All year long, Steve Alford has been brewing something in Los Angeles. The embattled coach has had a superb bounce back season for UCLA. That was no more evident then on Saturday night as the Bruins took down the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.
UCLA’s resurgence can be attributed to freshman sensation Lonzo Ball. The sure-fire lottery pick has proven himself to be the best pure point guard in a draft class filled with talented point guards. He leads one of the most explosive teams in the country.
UCLA isn’t always dialed in defensively because they’re so adept on the other end. The Bruins will certainly need to defend better in March, but if they don’t it won’t stop them from being one of the toughest outs in the Big Dance.
Let’s do some conference tournament previews.
ATLANTIC SUN: Florida Gulf Coast, once again, proved to be the class of the Atlantic Sun as it won another regular season title. With many of its primary challengers defecting from the conference recently, the Eagles have enjoyed life at the top. Despite that, they’ll have a difficult time winning the automatic bid here. Lipscomb watched crosstown rival Belmont dominate this league before it left and is ready to step up to primetime. The Bisons have already beaten the Eagles on their home court and that’s why they’ll win the automatic bid.
BIG SOUTH: Winthrop and UNC-Asheville tied for the regular season title at 15-3 with Liberty right on their heels at 14-4. Those three have separated themselves from the pack and look primed to take the bid. UNC-Asheville has the most experience here and thus the Bulldogs are the team no one wants to see in this tournament. Too bad. The Bulldogs will be the team that wins it.
OHIO VALLEY: This one is simple. If Belmont doesn’t breeze through the conference tournament it will be one of the more shocking results in any conference tournament. The Bruins finished five games ahead of their next closest competition and look like a team that can pull off an upset in the Big Dance.
NORTHEAST: Mount St. Mary’s looked to be clear favorites in the NEC until last week when LIU beat the Mountaineers on their home court. It’s going to be a slugfest for the Mountaineers as 7 of the 8 teams that qualified for the conference tournament finished at .500 or above. This will be competitive, but the regency of the the loss to LIU will work in their favor and they’ll return to the dance for the first time since 2014.
AMERICA EAST: The Vermont Catamounts went 16-0 in conference play and are as heavy favorites as Belmont is in the OVC. This tournament will be played on the home court of the higher seeded team. That means teams will have to travel to Vermont to attempt to do something none of them have been able to do all season – beat the Catamounts. That won’t happen. Vermont goes dancing.
On to the bracket.
Last Four In: Syracuse, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Rhode Island
Last Four Out: Marquette, California, Wake Forest, Houston
This bracket is good for games through 2/26
EAST
1.Villanova16.UC Davis/Mount St Mary’s Buffalo
8.Michigan9.Dayton
5.Purdue12.Nevada Orlando
4.Florida St13.Monmouth
6.Oklahoma St11.USC Buffalo
3.West Virginia14.East Tennessee St
7.Virginia Tech10.Providence Sacramento
2.UCLA15.CSU Bakersfield
SOUTH
1.North Carolina16.South Dakota Greenville
8.South Carolina9.Michigan St
5.Florida12.Georgia Tech/Illinois Orlando
4.SMU13.Akron
6.St. Mary’s11.Vanderbilt Salt Lake City
3.Arizona14.Bucknell
7.Wisconsin10.Middle Tennessee St Indianapolis
2.Kentucky15.Oakland
MIDWEST
1.Kansas16.North Carolina Central/New Orleans Tulsa
8.VCU9.Arkansas
5.Cincinnati12.Texas-Arlington Milwaukee
4.Notre Dame13.Princeton
6.Minnesota11.Rhode Island/Syracuse Tulsa
3.Baylor14.Florida Gulf Coast
7.Wichita St10.Northwestern Indianapolis
2.Louisville15.Winthrop
WEST
1.Oregon16.North Dakota Sacramento
8.Creighton9.Maryland
5.Iowa St12.UNC-Wilmington Greenville
4.Duke13.Vermont
6.Miami(Fl)11.Illinois St Milwaukee
3.Butler14.Belmont
7.Virginia10.Seton Hall Salt Lake City
2.Gonzaga15.Texas Southern
Bracketville USA 
You forgot about Xavier.