Late last week I posted a story looking at all the first place teams in every mid-major conference, and their expectations of making the tournament. A lot of those teams were able to maintain, or even improve their lead in their conference, but there were a few shakeups, as well.

The first place teams that took care of business are –

American East – Vermont (19-5, 9-0) defeating UMBC 81-53 was one of the biggest wins of any mid-major team this weekend, as UMBC was two games back of Vermont and second place in the American East. Vermont now holds a 2.5 game lead over UMBC and Hartford. I maintain Vermont is a team you do not want to see as a 4-5-6 seed come tournament time.

Atlantic 10 – Rhode Island (19-3, 11-0) defeated VCU 81-68 on Friday night. Rhode Island now has a three game lead in the conference. The Rams have entered the top-25 (21 in Coaches Poll, 22 in AP) and have now won 14 in a row. They have a chance to all but lock up the regular season conference championship if they can knock off second place team Davidson (7-3 in conference) on Friday night.

Atlantic Sun – Florida Gulf Coast (18-8, 9-0) also remained undefeated in conference, knocking off Jacksonville 80-55 in a game against the top two teams in the Atlantic Sun. The win extends FGC’s lead in conference to three games.

Big Sky – Montana (18-5, 11-0) Another conference another undefeated conference record. Montana held off North Dakota (3-8 in conference) by the final of 72-67. Montana holds a 2.5 game lead over Weber State who is hoping Montana slips up. That would make their game on March 1 in Montana huge. However, Montana controls it’s own regular season destiny and has a favorable schedule, as five of their last seven games come on their home court.

Big West – UC Santa Barbara (18-5, 7-2) and UC Davis (16-7, 7-2) both one their games this weekend. UC Santa Barbara handled CSU Northridge 75 to 51, but UC Davis needed a desperation three at the buzzer by Tyree Griffin to defeat Long Beach State 105-104 in overtime. Now UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis turn to each other, as they play each other in two out of the next three games. UC Irvine is sitting a 6-3 should one of those two teams slip up, but it’s looking this regular season conference could be decided in the next few games.

Colonial Athletic Association – Jarrell Brantley made a lay-up in the late stages to give Charleston (18-6, 9-3) the 86-85 victory over Hofstra to maintain it’s slim one game lead over William & Mary and Northeastern. Charleston has already beat Northeastern twice, but still has two games with W&M remaining, including this Thursday in Charleston, and the final regular season game.

Conference USA – Middle Tennessee improved to 10-1 in conference and 18-5 overall after holding off a last place Charlotte team. Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are both waiting for a slip up from the top team, as they are tied for second just 1.5 games behind. The 3/1 game between Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky could determine the regular season champion and who gets the one seed heading into the conference championship.

Horizon League – Wright State (18-7, 10-2) and Northern Kentucky (17-7, 10-2) both one this weekend, to remain tied atop the Horizon League. The University of Illinois-Chicago, also winners this weekend, remain only one game back. This trio of teams plays a virtual round robin – with a couple other teams mixed in – over the last handful of games of the season.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – Rider (17-7, 10-2) continues to lead by .5 games over Canisius and and a one game lead over Iona after defeating 74-59 on the road on Sunday. Rider has five more games left in their season, including games against Canisius and Iona. In other words, this one is still wide open.

Mid-American – Buffalo (East division leader at 9-1) and Toledo (West division leader at 8-2) were both off this weekend. Both teams have three game leads in their division with eight to play.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – Savannah State (11-13, 8-1) continues to do things their way – which involved the most attempted 3’s in the nation (40 per game)..and misses. If Savannah State makes their way to the tournament they will gain national attention, as they are only a season or two away from being deregulated to Division 2 due to financial constraints. If you are a fan of underdogs than this is a team you should be getting behind.

Missouri Valley – Loyola-Chicago (19-5, 9-3) returned to the winning column after falling to Bradley (7-5 in conference) by downing Missouri State 97-75. This win helped them maintain a 1 game lead over Southern Illinois. Loyola-Chicago and Southern Illinois meet in a game on Feb 21 that could determine the regular season champion. Loyola-Chicago leads the series 1-0, so Southern Illinois would need some additional help along the way.

Mountain West Conference – Nevada (20-4, 9-1) returned to the top-25 at number 22 after defeated Colorado State this weekend. Boise State, the team just .5 games behind Nevada gets their chance to even the season series when the two meet on Feb. 14. I believe it’s possible for both Nevada and Boise State to be dancing this year, barring any major slumps for either team the rest of the way.

Northeast – Wagner (17-6, 10-2) defeated St. Francis Brooklyn to continue leading the conference by two games over Mount St. Mary’s. Behind Mt. Saint Mary’s are four teams that are three games behind, hoping for the top two teams in the division slip up. Wagner closes the season with a game at Mount St. Mary’s.

Ohio Valley – Belmont (19-6, 11-1) continues to control their own destiny after defeating Ohio Valley bottom dweller Morehead State 83-73. The win means they continue to hold a one lead over Murray State. Being they beat Murray State earlier in the season, they effectively have a two game lead on them. It won’t be easy for Belmont, as most of their remaining games are against teams in the upper half of the conference.

Patriot League – Bucknell (17-8, 11-1) improved their conference lead to three games. They handled Lafayette Boston fell to Lehigh to fall to 8-4 in conference, the same as Colgate. With six games left in conference, Bucknell is close to locking up the regular season conference championship.

Southern – One of the better teams in all of mid-major basketball, East Tennessee State (21-4, 12-0) defeated lowly Chattanooga by 20 at home. East Tennessee State actually has a pretty tough schedule the rest of the way, including UNC Greensboro (8-2 in conference, 2nd place), Wofford and Furman (both 7-4 in conference) Victories there could help bolster their resume, as all three of those teams have decent overall records. I still maintain there’s a chance they could make the tournament if they were to lose one game between now and the conference championship, but I think I am in the minority with that line of thought.

Southwestern Athletic – Perhaps my favorite conference, where there’s five teams that only wins this season have come in conference. One of those teams includes Arkansas Pine Bluff (9-15, 9-1), who knocked off 2-21 Alabama A&M 80-62. This conference is the epitome of a one bid team.

Summit League – The Summit League was off this weekend, so South Dakota State (20-6, 8-1) holds on to their .5 lead over South Dakota. Those two teams meet on Feb 22, a game that could likely decide the regular season champion. South Dakota won their first meeting.

Sun Belt – Louisiana (20-3, 10-0) defeated Louisiana-Monroe this weekend, but they turn right around with a big game this week against second place Georgia State on Thursday. A win for Georgia State would see them fall to only .5 games back and severely impact Lousiana’s chances to make the big dance if they were to fall in the conference tournament.

West Coast – St Mary’s (23-2, 12-0) narrowly avoided disaster, beating San Diego 65-62 to stay undefeated in conference and remain one game ahead of Gonzaga. St Mary’s continues to rise up the rankings, as they are all the way up 11th in the polls. St Mary’s plays Gonzaga this Saturday in one of the best games of the weekend. Both of those teams are playing for both seeding in the NCAA Tournament and a chance to win a regular season championship.

Western Athletic – New Mexico State (20-3, 7-0) continues to get some love by the polls, as they are in the “others receiving votes” categories. Not that defeating UT Rio Grande Valley 90-67, which they did this weekend, bolsters their chances of making the big dance, but if they were to only lose in their conference championship game, I think they committee would have a decision to make.

Now, here are the teams that lost their hold on first place, and the teams that took over the top spot –

Big South – Radford fell to third place in the division after failing to show up against Winthrop in an important game, losing by nearly 18. Taking advantage was UNC Ashville (16-3, 9-3), who defeated Presbyterian and took the top place in the conference by 1 game over Winthrop and Radford. This is a one bid conference, so first seed in the conference tournament is vital. Radford still has a chance, if they can beat UNC Ashville on Saturday, but this is starting to look like a league that nobody wants to win.

Ivy League – Harvard fell this weekend to Yale, opening the way for Penn to take over the first spot (15-6, 5-0) Penn and Harvard still meet two times this year, including this Saturday, in games that are sure to determine the regular season champs.

Southland – In a battle for first place in the conference, Nicholls knocked off New Orleans to take a mere percentage points lead in the conference (8-2 for Nicholls and 9-3 for New Orleans) Including New Orleans, this conference has four teams with just three losses, including pre-season favorite Stephen F. Austin. SFA is an example of how things change in conference play. They have by far the best overall record at 18-5, but there three loses in conference, and who they have lost to, has them at 5th in the league. Though technically, that’s only one game back. I really feel SFA will come out of this conference, but they have work to do.

That’s about it for the mid-major weekend review. The biggest game on a national level this weekend is of course St Mary’s-Gonzaga, but as you can see there are a number of games coming up this weekend that could determine the front-runners for regular season champs in many conferences. I hope to be back with another story or two early this week, including looking more in-depth at some of the teams that may be on the inside looking just barely out.