SLAM DUNK: North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough. ( Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Sixty-five teams make the tournament, and the ACC and Big East always have their fair share of representatives. But this year is shaping up to have a tournament dominated by the two conferences.
The top 25 is littered with Big East and ACC teams as there are 11 in total from both conferences.

The 16-team Big East is the deepest conference in all the land.
ACC
Atop the ACC are the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels who are led by All-American player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.
After starting as the pre-season No.1, going the distance will not be easy as the Tar Heels have lost senior guard/forward Marcus Ginyard and freshman center Tyler Zeller due to injury.Ginyard is the bigger loss as he would have been a starter, allowing senior guard/forward Danny Green to come off the bench rather than start, making him one of the best sixth men in the country.
The seven-foot Zeller would have been nice to mix in with Hansborough, as he would take some of the load off what Hansborough would need to do down low.
Right on North Carolina’s heels is the team right down tobacco road—arch rival and sixth-ranked Duke.
The Blue Devils have been led by their perimeter shooting and stingy defense, holding their opponents to just over 60 points a game. Sophomore forward Kyle Singler has led the Dukies with almost 16 points and eight rebounds a game.
Rounding out the top three in the ACC is the Blue Devils and Tar Heels in-state rival No. 7 Wake Forest, who has already beaten both teams this season.
The young Demon Deacons are led by do-it-all sophomore point guard Jeff Teague, who’s averaged almost 21 points and three assists per game. The team has shown their youth at times though, losing to Virginia Tech after gaining the No. 1 ranking and then losing two straight after defeating then top-ranked Duke.
Other ACC teams to look out for are No. 12 Clemson, Florida State, Miami, and Virginia Tech.
Big East
The top 25 has been scattered with Big East teams all season long, with as many as nine at one point. As many as 10 teams are in contention to make the big dance.
Atop the Big East is the top team in the land, the Connecticut Huskies, who’s only mishap occurred against Georgetown in the opening game of conference play.The Huskies have tons of experience and will need to be led by their big man in the middle, junior center Hasheem Thabeet, who’s averaging a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds a game.
Senior forward Jeff Adrien is also contributing a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds a game, making the tandem one of the most feared frontcourts in the league.
Second to the Huskies are the No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers who are led by their always grinning big man, sophomore forward DeJuan Blair, who’s averaging a double-double with 16 points while pulling down 12 rebounds per-game.
Senior point guard Levance Fields has run the offense quite well scoring 11 points and dishing out seven assists a game. As they have in the past few years, the Panthers also have a very strong defense characterized by physical play.
Next up is the No. 10 Marquette Golden Eagles who are also having a great season thus far behind their three senior guards Wesley Matthews, Dominic James, and Jerel McNeal.
All three have the potential to go off on any given night and after three-plus years together, the backcourt plays with such great chemistry that they average over 50 points a game combined.
James has put scoring in the backseat as he has done a great job playing the point for first year head coach Buzz Williams. James is averaging five assists per game to go along with 11 points per game. Forward Lezar Hayward has been a solid swing man all year averaging 16 points and almost nine rebounds a game.
Despite not having any dominating inside presence, the Golden Eagles are great at driving the lane and penetrating which really opens up their outside shooting. We’ll see how that style of play holds up against the Big East’s best as they still must play the top teams in the conference in the final stretch of the regular season.
Louisville, at No. 5, has really heated up as of late. Rick Pitino’s squad is giving up only 60 points a game while scoring 73 behind human highlight reel Terrence Williams. After a couple of slip ups early in the season the Cardinals have hit their stride and appear back on track.
Villanova at No. 13, No. 23 Syracuse, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and West Virginia are the other teams to look out for come tournament time.
Matt Sugam is a writer based in New Jersey.
