In the dawn of March Madness and the many post-season college basketball tournaments, mid-major conference tournaments are either underway or about to tip-off to crown a champion around the country. CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top-25 rankings (found here: http://www.collegeinsider.com/mmpoll/) feature teams from a number of conferences all over the nation, with many teams vying for a post-season tournament opportunity. Here's a look at some top-conference tourney action and potential post-season members:

The Big South saw the Winthrop Eagles (19-13) shocked top-seeded Coastal Carolina (28-6) in a 64-53 upset to capture the school's ninth conference championship in twelve years on Saturday. The third-seeded Eagles, only the second #3 seed to win the Big South Conference Tournament title, also secured the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coastal Carolina, the Big South regular-season champion, will now represent the conference in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Missouri Valley Conference also crowned a champion this weekend as the University of Northern Iowa, led by MVC Coach of the Year Ben Jacobson, defeated Wichita State 67-52 in St. Louis, Missouri. #1 seed Northern Iowa (28-4) rolled through the MVC tournament to face #2 seed Wichita (25-9) Sunday, capturing the school's second-consecutive conference title and solidifying its spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers held the Wichita Shockers without a field goal for over 12 second-half minutes during a 25-3 run that ultimately put the game away. Wichita will have to wait until NCAA Tournament selection day to learn its post-season fate. 

More drama unfolded in Colonial Athletic Conference action Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia as #2 seed Northeastern (20-11) out-battled #7 seed Hofstra (19-14) 74-71 in a double-overtime thriller and the longest Colonial tournament game since 1999. Northeastern will advance to the Monday semi-final contest following their snapping of Hoftstra's seven-game win streak Also in quarterfinal play, the third-seeded William & Mary Tribe (21-9) topped #11 seed James Madison (13-20) 70-65 Saturday also to move on to semi-final play.

The West Coast Conference Championship in Las Vegas featured fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount (18-14) knocking off fourth-seeded University of San Francisco (12-19) to advance to a semi-final match-up with #2 seed St. Mary's (24-5). Top-seeded Gonzaga (25-5) will face #3 seed University of Portland (21-9) in the other semi-final game this week.

The Big Sky Conference Championship has also been underway out west in Ogden, Utah. Sixth-seeded Portland State (13-18) upset #3 seed Montana State (15-14) 68-65 Saturday night on a three with 3.7 seconds left. The upset allows the two-time defending champion Portland State to attempt to stay alive in the semi-final round against top-seeded Weber State (19-9) this Tuesday, March 9^th. Fourth-seeded Montana (20-9) dominated #5 seed Northern Arizona to also advance, where they will meet #2 seed Northern Colorado (24-6) on Tuesday as well. 

While some conferences have crowned their champions, others are just tipping-off. Southland Conference Tournament action will begin in Katy, Texas beginning Wednesday March 10^th with #7 UT-Arlington facing the defending 2009 regular-season and conference tournament champion in #2 Stephen F. Austin. Wednesday will also feature #6 UT-San Antonio against #3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, #8 Nicholls State against #1 Sam Houston State and #5 Texas State against #4 Southeastern Louisiana. Semi-Final match-ups are slated for Thursday, with the championship scheduled for Saturday, March 13^th in Katy.

Also tipping-off this week is Mid-American Conference Tournament action in Cleveland, Ohio. #9 Ohio will face #8 Ball State, #12 Toledo will battle #5 Buffalo, #10 Bowling Green will meet #7 Western Michigan and #11 Northern Illinois will take on #6 Eastern Michigan in First Round play. Kent State, Central Michigan, Akron and Miami-OH will await their Quarterfinal round opponents as the top four seeds. Quarterfinal and Semi-Final rounds are slated for Thursday and Friday, with the championship planned for Saturday, March 13^th in Cleveland. 

The date Friday was the 12^th, yet it seemed like Friday the 13^th with the madness of mid-major upsets in college hoops. In Ivy League play, the 4-15 (3-2 Ivy) Penn Quakers added a spark to an otherwise dismal season with the upset of the year over the 20-4 (6-1 Ivy) Cornell Big Red 79-64 in Philadelphia. Meanwhile in Niagara, New York the MAAC was shaken up as well. The 14-13 (7-8 MAAC) Niagara Purple Eagles upset the 21-5 (14-1 MAAC) Siena Saints 87-74 to snap the nation's longest overall winning streak at 15, along with an impressive 18-game streak against MAAC opponents. 

Penn, who started the season 0-10, found its rhythm from the outside, shooting 56 percent from the field, 52 percent from 3-point range and 82 percent from the foul line. Leading the Quakers effort was sophomore guard Zack Rosen who posted 22 points, five assists and three steals. Cornell standout Jeff Foote had 10 points, 11 rebounds and blocked 3 shot despite being double-teamed by the Quaker defense throughout most of the game.

Niagara was led by senior leaders Tyrone Lewis and Bilal Benn, who had 24 and 15 points apiece. Lewis grabbed 11 rebounds as well, notching his 10^th double-double of the season. As a team, the Purple Eagles shot a season-best 54 percent from the field and put up an impressive 48 points in the second half to put the game away.

Cornell, nationally-ranked at #22 going in to Friday's game, will certainly drop out of the top-25. Both upsets snapped the momentum of Cornell and Siena's respective winning streaks while potentially compromising each team's bid for at-large births in the NCAA tournament. The losses will not help the team's arguments as they each still lack victories over RPI top-50 opponents. Tournament bids are still attainable through automatic births as conference champions.

The North squad dominated the South in the Senior Bowl this past Saturday in Mobile, Alabama 31-13. The North was lead  by record-setting Dan LeFevour from Central Michigan. LeFevour, the FBS all-time leader in touchdowns (150), was 5-10 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown, with another touchdown on the ground. LeFevour continued to impress and out-duel his BCS counterparts as he was chosen as the North’s Most Outstanding Player. Also highlighting the North squad was running back Lonyae Miller out of Fresno State. Miller posted a game-high 44 yards rushing on nine touches.

Wide Receiver Jeremy Williams out of Tulane led the South team with 82 yards on six catches, along with a 27-yard gain on an end around. Williams led the struggling South offense and was selected as the South’s Most Outstanding Player.

LeFevour, Miller and Williams certainly helped boost their draft stock throughout the Senior Bowl practice week and in the showcase. LeFevour boasts the highest ranking of the latter prospects to date as the #6-ranked quarterback in the 2010 class. Williams is currently the #14-ranked wide receiver, while Miller is the #15 running back.

Gonzaga’s win streak against West Coast Conference opponents was snapped Saturday night at 22 games by the University of San Francisco. USF was led by guard Dior Lowhorn’s 22 points en route to their 81-77 upset of the WCC-leading Zags. Lowhorn, the WCC’s leading scorer the past two seasons, led the USF attack that took the Zags into overtime before closing out the victory. Freshman Elias Harris led the Zags effort with 21 points, while fellow standout Matt Bouldin posted 15 points and 12 rebounds. The upset marks an end to USF’s three-game losing streak and simultaneously snaps Gonzaga’s nine-game winning streak, along with their impressive conference run.

With the Gonzaga loss, Saint Mary’s moves up a spot in WCC standings. The Gaels and Zags are now in a lock for first place with identical 6-1 conference records. Next in line sits Portland in third place (5-2), USF and

Pepperdine tied for fourth (3-4), LMU and San Diego tied for sixth (2-5) and Santa Clara rounding out in eighth (1-6).

  Four weeks into conference play and the WCC has continued to solidify its presence on the national stage. With Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and Portland all ranked in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major top-25 as of January 31^st (#1, #8, and #22), the WCC continues to make its case as a top conference amongst mid-major and BCS competition. The WCC has even outplayed its Western-region counterparts of the Pac-10, WAC and Big West against BCS conference teams. Posting a 14-17 record against teams from the six major conferences, the WCC is ahead of the Pac-10 (9-24), the Big West (2-19) and the WAC (0-7) in that respect.

The battle of unbeaten mid-major conference champions culminated Monday night in an intriguing, yet deceptive, match-up in Glendale, Arizona. Sixth-ranked Boise State (14-0), of the Western Athletic Conference, outlasted third-ranked TCU (12-1), of the Mountain West Conference, 17-10 to claim its second Fiesta Bowl victory in four years and become the second team in college football history to finish with a 14-0 record.

In a game dominated by defensive prowess and sub-par offensive output, Boise State employed trickery reminiscent of its 2007 win over Oklahoma in the same venue. With the score locked at 10-10, nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and both offenses struggling, Boise punter Kyle Brotzman connected with tight end Kyle Efaw for a 29-yard pick-up and a Bronco first down in Horned Frog territory. The fourth down gamble by Broncos coach Chris Petersen paid off, as running back Doug Martin dove in for Boise's lone offensive touchdown of the game and swept away any momentum had by TCU.

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