I know there are those of you that read this blog almost exclusively for its outstanding football coverage.  Not gonna lie.. that's why i first started coming here.  I love Tiger football.  In my 4 years, I missed 1 home game. However, basketball is my first love, and this is my favorite time of the year.  The Superbowl is over, spring training hasn't started yet.  For the next  2 months.. college basketball is king.   We have 3 1/2 more weeks to the Tigers regular season, and it should be a very fun ride.   The number we all have to keep in mind is 4.  We need 4 more wins to be able to stake a claim to one of the 37 at large bids that will be handed out on March 13th.  After the jump I'll tell you where i think we stack up and why we have a shot.

37 At large Bids (remember there are 31 automatic bids).   How do we divide them up ?  Here's my first crack

ACC - 3

Big East - 9

Big 10 -5

Big 12 - 5

Pac 10 - 2

SEC -5

Non Power Conference Total  - 8

Getting one of the 3 ACC at large bids means -

A)  Getting to 10-6 in conference

B)  Winning at least 1 game in the ACC tourney

C) Getting some separation between us and Va tech, Maryland, and BC.   A win on Saturday vs UNC would be a HUGE step to joining the top half.. as opposed to being lumped in the middle.

We can also hope that the Pac 10 and SEC continue to be viewed as having down years (much like the ACC)  I think there will be a total of 10 at large bids between the 3 conferences.  We need UCLA and Washington to struggle.. We need Georgia,  Tennessee, Vandy, and Alabama to limp home over the final 3 1/2 weeks.  This would potentially help boost the ACC to 4 at large bids.. and maybe at 10-6 we can sneak in at a 12 seed. 

Looking forward to the final 30 days before listening to Jim Nantz say "Hello Friends" about 1000 times over a 3 week span.  Go Tigers !