Athlon Sports' 2014-15 NCAA Tournament Predictions

Athlon Sports would be the first to tell you to sit back and enjoy the college basketball regular season from start to finish.

But let’s face it: The big prize — the only prize, it seems — is the NCAA Tournament. And that’s part of the excitement of the season. Essentially every team has a chance to play in the championship event. Finish in last place in your conference? You’ve got the conference tournament to remedy a lost season.

For us, bracketology starts early. Here’s our first projection of the field of 68.

NCAA bids by conference

ACC (9): Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Virginia, Syracuse, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh

American (4): SMU, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Memphis

Atlantic 10 (4): VCU, Dayton, Rhode Island, George Washington

Big 12 (5): Kansas, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma

Big East (3): Villanova, Georgetown, Xavier

Big Ten (7): Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa

Missouri Valley (2): Wichita State, Northern Iowa

Mountain West (2): San Diego State, UNLV

Pac-12 (5): Arizona, Colorado, Stanford, UCLA, Utah

SEC (4): Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, LSU

West Coast (2): Gonzaga, BYU

One-bid conferences

America East (Stony Brook), Atlantic Sun (Florida Gulf Coast), Big Sky (Weber State), Big Sky (Coastal Carolina), Big West (UC Irvine), Colonial (Northeastern), Conference USA (Louisiana Tech), Horizon (Green Bay), Ivy (Harvard), MAAC (Iona), MAC (Akron), MEAC (NC Central), Northeast (St. Francis Brooklyn), Ohio Valley (Belmont), Patriot (American), Southern (Wofford), Southland (Stephen F. Austin), Summit (IPFW), Sun Belt (Georgia State), SWAC (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), WAC (New Mexico State)