Gentlemen, start your brackets. The NCAA men's basketball Tournament betting flood has finally started; on Sunday, the last four conference titles up for grabs were decided, and the Selection Committee submitted its list of 65 invitees to the Big Dance. The four No. 1 seeds were filled as expected – but not without some dramatics that nearly changed the face of March Madness 2010.

Sunday's action had the remaining bubble teams on the edge of their seats. The SEC final between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Mississippi State Bulldogs (+6) was especially tight; the Bulldogs fired away from outside, hitting 10 of their 27 3-point attempts and leading by three points with five seconds to go. But Kentucky overcame Mississippi State's strategy of intentionally putting Eric Bledsoe on the foul line. He made his first free throw, missed the second, and DeMarcus Cousins tipped in the game-tying bucket after a mad scramble. The Wildcats then prevailed 75-74 in overtime to assure themselves of a No. 1 seed. The Selection Committee left the heartbroken Bulldogs out of the Tournament.

The Duke Blue Devils also had their hands full with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the ACC final. The Yellow Jackets were down by 10 points with 3:27 remaining, but stormed all the way back to within one point before Jon Scheyer hit a critical 3-pointer to keep the Devils on top. Duke won 65-61, earning a No. 1 seed; the Jackets beat the basketball odds as 8.5-point puppies and get to dance anyway as a No. 10 seed.

The Ohio State Buckeyes (-3.5) crushed the Minnesota Golden Gophers 90-61 to win the Big Ten title, so it was up to the Richmond Spiders to complicate matters for the Selection Committee by winning the Atlantic 10 tourney. But the Temple Owls (-4) were just a little bit better on Sunday, holding off a late Richmond surge to prevail 56-52 and enter March Madness as a No. 5 seed. The Spiders made enough of an impression with the Committee to receive a No. 7 seed.

Bet on March Madness

Earlier Championship Week games witnessed their share of nailbiting. The Syracuse Orange were upset by the Georgetown Hoyas (+5.5) in the Big East tourney; the Hoyas then fell 60-58 to the West Virginia Mountaineers (-2.5) in Saturday's title game. But the Committee nonetheless handed Syracuse a No. 1 seed at 28-4 on the season. The other No. 1 was snapped up by the Kansas Jayhawks, who took the Big 12 title on Saturday with a 72-64 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats (+6). Kansas State received a valuable No. 2 seed (and a virtual free pass to the second round) alongside West Virginia, Ohio State and the Villanova Wildcats.

The last of the major conferences (and also the least this season) is the Pacific-10, where the Washington Huskies avoided the bubble altogether by upsetting the California Golden Bears 79-75 on Saturday as 2-point dogs. Thanks to that result, the Pac-10 was able to squeeze both the Huskies (at No. 11) and the Bears (at No. 8) into the Tournament. The lack of talent in the Pac-10 meant the mid-majors and lower were given eight at-large spots this year. That's up from four last March, which should dampen the annual “snub” talk considerably – and give Billy Packer fits.

Here's the full list of conference champions qualifying for the Tournament this year (in alphabetical order). The biggest upset on the list: the Houston Cougars, who took the Conference USA title by knocking off both the Memphis Tigers (-6) and the UTEP Miners (-7) during Champ Week.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (SWAC)
Butler Bulldogs (Horizon)
Cornell Big Red (Ivy League)
Duke Blue Devils (ACC)
East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Atlantic Sun)
Houston Cougars (Conference USA)
Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12)
Kentucky Wildcats (SEC)
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (Patriot)
Montana Grizzlies (Big Sky)
Morgan State Bears (MEAC)
Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley)
New Mexico State Aggies (WAC)
North Texas Mean Green (Sun Belt)
Northern Iowa Panthers (Missouri Valley)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (Summit)
Ohio Bobcats (MAC)
Old Dominion Monarchs (Colonial)
Robert Morris Colonials (Northeast)
Saint Mary's Gaels (West Coast)
Sam Houston State (Southland)
Siena Saints (MAAC)
UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos (Big West)
Vermont Catamounts (America East)
Winthrop Eagles (Big South)
Wofford Terriers (Southern)
Washington Huskies (Pac-10)

Let the Madness begin at Bodog!
Arguably the greatest three weeks in sports are almost upon us with the men's NCAA Tournament soon to tip off. And of course Bodog will have everything a basketball bettor could need.