Four more berths to the NCAA regional field are up for grabs in the next few days. Here is how we see things shaking out:

Mountain West
Site: Sunriver (Ore.) Resort Crosswater Course (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 27-29
Defending champion: New Mexico; Nick Becker, BYU
Field: U.S. Air Force Academy, No. 6 BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, Utah, No. 7 UNLV, Wyoming
Skinny: There’s definitely a fair number of storylines to follow as the MWC is played at Crosswater for the sixth straight year. This time around, it serves as a preview of nationals as the NCAA Championship will be held there in June. New addition to the conference TCU is coming off winning the Conference USA title four straight times, while three-time defending MWC champion New Mexico looks to extend the mark to four. Both teams are solid but not spectacular, giving the rest of the field a definite chance to claim the title. The likely teams in the hunt will be UNLV, BYU and San Diego State. The Rebels have held their own in the post-Ryan Moore era, with two wins, but their line-up lacks post-season experience and that could be an issue. San Diego State is an upstart with more talent than you might realize (four players having posted top-five finishes this year), but the question of how they’ll hold up in the post-season also is a big one. Thus, we’re going to go with BYU, a squad that has the ability to go low, that doesn’t mind flying in under the radar and that has players that might not might be colorful but are confident. Meanwhile, like the team race, the individual title is pretty wide open. New Mexico senior Jay Choi has a spring victory and the talent to win under pressure. BYU senior Oscar Alvarez won the Morris Williams a few weeks ago yet has had two middle of the road showings since. San Diego State’s Aaron Goldberg and Andrew Scott have outside shots, as does TCU’s Jon McLean, but we’re thinking the final result will be Alvarez holding off a hard charging Andres Gonzalez of UNLV, winning by two shots.

Big Ten
Site: Conway Farms CC, Lake Forest, Ill. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 28-30
Defending champion: Michigan State; Jeff Overton, Indiana
Field: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Skinny: It’s a bit of a down year for the Big Ten, with no teams ranked in the top 25 (Northwestern and Minnesota having fallen off the list during the season). Both the Wildcats and Golden Gophers will be in the mix, as will some teams that haven’t made much noise this season contend—specifically Michigan State, with senior Matt Harmon more than capable of carrying the defending champion Spartans. Ohio State could be a factor too. But the conference’s hottest team is Indiana, winner of two of its last three events, and while having three freshmen in the lineup (Jorge Campillo, Drew Allenspach and Seth Brandon), the Hoosiers are able to feed off youthful exuberance to overcome lack of experience. Look for IU to win its nine Big Ten title, but just its third since 1976. No doubt, too, Campillo, Allenspach and Brandon will all also be in the hunt for medalist, as will Northwestern junior David Merkow and likely fifth-year senior Dillon Dougherty. But we’ll take Harmon, a gritty player who impressed with his victory at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational in March.

Metro Atlantic Athletic
Site: Disney World Resort, Palm Course, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Dates: April 28-30
Defending champion: Loyola (Md.); Bryan Bigley, Siena
Field: Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Niagara, Rider, St. Peter’s, Siena
Skinny: Loyola comes in as the three-time defending champion, but will find a fourth straight title tough to win thanks to a game Siena squad. The last time the Saints won the MAAC title was 1991 and we’re figuring that they’re finally due. Individually, Siena junior Bryan Bigley has a 74.59 stroke average, second to Loyola’s Michael Mulieri (73.76), but we think he’ll be able to pull off the mild upset and claim the top honor.

Western Athletic
Site: Crane Creek CC, Boise, Idaho (Par 71, 6668 yards)
Dates: May 1-3
Defending champion: SMU; David Inglis, Tulsa
Field: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State
Skinny: As has been the case with many of the conferences, turnover in the ranks has some new faces for 2006, or more memorably some teams that aren’t still there. A year ago, SMU was declared the tourney winner when the team the school tied with in regulation, Tulsa, was forced to leave because they otherwise would have missed their flight home and exams for many the next day. Of those set to play in 2006, three seem to stand out as legitimate contenders: New Mexico State, Nevada and Fresno State. We’ll take the conference newcomers in the Aggies, but only by a slim margin. Meanwhile, individually the conference will get a new winner for the first time in four years after David Inglis equaled Justin Leonard’s mark of winning the title all four seasons in school. The candidates to replace Inglis on top of the leader board are varied with no clear cut selection. New Mexico State’s Danny Bowen has the most recent tournament win, while Fresno State’s Jason Anthony and Brian Kelley are both playing solid of late. Still, the individual with the best chance for victory is Boise State senior Graham DeLaet, who already has nine college titles to his credit but has yet to win a conference championship.

With conference tournaments wrapping up this weekend, Monday is the day the NCAA Women's Division I Committee announces the 63 teams and nine individuals selected to play in the NCAA regionals. (The selections should be up at www.NCAASports.com by late afternoon). Doesn't appear as if there will be too many surprises, but we'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, here is a look at the last of the conference championships before Selection Monday.

Big Ten
Site: Indiana University GC, Bloomington, Ind. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 28-30
Defending champion: Ohio State; Kristen White, Ohio State
Field: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Skinny: To extend its streak of consecutive Big Ten titles to five, Ohio State will have to find an answer to stopping upstart Purdue. The Boilermakers were the talk of the fall when they won four titles in five starts. They have cooled down a bit in the spring (no wins but nothing worse than third place in five starts) but coach Devon Brouse’s group hasn’t been missing by much and has too much talent to squander this opportunity. Plus playing into their hands is the unusual format of playing six players and counting four rounds, Purdue’s depth giving them an edge. The Buckeyes young squad will put up a fight—as will Michigan State and possibly Northwestern—but will ultimately have to watch another team walk away with the trophy Sunday. As for the individual race, Purdue's Onnarin Sattayabanphot is the top-ranked player in the field (19th in the latest Golfstat Cup listing), but I think she gets clipped at the end by freshman teammate Christel Boeljon, with Indiana’s Shannon Johnson also making noise before the tournament is over.

Mid-American
Site: Walden Ponds GC, Hamilton, Ohio
Dates: April 28-30
Defending champion: Kent State; Katie Sundberg, Ball State
Field: Ball State, Bowling Green State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo
Skinny: Unlike in the aforementioned Big Ten, the prospects of Kent State continuing its dominance in the MAC is quite high. The Golden Flashes are going for their eighth straight conference title in the eighth overall playing of the event, and with a starting five of Tara Delaney, Kira Meixner, Becky Wood, Kirby Dreher and Karen Delany having posted four top-10s in the last two tournaments, the momentum is clearly on their side. Even the individual race is likely to be a all Kent State affair, if history holds true. A Kent State player has been medalist six of seven times, with last year’s showing from Ball State’s Katie Sundberg breaking the string. Look for Tara Delaney, Wood and Meixner to finish 1-2-3, with all five Kent players landing in the top 12.

Northeast
Site: Disney Resort, Lake Course, Lake Buena  Vista, Fla.
Dates: April 29-30
Defending champion: LIU-Brooklyn; Shauna White, LIU-Brooklyn
Field: Central Connecticut State, LIU-Brooklyn, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (Pa.), Wagner
Skinny: In the seven years of the conference tournament, St. Francis (Pa.) has won five times but its place in the pecking order started shifting a year ago with LIU-Brooklyn took the team title. Separating the two teams in 2006 is nearly impossible. In a bit of a coin flip, we’ll say that St. Francis will come out on top, if for no other reason than only one of LIU’s players in the line-up from last year’s championship team is back, so experience won’t be to the Blackbirds benefit. St. Francis junior Megan Schaeffer and sophomore Samantha Milosh have both played well of late, and look to be the two best bets for medalist honors. Give the nod to Schaeffer, runner-up in the event in 2004.

This too is posted a little later than expected, but hopefully offers a nice preview of some of the conference championships that are currently underway.

Big 12
Site: Southern Hills GC, Tulsa, Okla. (Par 71, 7,016 yards)
Dates: April 24-25 (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Defending champion: Oklahoma State; Anthony Kim, Oklahoma
Field: No. 11 Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, No. 2 Oklahoma State, Texas, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 23 Texas Tech
Skinny: During any given tournament, a half dozen teams in the Big 12 could get hot and win an event against a comparable field. Still, most of those same squads have potential flaws and on a tough course such as Southern Hills, they’ll likely be exposed. Beyond Anthony Kim, Oklahoma can be inconsistent. Too much turmoil at Colorado to believe they can be taken seriously this week. Baylor’s Ryan Baca is likely the best player you’ve never heard of, and his supporting cast is underrated, yet there’s still a question of who will show up in a big spot for the Bears. Ditto with Texas Tech, where Oscar Floren has help but just how reliable it is remains. Texas A&M has a solid core group, but is still searching for a leader to carry the team through lean rounds. Then there’s the frustrating case of Texas, a team loaded with talent that hasn’t just hasn’t clicked (For Cliff Notes version of the season, see Matthew Rosenfeld). Which leaves Oklahoma State, the conference’s bellwether. The Cowboys won 48 conference titles in 54 years between 1947 to 2000 but only one since. It will be two by week’s end as OSU focuses on what it does best: win when the pressure is greatest.
    As for medalist, no conference has more candidates to choose from. In addition to Kim, Baca and Floren, there’s Oklahoma State’s Pablo Martin, a leading candidate for national player of the year, and a dark horse candidate in Kansas’ Gary Woodland. My instincts says to go with Kim, who when he gets out of his own way off the course is as good as we’ve seen on the course in some time.

Big West
Site: Tijeras Creek GC, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-25
Defending champion: UC-Riverside; Travis Bertoni, Cal Poly
Field: CSU-Northridge, UC-Irvine, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Pacific
Skinny: Seems as if this will be a three-team fight between UC-Irvine, Long Beach State and Cal Poly. The latter has the best individual player in Travis Bertoni, our pick to repeat as medalist. However, the Anteaters solid core of players—led by Brian Edick and Garrett Sapp—will prevail, earning the school its fourth conference title in the last six years but first since 2003.

Mid-Continent
Site: The Fort GC, Indianapolis
Dates: April 24-25
Defending champion: IUPUI; Brian Stuard, Oakland
Field: Centenary, Chicago State, IUPUI, Missouri-Kansas City; Oakland, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Western Illinois
Skinny: Western Illinois is the top-seed entering the event and a big favorite to take the team title, after winning four times in 2005-06 and finishing second in three other events. Southern Utah and Oral Roberts likely to make only cursory charges at the top of the leader board. Leatherneck junior Tim Streng is your best bet to win the individual title, after posting a 71.7 stroke average this season and placing 69th in the Golfstat Cup ranking.

Missouri Valley
Site: Prairie Dunes GC, Hutchinson, Kan. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-25
Defending champion: Illinois State; Kris Wildenradt, Illinois State
Field: Bradley, Creighton, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Wichita State
Skinny: Wichita State and Illinois State have claimed the last seven MVC titles, and there’s no reason to believe 2006 will be any different. Drake may well also be in contention, but ultimately it’s the Redbirds who will be victorious and receive the conferences automatic bid into the NCAA regionals. While Kris Wildenradt’s senior seasons hasn’t been a standout one, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the hunt for the individual title. Still, expect Wichita State’s Cameron Bishop and Drake’s Kane Hanson to be in the mix, with Bishop ultimately claiming top honors.

Conference USA
Site: Old Waverly GC, West Point, Miss.
Dates: April 24-26
Defending champion: TCU; Colby Beckstrom, TCU
Field: Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, East Carolina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Mississippi, UTEP, Tulane, No. 18 Tulsa
Skinny: With four-time champion TCU off to the Mountain West Conference, a foursome of schools are set to take advantage of the Horned Frogs absence—a rising squad in Memphis, led by Canadian standout Keven Fortin-Simard; a traditionally solid program in SMU, with triple threats in Colt Knost, Brandon DeStefano and Will Dodson; a resurgent team in Houston, as Pablo Acuna and Ricky Romano continue to develop; and new challenger Tulsa, playing in the C-USA final for the first time and anchored by Sam Korbe. Our pick is the Golden Hurricane sweep into Old Waverly and claim the title in a playoff with SMU, making for poetic justice after how the two teams bowed out of their final appearance in the WAC Championship a year ago. As for the individual winner, I would have gone with Fortin-Simard six weeks ago, but he’s actually posted his two worst finishes of the season in the past month. Lets make it a Tulsa sweep by having Korbe claim the medalist title as well.

Pacific-10
Site: Bighorn CC, Palm Desert, Calif. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-26
Defending champion: Washington; Erik Olson, Washington
Field: Arizona, No. 8 Arizona State, Cal-Berkeley, Oregon, Oregon State, No. 17 Southern California, Stanford, No. 5 UCLA, Washington, Washington State
Skinny: Last year’s miraculous 17-shot comeback by Washington in the final round, where the Huskies shot a five-under 350 and tied Arizona State, earning the title thanks to a tie-breaker, will be nearly impossible to top. Although both teams should be back in contention this time around, UCLA figures to be the team to beat. The way Bruins coach O.D. Vincent has handled a young squad, giving everybody a chance to prove themselves in tournament conditions during the fall and letting the players truly earn their way into the line-up, is impressive enough to warrant serious national coach of the year consideration. (It becomes particular helpful given the Pac-10s unusual play six, count five scoring system.) Standout freshman Erik Flores won’t be intimidated by the setting and Daniel Im and Chris Heintz are too solid not to bet against UCLA. Flores will be in the hunt individually as well, although I see a former NCAA champion being the man who prevails. Give Arizona State’s Alejandro Canizares his seventh career victory.

A little late with this post (promise I didn't sneak a peak at any results), but here is the next wave of "fearless" conference predictions:

Big West
Site: Tijeras Creek GC, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-25
Defending champion: UC-Irvine; Renee Skidmore, Idaho
Field: Cal Poly, CSU-Northridge, Long Beach State, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, UC-Riverside
Skinny: UC-Irvine has the depth and experience to defend its title and shouldn’t have much problem taking care of business, with Long Beach State being a possible but not probably threat. The drama will be similarly minimal in the race for the top individual player, with a handful of Anteaters—Selanee Henderson, Carling Cho, Angela Won—along with Long Beach State’s Kay Hoey the only serious contenders. In a big of an upset, I’ll got with Hoey to beat out Henderson by a shot.

Mid-Continent
Site: The Fort GC, Indianapolis
Dates: April 24-25
Defending champion: Oral Roberts; Candice Satow, Oral Roberts
Field: Centenary, IUPUI, Missouri-Kansas City, Oakland, Oral Roberts, Western Illinois
Skinny: Oral Roberts has never lost the Mid-Continent Championship in the event’s previous eight playings (winning by at least 25 shots seven out of eight times) and comes into this year’s tournament as the top seed. Suffice it to say, the streak won’t end in 2006. The individual title also will go to a member of the Golden Eagles squad, with freshman Christy Carter, who led the conference with a 76.6 stroke average and tied for a league low with a 71, beating out teammates Pamela Ontiveros and Jessica Gibson in the end.

Pacific-10
Site: Oro Valley (Ariz.) CC (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-26
Defending champion: UCLA; Louise Stahle, Arizona State
Field: No. 22 Arizona, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 14 Cal-Berkeley, Oregon, Oregon State, No. 6 Southern California, No. 19 Stanford, No. 2 UCLA, No. 23 Washington, Washington State
Skinny: This could be the most entertaining of all women’s conference championships, with two of the top three teams in the country—UCLA and Arizona State—squaring off again, each having defeated the other two times in four spring starts. Still, don’t be surprised if a third school—Southern California—comes in under the radar and sneaks off with the crown. Trojan coach  Andrea Gaston says that her 2005-06 team is the best she’s had in terms of chemistry. USC senior Irene Cho will help claim the team title, but will fall just short of winning medalist honors as UCLA freshman Jane Park steps up and claims her first college victory.

Western Athletic
Site: Coyote Creek GC, San Jose, Calif. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 24-26
Defending champion: Tulsa; Lee Ann Pace, Tulsa
Field: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State
Skinny: New Mexico State and Idaho are new additions to the conference this season, and could each play a roll in who wins the WAC team and individual titles. The Aggies are second in the conference this season in team scoring (76.01), trailing only San Jose State. Yet while the Spartans will be tested, they have momentum with two wins in their last four starts and the home course edge, both of which will give them the title. Idaho’s Renee Skidmore, meanwhile, has the inside track to claim medalist honors, having put together the best season of any female in the conference with her 73.96 stroke average, one win and five top-five finishes. Others in the running: Fresno State’s Laura Leuthke, Boise State’s Katie Street, New Mexico State’s Lehua Wise.

The first of the men's "power" conferences decide their annual champions this weekend when the ACC and SEC play. Here are a look at the next group of tournaments to watch for during the conference championship season.

ACC
Site: The Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point (N.C.)
Dates: April 21-23
Defending champion: Duke; Ryan Blaum, Duke
Field: Boston College, No. 16 Clemson, No. 12 Duke, Florida State, No. 4 Georgia Tech, Maryland, No. 20 North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, No. 14 Wake Forest
Skinny: The conference title will be decided at the Old North State Club for the 10th time; only North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Duke have earned on the title on the testing layout. The Yellow Jackets, after struggling in the mid-spring, are the favorites but they’ll have to contend with a Clemson squad that is coming off its first win (at the U.S. Collegiate Championship) since 2004. Likely making it a three-horse race is Wake Forest. Although the Demon Deacons remain the country’s most inconsistent team having finished 12th or worst twice the number of times as they have won an event (4 to 2), I think they will be on for the cameras (a live webcast of the event can be found at www.theacc.com), only to get eventually stung by Tech just short of tournament’s end. Medalist honors, meanwhile, are wide open, with upwards of two dozen players able to make a claim they’ll take the title. Tech’s Roberto Castro hasn’t played as solidly of late as he did in the spring, but he tends to come up big in big tournaments and will do so again this weekend.

Ivy League
Site: Ballyowen CC, Hamburg, N.J.
Dates: April 21-23
Defending champion: Princeton; Creighton Page, Princeton
Field: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
Skinny: Two-time defending champion Princeton will face a challenge this year from Columbia, which defeated the Tigers in Princeton’s home event earlier this month. For the Lions, it was their second team victory of the 2005-06 season. Our take is that Columbia’s momentum will push the squad to its first Ivy title since 1999. Five of last year’s all-Ivy selections return to the tournament in 2006 (Penn’s Sean Barrett; Princeton’s Jason Gerken and John Sawin; Columbia’s Chris Condello; and Cornell’s Robbie Fritz). We’ll give Gerken the nod here to claim medalist honors.

SEC
Site: Sea Island GC, Seaside Course, St. Simons Island, Ga.
Dates: April 21-23
Defending champion: Kentucky; David Skinns, Tennessee
Field: No. 24 Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, No. 3 Florida, No. 1 Georgia, No. 22 Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, No. 20 South Carolina, No. 13 Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Skinny: Kentucky made conference history with its first-ever title a year ago. In 2006, we’ll go back to seeing a traditional power win it all. Top-ranked Georgia is the obvious pick, but Florida will give them all they can handle down by the Georgia coast. Actually, the Gators will pull off the mild upset, beating the Bulldogs by a shot and upsetting the rest of the college golf world by getting the defending NCAA champions angry. And trust us, you don’t want to make them angry. A Bulldog, though, will claim the individual title. Chris Kirk is a good bet, although Brendon Todd has already won on this course in 2004. Yet with freshmen having claimed medalist honors two of the past three years, look for Brian Harman to make it three out of four.

Patriot League
Site: U.S. Naval Academy GC, Annapolis, Md.
Dates: April 22-23
Defending champion: Army; Charlie Waddell, Bucknell
Field: American, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy
Skinny: Expect a tight competition with all eight teams having the ability to claim the title. Bucknell is the front-runner, although a 10th-place finish on the Naval Academy course earlier this spring doesn’t provide the best of memories. Army would love to win at Navy, and will be in the hunt but ultimately the host Midshipmen will prevail and earn the automatic bid to NCAA regionals. Army will not walk away empty-handed, however, as senior Austin Luher, seventh at conference last year, will claim medalist honors.

Big East
Site: Lake Jovita G&CC, Dade City, Fla.
Dates: April 23-25
Defending champion: Notre Dame; Mark Baldwin, Notre Dame
Field: Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Rutgers, St. John’s (N.Y.), Seton Hall, South Florida, Villanova
Skinny: With Virginia Tech having left the conference two years ago, and the addition of four new schools (Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida), a clear-cut favorite is hard to find. Louisville and Notre Dame on paper have the two best teams. The Cardinals are led by twin brothers Daryl and Derek Fathauer who entering the Big East championship have each played 32 rounds, Derek taking 2,325 strokes (72.65), one stroke fewer than Daryl (2,326). The Fighting Irish are coming off their best team finish of the season with a third-place showing at the Boilermaker Invitational two weeks ago. In the end, take Louisville given the fact the squad has two team wins to its credit. Medalist honors are similarly up in the air, but we’ll make it a Cardinal sweep by predicting Daryl Fathauer beats out Derek in a good old-fashioned family tussle.

Ohio Valley
Site: CC of Paducah (Ky.)
Dates: April 23-25
Defending champion: Samford; Bradley Famer, Samford
Field: Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Samford, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech
Skinny: Having seen their women’s program claim the OVC golf title earlier this week, expect the Jacksonville State men to be inspired to follow suit. For one thing, Gamecocks have one of the more talented freshman in the country in Daniel Willett, the choice to also claim OVC medalist honors. They also, however have three other players with top-10 finishes in 2005-06, giving them the depth to hold off Austin Peay and Murray State, the most likely teams to give Jacksonville State a run for its money.

With nearly half the women's conference championships in the books, predictions have been going fairly well. We've gone seven for 10 in picking team champions and gotten three of 10 individual winners. (Best foresight: Texas A&M and Ashley Knoll winning the Big 12.) Time to test things out more with the next batch of tournaments.

Mountain West
Site: Entrada at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 20-22
Defending champion: UNLV; Elena Kurokawa, UNLV
Field: BYU, Colorado State, No. 25 New Mexico, No. 12 UNLV, San Diego State, TCU, Wyoming
Skinny: Those looking for close finishes to college events should note that the MWC Championship doesn’t usually disappoint; the last three titles have been won by two strokes or less, UNLV winning in 2004 and 2005 after New Mexico claimed top honors in 2003. The Rebels and Lobos are the only schools to have been victorious in the six-year history of the tournament and will keep it that way this year as well. New Mexico has seemingly rebounded from the mid-year loses of Ashley Rollins and Christine Fernandez, but UNLV’s depth will be the deciding factor in the team winning a third straight championship. Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if a freshmen takes medalist honors. The Lobos’ Mikaela Backstedt has had seven top-10s this season, but look for UNLV’s Da Sol Chung to break through with her first career win.

Ivy League
Site: Great Gorge CC, McAfee, N.J. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 21-23
Defending champion: Princeton; Cindy Shin, Yale
Field: Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
Skinny: What’s traditionally been a two-team race between Princeton and Yale will remain the storyline in 2006. Princeton has one team title to its credit in 2005-06 and gets the nod to make it three conference crowns in row. Individually, Princeton junior Sharla Cloutier, fifth in the Ivy Championship in 2004 and third a year ago, will take the next step and walk away with medalist honors.

Southern
Site: Mill Creek GC, Mebane, N.C. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 21-23
Defending champion: Furman; Jenny Suh, Furman
Field: Appalachian State, College of Charleston, The Citadel, Elon, Furman, UNC-Greensboro, Western Carolina, Wofford.
Skinny: Furman’s dominance in the conference championship—the team has won 11 titles in 12 years—will continue with new coach Jen Hanna leading the way to a victory over Western Carolina, albeit likely by a slim margin. Also close will be the individual tournament, where College of Charleston senior Angie Hill, Furman freshman Kathleen Ekey and Western Carolina senior Ashley Hovda have separated themselves statistically, but don’t be surprised if Furman freshman Blair Lamb is the one who gets the hardware by tournament’s end.

After correctly picking Georgia State's victory at the Colonial Athletic Association championship, here is a look at the second wave of conference tournaments and who will be the teams and individuals to be victorious and earn bids to NCAA regionals.

West Coast
Site: Saddle Creek GC, Copperopolis, Calif. (Par 72, 6,826 yards)
Dates: April 17-18 (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Defending champion: Pepperdine; Joe Lanza, St. Mary’s
Field: Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, No. 25 Pepperdine, Portland, St. Mary’s (Calif.), San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara.
Skinny: Perennial conference favorite Pepperdine has had an up-and-down spring season that saw them earn an impressive win at the Ashworth Invitational in February only to finish last out of 14 schools at the NIT in late March and 16th out of 17 teams at the Morris Williams two weeks ago. Needless to say, the Waves will have to get out of their funk if their to win their eighth straight conference championship, particularly with San Diego actually entering the tournament with a better team scoring average. Our crystal ball says that Pepperdine’s reign ends here as the Toreros make the NCAA regionals for the first time in school history. That said, expect a Pepperdine player to win medalist honors, with our nod going to senior Alex Coe.

Atlantic Sun
Site: Eagle Creek CC, Orlando
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Georgia State; Duncan Stewart, Jacksonville
Field: Belmont, Campbell, No. 10 East Tennessee State, Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida, Stetson
Skinny: While the conference loses its defending champion—Georgia State now in the Colonial Athletic Association—newcomer East Tennessee State jumps in for its first year and immediately claims the role as heavy favorite. The Bucs have won 20 conference titles in their history and while Belmont, Mercer, North Florida and Jacksonville should provide a mild challenge, ETSU is likely to become just the third team in A-Sun history to win the conference title in their first appearance. Don’t be at all surprised when ETSU junior Rhys Davies keeps Jacksonville’s Duncan Stewart from becoming the third player to win medalist honors in back to back years while also holding off Jacksonville’s Russell Knox.

Sun Belt
Site: PGA GC, Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Par 72, 6.968 yards)
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: South Alabama; Patrick Sullivan, UALR
Field: Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, Denver, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee State, New Orleans, North Texas, South Alabama, Troy, Western Kentucky.
Skinny: The 2005 championship had arguably the best finish in all of men’s golf when South Alabama’s Johnny Caldwell hit a 9-iron to three feet on the final hole and made the birdie to help give Jaguars the title by one shot. Injury woes, however, will prevent South Alabama from willing the title again, opening the door for others. Five of the 10 teams in the field have won tournaments in 2005-06. When all is said and done, expect Denver to claim the title, with their dual punch of Charlie Soule (the conference’s stroke average leader at 70.52) and James Love (low round of the year: 62) battling for medalist honors. There, we’ll give the advantage to Soule, but barely.

Big South
Site: The Patriot Club, Ninety-Six, S.C.
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Coastal Carolina; Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina
Field: Birmingham-Southern, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, High Point, Liberty, Radford, Winthrop.
Skinny: Golf’s equivalent of George Mason getting the NCAA men’s basketball final four seemed to occur a year ago when Coastal Carolina advance through regionals and play in the men’s NCAA championship at Caves Valley. This year, however, the Chanticleers have proved them belong mentioned among the top teams in the country, having been ranked in the top 25 for much of the 2005-06 season. Suffice it to say, they’ll make easy work of their Big South foes with the only real excitement expected to come from which Coastal Carolina player will claim the individual title. Odds are it will be junior Dustin Johnson, who already has three wins this year and nine top-20 performances.

Having split on my predictions of the outcome at the ACC (got Duke right) and the SEC (took Georgia instead of victorious Auburn) championships, here comes an attempt at some more fearless forecasting of the next wave of conference tournaments.

Missouri Valley
Site: Reflection Ridge, Wichita, Kan. (For live scoring, check out Golfstat.)
Dates: April 17-18
Defending champion: Illinois State; Meaghan LeBlanc, Bradley
Field: Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Wichita State
Skinny: Bradley is the pick among conference coaches to claim this year’s title, receiving six of eight first-place votes in a straw poll prior to the championship. The Braves are the choice here, too, to keep Illinois State from becoming just the second MVC school to win three straight conference titles. Meanwhile, the fight for the individual title could be the most entertaining of any in any conference. Bradley’s Meaghan LeBlanc and Illinois State’s Samantha Richdale are both seniors from Canada on their way to becoming the third and fourth players to win all-conference honors all four years, and the took have earned medalist honors in the MVC the past three years. Look for Richdale to make it three conference championships in four years.

Big Sky
Site: Palm Valley GC, Goodyear, Ariz. (Par 72, 6,160 yards)
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Portland State; Sophia Choi, Northern Arizona
Field: Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Portland State; Sacramento State, Weber State
Skinny: The conference celebrates its 13th women’s golf championship with Portland State gunning for a fourth straight title. Northern Arizona and Sacramento State both could challenge the Vikings, but look for the streak to continue. Sophia Choi, defending champion a year ago, is the heavy favorite to become the first conference player to claim two consecutive individually titles, having already been named conference Player of the Year. The only serious threats will come from her teammate and current freshman of the year July, Ali Carter, and Portland State’s Haley Brown.

Big 12
Site: CC of Lincoln (Neb.) (For live scoring, check out Golfstat)
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Oklahoma State; Annie Thurman-Young, Oklahoma State 
Field: Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, No. 18 Oklahoma State, Texas, No. 13 Texas A&M, Texas Tech
Skinny: The defending champion Cowgirls, winners of five of the last six conference titles, are coming on strong of late, having won their first tournament of the 2005-06 season at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic April 10. Oklahoma State has won nail-bitters before, beating Texas by a stroke last year, Missouri by a shot in 2003 and Oklahoma by three in 2002. Don’t be surprised to see another squeaker this year, only the bet here is that OSU will be watching another team holding the trophy at the end of the day Wednesday: Texas A&M. The Aggies are plenty deep, and junior Ashley Knoll, our pick for medalist honors, will help push them to their conference title since 1998.

Ohio Valley
Site: Drake Creek GC, Ledbetter, Ky.
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Jacksonville State; Brittany Klein, Eastern Kentucky
Field: Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Murray State, Samford, Tennessee Tech.
Skinny: Murray State hopes to make it seven conference titles in 10 years, but Jacksonville State is the pick to earn back-to-back titles. Before tournament’s end, freshmen will have an impact with Samford’s Maria Troche, the Ohio Valley’s rookie of the year, set to take medalist honors and Jacksonville State’s Alexandra Espinosa and Portia Abbott pushing the Gamecocks past Murray State.

Sun Belt
Site: PGA GC, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Dates: April 17-19
Defending champion: Denver; Emily Hoeper, Denver
Field: Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, Denver, Florida International, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, New Orleans, North Texas, South Alabama, Troy, Western Kentucky.
Skinny: Expect some déjà vu in Port St. Lucie, where Denver and its top player, Emily Hoeper were victorious a year ago. Both will walk away with the same honors again this year, the Pioneers taking their third straight conference title. Hoeper’s victory, though, won’t be in a playoff like a year ago, but more than likely will come in the form of a rout as the junior from Kansas City already claimed several Denver school records this past fall by opening the season with a T-2 finish at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic, followed by two wins at the Ron Moore and the CU Heather Farr Memorial.

The college postseason is upon us, and with it we'll get a chance to see schools from across the country try to earn their way into the NCAA regionals by winning their conference championships. In golf, as is the case in most sports, schools that win their conference receive automatic bids to regionals, essentially giving all programs a crack at NCAA glory.

With all that's on the line we'll take a insider look at all the conference championships over the next two-plus weeks, highlighting the team and individual favorites in each. As the schedule plays out, we'll keep you up to speed with updates every few days.

Without further ado, here's a look at the first wave of conference tournaments.

MEN
Colonial Athletic Association
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort, No. 6
Dates: April 14-16
Defending champion: UNC-Wilmington; Brian Joyce, UNC-Wilmington
Field: Delaware, Drexel, George Mason, No. 8 Georgia State, Hofstra, James Madison, UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, VCU, William & Mary
Skinny: Just as on the women’s side, the men’s teams face the challenge of Georgia State joining the CAA this year. The Panthers have been ranked in the top 10 nationally since late fall and with by far the deepest team among the 11 squads competing, should cruise to the team title. While any of Georgia State’s starting five can get hot and win individually, freshman Mark Haastrup is coming off three top-10s in his last three starts and sports the best stroke average (71.92) on the team, so give him the nod for medalist honors.

Southern Conference
Site: The Links at Stono Ferry, Hollywood, S.C.
Dates: April 16-18 (For live scoring, check out Golfstat)
Defending champion: East Tennessee State; Rhys Davies, East Tennessee State
Field: Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Davidson, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern, UNC Greensboro, UT Chattanooga, Western Carolina, Wofford
Skinny: With East Tennessee State (winner of 12 of the last 17 SoCon titles) moving on to the Atlantic Sun, the field has no odds-on favorite. Georgia Southern’s solid squad will more than likely vie with Furman for top honors. Western Carolina’s Matt Cook has two victories and six top-fives this season; with a 71.65 average he’ll come through and win the individual title by holding off Georgia Southern’s Jon David Kennedy and Bryan Jones.

SWAC
Site: Dancing Rabbit GC, The Azaleas Course, Philadelphia, Miss.
Dates: April 16-18
Defending champion: Jackson State; Carl Soderstrom, Jackson State
Skinny: Eddie Payton’s Jackson State men are as solid as his women’s squad, making them the heavy favorites to win the SWAC title. Junior Raul Cortes, a Mexico City native, won the rain-shortened Pizza Hut/BellSouth Invitational at the Dancing Rabbit course in February, making him a prime candidate to become the medalist.

Southland Conference
Site: The Club of Kingwood (Texas)
Dates: April 16-19
Defending champion: Texas-Arlington; Jordan Krantz, Texas-Arlington
Field: Lamar, Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese  State, Nicholls State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Texas State
Skinny: It seems every week a different Lamar player is going ridiculously low and winning a golf tournament (Casey Clendenon, Justin Harding, Andrew Landry and Oliver Bekker) or propelling the Cardinals to a team title. Consider that in Lamar’s last five tournaments, All-American candidate Dawie Van der walt has only one top-15 showing, yet the team has won four of the five starts. Suffice it to say, any of the Lamar starting five has a shot at the individual title, with freshman Bekker, a native of Stellenbosch, South Africa, playing the best entering the championship.

The college postseason is upon us, and with it we'll get a chance to see schools from across the country try to earn their way into the NCAA regionals by winning their conference championships. In golf, as is the case in most sports, schools that win their conference receive automatic bids to regionals, essentially giving all programs a crack at NCAA glory.

With all that's on the line we'll take a insider look at all the conference championships over the next two-plus weeks, highlighting the team and individual favorites in each. As the schedule plays out, we'll keep you up to speed with updates every few days.

Without further ado, then, and with apologizes to the Atlantic Sun and Big South women's championships, both wrapping up today (for results, click on the links), here's a look at the first wave of conference tournaments.

WOMEN
ACC 
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort, No. 8 (par 72, 6.293 yards)
Dates: April 14-16 (for live scoring, check out Golfstat)
Defending champion: Duke; Brittany Lang, Duke
Field: Boston College, No. 1 Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, N.C. State, No. 16 Virginia, No. 13 Wake Forest.
Skinny: Is this the year Duke’s streak of consecutive conference championships finally ends or is the top-ranked team in the country a no-brainer to extend its run to 11 straight ACC titles? The Blue Devils have too much talent not to win again, although Virginia and Wake Forest will put some pressure on them. A Durham, N.C., student-athlete also will claim medalist honors; Duke players have won it six of the past seven years. While freshman Amanda Blumenherst will secure conference player of the year honors, look for senior Liz Janangelo to claim the individual title.

Brief aside: Blumenherst, Janangelo and defending NCAA champion Anna Grzebien were practicing on the Duke University course last Monday when a twosome in a cart caught up with them on the second tee. The players offered to let the twosome play through or asked if they might want to have a friendly match, particularly after recognizing one of the two golfers in the cart—Michael Jordan. The Tar Heel hoops great accepted the Blue Devils challenge, with a good deal of “trash talking” between the two sides occurring throughout the round. On the final hole, Jordan evened things up by winning a press. 

SEC
Site: Vanderbilt Legends Club, Franklin, Tenn.
Dates: April 14-16 (for live scoring, check out Golfstat)
Defending champion: Auburn; Stacy Lewis, Arkansas
Field: Alabama, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 15 Florida, No. 6 Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 12 Vanderbilt.
Skinny: Auburn pulled out an exciting win over Georgia in a playoff in 2005. Expect another close contest likely decided in the closing hole. Our take is the Bulldogs get their revenge on the Tigers with standout play from freshman Mallory Hetzel, Alina Lee and Taylor Leon. Junior transfer Jenny Suh, won the Southern Conference title a year ago while at Furman, hasn’t finished worse than T-6 all season and has the goods (73.17 average) to win individually over Auburn’s Maria Martinez.

Colonial Athletic Association
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort, No. 6 Course
Dates: April 14-16
Defending champion: James Madison; Kiley Bishop, James Madison
Field: Dayton, Georgia State, Hofstra, James Madison, Old Dominion, Richmond, UNC Wilmington, William & Mary, Xavier
Skinny: James Madison has had a lock on the title in the three years since the championship was first held, but the Dukes have had a rough spring (best finish: 7th at USF/Waterlefe) and face tougher competition this year in the form of conference newcomer Georgia State. We’re betting the Panthers take the title in their first year, just beating out a game UNC-Wilmington squad. Seahawk Michelle Jarman will cap off a top-notch senior season by winning the individual title.

SWAC
Site: Dancing Rabbit GC, The Oaks Course, Philadelphia, Miss.
Dates: April 16-17
Defending champion: Jackson State, Shasta Averyhardt, Jackson State
Field: Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Grambling State Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern
Skinny: Jackson State remains the cream of the crop in the SWAC and should have no trouble winning another title. Look for sophomore Shasta Averyhardt to make it back-to-back individual titles as well.

Conference USA
Site: Ironwood CC, Greenville, N.C.
Dates: April 16-18
Defending champion: Tulane; Alison Walshe, Tulane
Field: Alabama-Birmingham, Central Florida, East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulsa, UTEP
Skinny: Two-time defending champion Tulane was supposed to host the tournament this year—and be the favorite for a three-peat—but when the program was dropped by the school late last fall in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, plans changed. East Carolina stepped in to run the event, and SMU and Tulsa look like the teams to beat. Give the edge to the Mustangs, who claimed five top-five finishes in 2005-06. SMU’s Lacey Jones and Laura Cross, meanwhile, look to be the best bets to finish first individually.