ESPN Men's Basketball

A look at the 31 conferences for the 2008-09 college basketball season (x-regular season champion, y-tournament champion):

AMERICA EAST

07-08 CHAMPIONS: xy-Md.-Baltimore County.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Md.-Baltimore County.

PRESEASON POLL: Boston University; Vermont; Hartford; Md.-Baltimore County; Binghamton; Albany; New Hampshire; Maine; Stony Brook.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Marqus Blakely, Vermont; Corey Lowe, Boston University; Jay Greene, Md.-Baltimore County; Mike Trimboli, Vermont; Joe Zeglinski, Hartford.

THREE THINGS: Boston University shook off early injuries to win nine of its last 12 games last season, and the top seven scorers are back including Corey Lowe, who was second in the league with an 18.1 average. ... Marqus Blakely, the first conference player to be named player of the year and defensive player of the year in the same season, returns for Vermont and will be joined by Michigan State transfer Maurice Joseph. ... Second-year Binghamton coach Kevin Broaddus has 10 new players on the roster, including Gonzaga transfer Theo Davis.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-Boston University.

NIT-none.

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ATLANTIC 10

07-08 CHAMPIONS: x-Xavier; y-Temple.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Xavier; Temple; Saint Joseph's. NIT: Massachusetts; Dayton; Rhode Island; Charlotte.

PRESEASON POLL: Xavier; Temple; Dayton; Saint Joseph's; Charlotte; Massachusetts; Saint Louis; Richmond; Rhode Island; La Salle; George Washington; Duquesne; Fordham; St. Bonaventure.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Derrick Brown, Xavier; Dionte Christmas, Temple; Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis; Chris Lowe, Massachusetts; Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's.

THREE THINGS: Saint Joseph's loses a big homecourt advantage this season with Memorial Fieldhouse, aka Hawk Hill, undergoing renovations. The Hawks will play all but the season opener -- Rider at the Wachovia Center -- at the historic Palestra. ... There's a new commissioner running the show, Bernadette McGlade, and only one new coach in the conference as Derek Kellogg, who was with John Calipari at Memphis, returns to Massachusetts, his alma mater. ... Saint Louis and Duquesne both have eight freshmen on their roster, but Xavier has the one of the best freshmen in the country, 7-foot Kenny Frease.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-Xavier; Temple.

NIT-Saint Joseph's; Massachusetts.

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ATLANTIC COAST

07-08 CHAMPIONS: xy-North Carolina.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Duke; North Carolina; Clemson; Miami. NIT: Florida State; Maryland; Virginia Tech.

PRESEASON POLL: North Carolina; Duke; Wake Forest; Miami; Clemson; Virginia Tech; Maryland; Georgia Tech; North Carolina State; Florida State; Boston College; Virginia.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina; Tyrese Rice, Boston College; Jack McClinton, Miami; Ty Lawson, North Carolina; Gerald Henderson, Duke.

THREE THINGS: North Carolina returns its top six scorers from a team that won a school-record 36 games and reached the Final Four, including AP player of the year Tyler Hansbrough who is looking to become the first player to be selected first-team all-ACC for four years. ... Clemson, which ended a nine-year NCAA tournament drought and improved its winning percentage for a fifth straight year under Oliver Purnell, is looking for its third straight 20-win season, something it has never done. ... Wake Forest returns 100 percent of its scoring from last season and adds in a freshman class that includes 6-9 Al-Farouq Aminu, who was picked the ACC's preseason rookie of the year.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-North Carolina; Duke; Miami; Wake Forest; Virginia Tech; Clemson.

NIT-Maryland; North Carolina State.

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ATLANTIC SUN

07-08 CHAMPIONS: xy-Belmont.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Belmont.

PRESEASON POLL: Belmont; East Tennessee State; Jacksonville; Lipscomb; Stetson; Mercer; Campbell; Kennesaw State; Florida Gulf Coast; South Carolina-Upstate; North Florida.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Courtney Pigram, East Tennessee State; Garfield Blair, Stetson; Shane Dansby, Belmont; Jonathan Rodriguez, Campbell; Ben Smith, Jacksonville.

THREE THINGS: The Atlantic Sun caught the nation's attention early last season when Gardner-Webb beat Kentucky, Mercer downed Southern California and Belmont defeated Cincinnati. ... Gardner-Webb left for the Big South. With four schools still in transition to Division I (Florida Gulf Coast, Kennesaw State, South Carolina-Upstate, North Florida) only seven teams will compete in the conference tournament. ... Bob Hoffman, who coached in the NBA Development League the last two seasons and won the NAIA women's championship at Southern Nazarene in 1989, takes over at Mercer.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-Belmont.

NIT-None.

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BIG 12

07-08 CHAMPIONS: x-Kansas; Texas. y-Kansas.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Kansas; Texas; Texas A&M; Kansas State; Oklahoma; Baylor. NIT: Oklahoma State; Nebraska.

PRESEASON POLL: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Baylor (tie), Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Colorado.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma; A.J. Abrams, Texas; Damion James, Texas; Curtis Jerrells, Baylor; Sherron Collins, Kansas.

THREE THINGS: Kansas State lost the top scoring tandem in Big 12 history in first-round draft picks Michael Beasley and Bill Walker. They combined to average 42.3 points last season, more than half of the Wildcats' total. ... Oklahoma State's Travis Ford is the lone new coach in the league, and he'll have a lot less of a point guard to deal with as 5-11 Byron Easton lost 36 pounds from June 1 to his current weight of 210. ... Kansas' national championship was the Big 12's first in its dozen years of existence; it helped Bill Self toward the top of the coaches' salary list as he signed a 10-year, $30 million contract in August.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-Texas; Kansas; Oklahoma; Baylor.

NIT- Texas A&M; Oklahoma State.

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BIG EAST

07-08 CHAMPIONS: x-Georgetown; y-Pittsburgh.

POSTSEASON TEAMS: NCAA: Georgetown; Louisville; Marquette; Notre Dame; Pittsburgh; Villanova; Connecticut; West Virginia. NIT: Syracuse.

PRESEASON POLL: Connecticut; Louisville; Pittsburgh; Notre Dame; Villanova; Marquette, Georgetown, Syracuse, West Virginia, Providence, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John's, DePaul and South Florida.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: Luke Harangody, Notre Dame; Sam Young, Pittsburgh; Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame; Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut; A.J. Price, Connecticut; Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati; DaJuan Summers, Georgetown; Terrence Williams, Louisville; Jerel McNeal, Marquette; Jonny Flynn, Syracuse; Scottie Reynolds, Villanova.

THREE THINGS: The Big East tied its own record with eight teams in the NCAA tournament last season, and there are many who believe that mark will fall in March. One sure postseason fact is that for the first time all 16 teams will be in the conference tournament, creating a five-day marathon. ... For the second straight year Cincinnati lost a key player before playing a game. Freshman Cashmere Wright, the only true point guard on the roster, tore a knee ligament in practice and is out for the season. Last year it was forward Mike Williams going down early with a torn Achilles' tendon. ... Keno Davis showed up at Providence off his first season as a head coach when he led Drake to the NCAA tournament and was selected AP's coach of the year.

08-09 PREDICTIONS:

NCAA-Connecticut; Louisville; Notre Dame; Pittsburgh; Georgetown; Villanova; Marquette; West Virginia; Syracuse.

NIT-Providence.

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Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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