We're up to 27 qualifiers now...

Today, we'll find out who the remaining 41 are...

On Saturday, 13 teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Here's a quick look of who did in order.

Conference USA: Memphis all but assured C-USA would be a one-bid league by defeating UTEP, 67-66, to advance.

America East: Boston U. took the lead for the first time when John Holland hit two free throws with just 2.4 to lead the Terriers from 15 down to beat Stony Brook, 56-54.

MEAC: Morgan State couldn't make it three trips in a row to the Tournament, as the Bears fell to Hampton, 60-55. That's the Pirates first bid since 2006.

Ivy: Princeton got a Doug Davis 14-footer at the buzzer to break Harvard's hearts and make the Tournament with a 63-62 win.

Southland: Texas-San Antonio held off regular season champ McNeese State, 75-72, to advance, most likely to the First Four, as they were the No. 7 seed in a lowly-rated conference.

Big 12: Kansas handled Texas, 85-73, to lock up a top seed, likely in the Southwest.

MAC: It took an overtime, but Akron defeated archrival Kent State,  66-65, to advance to the NCAAs.

Pac-10: This one also required an extra five minutes, which ended with Isaiah Thomas hitting a three at the buzzer to give Washington the crown, 77-75, over regular season champ Arizona.

Mountain West: San Diego State finally beat BYU, 72-54, in the final in Las Vegas. That win means the Aztecs will probably be the two seed out West.

Big West: Defending tournament champion UC Santa Barbara upended the top seed, Long Beach State, 64-56, to book a repeat trip to the Tournament.

SWAC: Alabama State prevented Grambling State from playing in their first-ever NCAA, 65-48. It's the Hornets' first bid in seven years.

Big East: Connecticut won their fifth game in five days to claim a surprising Big East crown, topping Louisville after being swept by the Cardinals in the regular season, 69-66.

WAC: The WAC will be a one-bid league this season as Utah State fought off a game Boise State squad, 77-69, to earn the conference's automatic bid.

Four more teams will earn automatic bids today, and at 6 p.m. ET we'll learn who the 38 at-larges are and where everyone is heading. More on today's schedule after the jump.

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Fourteen teams have booked their place...

13 more will join them today...

Patriot League champion Bucknell Bison  became the 14th team to book their place in the NCAA tournament with a 72-54 win over Lafayette in Friday's lone championship game.

In terms of punching tickets, Saturday is the busiest day of the Championship Festival, as nearly as many teams will play their way in over the past seven days combined. Broadcast info for all of those games, along with the four sets of conference semifinals on the day's slate, is after the jump.

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After a Thursday where no bids were handed out, Friday sees one awarded in the Patriot League.

Patriot League Final

No. 6 Lafayette Leopards at No. 1 Bucknell Bison, ESPN2 (4:45 p.m. ET)

The regular season champion Bison will be heavily favored in this one, particularly since they beat the Leopards by 19 in Lewisburg on January 19th. However, Lafayette will feel confident that they can pull an upset, particularly since they took Bucknell to overtime on February 16th at home. Bucknell's last bid came in 2006, when they earned a win over Arkansas as a nine seed, while Lafayette hasn't qualified in 11 years.

One final was set for Saturday, the Southland Conference's decider in Katy, Texas, but the two semifinal winners will get the day off before playing for the bid tomorrow afternoon. No. 7 seed Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners will take on regular season champion McNeese State. The Roadrunners eliminated third-seeded Sam Houston State in Thursday's first semi, and the Cowboys dispatched of No. 4 Texas State by eight in the second.

Several other Saturday finals will be set today. Info on those games and the rest of Friday's elimination action after the jump.

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A lucky 13 are in..

Who will be the 55 who join them as championship games resume Friday?

One of the most exciting Championship Festivals in recent memory kept up its momentum on Wednesday night, as Northeast regular season champion No. 1 Long Island earned the conference's double crown by getting past two-time defending bid holder Robert Morris, 85-82, after an overtime forced by a Russell Johnson three in the dying seconds of regulation. It's the Blackbirds first trip to the Tournament since 1997.

The nightcap also saw a team add its league's tourney title to a regular season one as Big Sky champ No. 1 Northern Colorado defeated runner-up Montana, 65-60, to earn its first-ever NCAA bid, in its fifth season as a Division I member. p.m. ET)

After the jump, I'll run through a packed, but championship game-free Thursday schedule, starting with the only league playing semifinals today, the Southland.

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Eleven tickets have been punched.

57 spots are open...

The first of three bids handed out on Tuesday night was awarded in thrilling circumstances, as the four and five seeds out of the Sun Belt West division played all the way to the end in Hot Springs. Conference player of the year Solomon Bozeman's step back three with 1.5 seconds to go gave Arkansas-Little Rock a thrilling 64-63 win over North Texas to book a likely trip to Dayton early next week. That's the Trojans' first NCAA trip in 21 years.

Horizon two seed Butler avenged a season sweep at the hands of regular season champ Milwaukee, 59-44, to get back in.

Finally, mo. 1 seed Oakland got a game for about 30 minutes from two seed Oral Roberts before blowing out the Golden Eagles to claim the Summit League crown for the second consecutive season, 90-76.

In the Atlantic 10 first round last night, Dayton, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Joseph's all moved onto Friday's quarterfinals in Atlantic City, with the Flyers, Explorers, and Hawks all winning on the road over UMass, St. Bonaventure, and George Washington respectively. Meanwhile, over in the MAC all four home teams advanced to Cleveland: Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, and defending champ Ohio.

Finally, we will have a one-game playoff to decide the Ivy title and auto bid on Saturday in New Haven, as Princeton defeated Penn, 70-58, thanks to a big second half performance. The Tigers will face Harvard who they lost to in Cambridge over the weekend for the spot (4 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

After the jump, I'll run through Wednesday's slate, which is highlighted by the NEC and Big Sky championship games in the evening.

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Eight is not yet enough...

60 spots remain to be filled...

Monday night started with two epic championship games on the Eastern Seaboard.

In the Metro Atlantic No. 4 St. Peter's Peacocks followed up their upset of top seed (and host) Fairfield by holding off No. 2 Iona, 62-57, to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995, when they earned a 15 seed. The Peacocks topped Alabama at the Paradise Jam back before Thanksgiving, so they could give someone a game next week. Down in Richmond in the CAA final, Old Dominion had an 18-point lead on No. 4 VCU at one point, but the Rams' comeback fell short, despite the best efforts of an energetic pro-VCU crowd at Richmond Coliseum. The Monarchs take the auto bid, and likely send their archrivals down the NIT, with a 70-65 victory.

Later in the evening, action moved South and West. Wofford, the defending Southern Conference champ and two seed in the South Division topped division champ College of Charleston,  77-67, to earn their second trip in a row, and ever, to the Tournament. Remember the Terriers gave four seed Wisconsin all they could handle in the First Round in Jacksonville last year.

No. 1 seed St. Mary's had some foul issues in the second half, which allowed rivals Gonzaga Bulldogs to take control of their West Coast Conference championship matchup and earn the auto bid, . The Gaels have a rare post-conference tournament game coming up against Weber State on March 11th, but they'll have to wait for Selection Sunday to see if they're good enough to get in.

After the jump, a look at the Tuesday schedule, which features three conference finals.

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Four Teams Are In...

64 to go...

Third seed Indiana State upset No. 1 Missouri State, 60-56, to claim the Missouri Valley Conference title in St. Louis. That's the first NCAA bid for the Sycamores since 2001. That squad earned a 13 seed and upset Oklahoma in the first round before falling to Gonzaga in round two in Memphis. The alma mater of Larry Bird and Burl Ives is likely to be placed in a similar position this time around.

Seven championship games were set on Sunday, but three of them will take place later in the week. In the America East, top seed Vermont was blown out by No. 5 seed Stony Brook, 69-47, which means the Catamounts are headed to the NIT, and this conference's winner is a candidate to go to Dayton. Two seed Boston University will host the final after topping early round host Hartford, 55-49. The Terriers and Seawolves will meet on Saturday at high noon to determine the bid. Northeast Conference top seed Long Island will entertain third-seeded Robert Morris  for the Northeast title on Wednesday evening in Brooklyn. The Blackbirds barely got past Central. Connecticut State, 69-67, while the two-time defending champ Colonials stunned No. 2 Quinnipiac on their home floor for the second NEC Tournament running. Friday's Patriot final will be an all-Pennsylvania affair after sixth-seeded Lafayette knocked off American, 73-71, on a Jim Mower three with 0.5 seconds left. It was the second double OT game between the two in the span of a week. The Leopards will head to top seed Bucknell's Sojka Center for the championship game, after the Bison escaped a close call against Lehigh, winning 66-64.

After the jump, I'll look at the four finals set for this Monday night, as well as a quartet of conference tournament semifinals.

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Three are in.

65 spots are left to be filled.

UNC Asheville clinched the first bid of the season, defeating Coastal Carolina, 60-47, in the Big South final in Conway, S.C. That's the second consecutive season the Chanticleers' NCAA dream died on their home floor. They'll advance to the NIT, while the Bulldogs are a strong candidate to head to Dayton for the Opening Round.

Belmont became entrant number two when they throttled Cinderella North Florida, 87-46,  in the Atlantic Sun Championship in Macon, Ga.

The Ohio Valley crown and third ticket to the Dance goes to Morehead State, led by rebounding machine Kenneth Faried. The Eagles ended Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles' season with a win.

Princeton could have been the fourth team to book a place, but they lost at Harvard, 79-67. That means we're likely to see an Ivy playoff late next week, if the Tigers beat Penn Tuesday night. If the Orange and Black lose, the Crimson get the bid.

One tournament played its semifinals last night, but will take a few days off before crowning a champion Tuesday night. No. 2 seed and bubble team Butler advanced to that game by topping Cleveland State for the third time this season, 76-68. The Bulldogs will face the top seed and host Milwaukee who took out four seed Valparaiso, 70-63.

The Big Sky tournament also opened with two campus site opening round games. No. 4 Northern Arizona advanced to Tuesday's semifinals by beating fifth seeded Montana State. The Lumberjacks will face host and top seed Northern Colorado. Semifinal two will feature second seed Montana and No. 3 Weber State, who defeated Eastern Washington in Ogden.

After the jump, a look ahead to today's conference tournament action, which will feature one championship game. For info on the final regular season games of the year, check out my other post for the day.

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