The Loop
Conference championship previews, Part V
Down to the final four men's conference championships ... NCAA men's D-I golf committee picks teams for regionals next Monday.
__MEN
__[#image: /photos/55ad7124add713143b4227f2]|||MAC men's conference championship logo 2009.jpg|||
](http://mac-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9400&KEY=&ATCLID=3703717) (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Brickyard Crossing GC
Indianapolis
April 30-May 2
Field: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo
Defending champion: Eastern Michigan (19-over 1,171) by one stroke over Kent State; Toledo's Ciaran McAleavey (two-under 286) by one stroke over Eastern Michigan's Peter Sauerbrei
Skinny: Eastern Michigan is trying to become just the second program to win the MAC title three straight years. Unfortunately, the other program to do that--Kent State--will likely keep the Eagles from threepeating.
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__[#image: /photos/55ad7124b01eefe207f67b2b]|||MWC Men's championship logo 2009.jpeg|||
__[Mountain West Championship
](http://www.themwc.com/champ/09-mgolf-champ.html)__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Omni Tucson National
Tucson
April 30-May 2
Field: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Utah, Wyoming
Defending champion: Colorado State (two-under 850) by four strokes over TCU; UNLV's Eddie Olson (four-under 209) by three strokes over three players
Skinny: You could argue Colorado State's victory last spring was a bit of a surprise, but with five tournament titles in 2008-09, the Rams have the depth to win it again. Problem is they've got tougher competition this year, with TCU looking like its ready to claim its first MWC title.
__[Big Ten Championship
](http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-golf/2009bigtens.html)__ (For live scoring, click here for Golfstat)
Penn State University GC
University Park, Pa.
May 1-3
Field: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Defending champion: Michigan State (21-over 1,173) by four strokes over Minnesota; Indiana's Jorge Campillo (10-under 278) by two strokes over Ryan Brehm
Skinny: Front-runners Illinois and Indiana haven't won the conference title since 1988 and 1998, respectively. Meanwhile, don't sleep on host Penn State, which is trying for its first Big Ten title, and two-time defending champion Michigan State.
__Conference head-to-head records:
__Illinois, 22-5, .814
Indiana, 14-8, .636
Northwestern, 15-9-2, .615
Ohio State, 7-5, .583
Michigan, 14-12, .538
Penn State, 10-11, .476
Michigan State, 8-9-2, .473
Minnesota, 7-8-2, .470
Iowa, 10-12, .454
Wisconsin, 6-16, .272
Purdue, 3-21, .125
__[Northeast Championship
](http://www.northeastconference.org/sidebar.asp?id=839&path=mgolf)__ChampionsGate GC
ChampionsGate, Fla.
May 1-3
Field: Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU-Brooklyn, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (N.Y.), St. Francis (Pa.), Wagner
Defending champion: Sacred Heart (six-over 870) by 23 strokes over LIU-Brooklyn; Monmouth's Anthony Campanile (four-under 212) by one stroke over Sacred Heart's Patrick Fillian
Skinny: There have been five different conference winners in the past five years, although that streak will likely end this year as Sacred Heart looks like it has a good shot at winning for a second straight year.