).

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
23-9 (11-5 Conference USA)
Third year coach Donnie Jones has turned things around at Marshall by getting his team to play better on the road. The Herd's eight victories away from home this season are the most since the 1986-87 team. Freshman center Hassan Whiteside has rewritten not only the Marshall record book, but Conference USA's as well. His 174 blocked shots on the season are the most in school and league history and rank seventh in Division I annals.

NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS
24-7 (12-4 Big Sky Conference)
The CIT is the fourth tournament that the Bears have played in this season and they've won two of those (the Rainbow Classic and the Reggie Minton Air Force Classic). Hugh Durham Award finalist Tad Boyle has crafted a squad that's one of the most proficient 3-point shooting teams in the CIT field. The Bears rank 21st nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 39% and have made at least one 3-pointer in 106 straight contests.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE BLUE RAIDERS
19-13 (13-5 Sun Belt Conference)
Kermit Davis's team overcame a slow 4-6 start on the season and has 18 wins to this point. This is the third consecutive season that the Blue Raiders have posted 17 or more victories. Senior forward Desmond "Boogie" Yates became the program's all-time leading scorer back in January. However, guard James Washington owns the team's high scoring effort for the season, notching 34 against Houston Baptist on February 13.

MISSOURI STATE BEARS
20-12 (8-10 Missouri Valley Conference)
Despite having only one senior on the roster, Cuonzo Martin's team still managed to win 20 games. The Bears have drained 222 3-pointers, the second most in school history. The 2006-07 squad made 243 3-point baskets. Junior guard Adam Leonard was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year after transferring in from Eastern Kentucky. He and fellow transfer Jermaine Mallett have combined to average 23.5 ppg on the season.

PACIFIC TIGERS
20-11 (12-4 Big West Conference)
The Tigers clawed their way to a share of the Big West regular season championship with a late season surge. When league accolades were handed out, multiple Pacific players were honored. Senior forward Joe Ford was tabbed first-team All-Big West Conference and earned the Defensive Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. Forward Pat Eveland was selected as the league's best sixth man and freshman guard Allen Huddleston was selected to the Big West's All-Freshman team.

PORTLAND PILOTS
21-10 (10-4 West Coast Conference)
Some teams simply fold the tent when losing a key player, but not Portland. After guard Nik Raivio went down with a strained right Achilles’ tendon on January 16 the team rallied to go 11-3 from that point. Solid shooting has been the hallmark of Eric Reveno's squad this season. The Pilots rank ninth in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (42%) and 35th nationally in free throwing shooting (73.3%).

SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES
22-9 (11-1 Great West Conference)
Few teams dominated a league the way South Dakota dominated the Great West this season. Not only did the Coyotes sweep the regular season and tournament titles, they also led the conference in scoring, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, blocks, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. Senior forward Tyler Cain leads the team in scoring (15.1 ppg) and has recorded nine games of four or more blocked shots this season.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
20-13 (8-8 Conference USA)
The Golden Eagles have been able to establish a consistent interior presence all season long. Larry Eustachy's squad leads C-USA in offensive rebounds per game (12.8) as well as rebounding margin (+7.0). Amazingly, 75% of the team's scoring and 77.5 percent of the rebounding are coming from players who are wearing Southern Miss uniforms for the first time. A case in point is JC transfer Gary Flowers, who leads the team in scoring at 14.7 ppg.

WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS
22-11 (11-7 Southern Conference)
Western Carolina is one of the most opportunistic teams in the country on the defensive end. The team ranks ninth nationally in steals at 9.7 a game and 24th nationally in turnover margin (3.2). The primary thief for the Catamounts is senior guard Brigham Waginger. He ranks sixth in the country with 2.7 steals a game and is WCU's career leader. This is the program's first 20-win season since joining the Division I ranks more than 30 years ago. 

.