THE ROAD TO THE MADNESS: All 14 teams prepare for March

With one more month to go before each team's respective conference tournaments begin, all 14 Michigan-based Division I college basketball teams will look to improve their status for the sole purpose of headling the main event, which is the NCAA Tournament.

In the Horizon League, the Detroit Titans are currently in good position to, at the very least, host first round games in the HL tournament. For the men, they are in a 3-way tie for 5th place (6-5) with Butler & Wright State and are 2 1/2 games away from 1st place, which is currently held by Cleveland State (8-2). As for the women, they are tied with UIC for 3rd place (6-3) and are 3 games away from the top spot, which is held by the undefeated Green Bay Phoenix (9-0, 19-0 overall). Both tournaments are set up to where seeds 3 through 6 would host 1st round games and the top team in each would host the remaining rounds.

The men's tournament begins February 28th and the women's tournament is set to begin on March 5th.




In the Big Ten Conference, both men & women are neck-and-neck in the standings. On the men's side, the Michigan Wolverines & the Michigan State Spartans are tied for 3rd place (6-3) and are one game behind Ohio State (7-2) for the top spot. For the women, anything goes as the top eight teams continue to battle for positioning. Similiar to the men, both the Wolverines & Spartans are tied for 5th place (5-4) and are 3 1/2 games away from 1st place, currently held by Purdue (8-1).

The Big Ten Tournament will be held at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana and the women will start on March 1st while the men are set for March 8th.




For the men & women of the Oakland Golden Girizzlies, they are holding on to stay above .500 in the Summit League. The men are currently in 6th place (6-6) and six games back behind undefeated Oral Roberts (12-0). The women are tied for 3rd place (6-5) with South Dakota & UMKC and are four games away from 1st place, held by South Dakota State (10-1).

When both Summit League tournaments begin on March 3rd from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, only the top eight teams will qualify for the postseason.




On the men's side of the MAC conference, the Eastern Michigan Eagles are on top of the West Divison (5-2), followed closely by the Western Michigan Broncos (4-3), who are tied with Ball State for 2nd place. Eastern is one game back from overall 1st place in the MAC, which is currently held by Akron of the East Divsion (6-1). And having a rough season are the Central Michigan Chippewas (2-6), who are a half-game out of last place in the MAC.




As for the women, it's almost the same situation. Eastern Michigan currently shares the top spot in the West Division with Toledo (6-2) and right behind them is Central Michigan (4-4). The Eagles are two games back behind Bowling Green (8-0) for overall 1st place in the MAC. Trying to stay out of last place in the division is Western Michigan (2-6), who are tied with Ball State.

Both MAC tournaments will seeds 5 through 8 play on their home court and the remaining rounds will be held at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The women will begin on March 3rd while the men are set for March 5th.