The March Madness betting tournament is just over three and a half weeks away, and for handicappers, that means that now is the time to put together mock drafts. For the second consecutive year, the world’s greatest playoff tournament will have 68 instead of 64 teams qualifying and battling for a right to be named National Champion in the single elimination tournament. We aren’t sure who will be placed where just yet, but after reading our sports betting colleagues columns, we elected to write our own column on which major conferences should be happy entering the tournament. Today we’ll be looking at which conferences should look forward to the tournament and which conferences should be disappointed. 
If the March Madness college basketball tournament were to begin today, the two conferences that would benefit the most from the selection process would be the Big 10 and the Big East. Starting with the latter, for the second consecutive year, the Big East would have a minimum of eight teams battling for position. Last season, the Big East sent 11 of a possible 16 teams to the tournament, with the Connecticut Huskies coming away with the National Title. This season, the Big East should be sending eight teams including powerhouses Syracuse, Georgetown and defending National Champion Connecticut. Well, the National Champion Huskies deserve to have an asterisk beside their name, as they have struggled considerably in the second half of the bookie software season. In fact, it may take a Big East Conference Championship win, to help the Huskies secure a spot in the March Madness Tournament Predictions.
On the other hand, in this latest mock bracket, the Big 10 reigns supreme, as they will have nine of a possible 12 teams enter the tournament. The big four of Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Michigan will lead the way. Michigan and Michigan State are both of particular interest to NBA fans, as neither school was seen as being that strong, prior to the start of the season. Nevertheless, the Spartans, turned heads in week 14 of the NCAA season, when they knocked off the aforementioned Ohio State Buckeyes. The victory over their conference rivals, vaulted the Spartans into seventh in the AP 25 rankings, while pushing the Buckeyes down to ninth. With the Big 10 Conference Tournament directly around the corner, fans could see the Spartans coming away with the Conference Championship, and even a first overall seed once March Madness begins.
As we noted above, a couple conferences are overjoyed at how many schools they are sending to the tournament, but other conferences are disappointed in the amount of teams they get to send. The SEC and Big 12 are two conferences that fill out the latter category, as although they have strong schools, only five from each conference are projected to enter the tournament. By all accounts, the more schools you send to the dance, the better the revenue sharing becomes for the following season. Then again, if a team from the SEC or Big 12 does in fact win the National Title that will show handicappers that having the most schools and having the best school doesn’t always come from the same conference.
