The SEC sent eight teams to last season's NCAA Tournament. Seven teams from the Big 12 earned invitations. And six Big Ten teams ended up in the Big Dance.

	Erin Thorn and BYU reached the Sweet 16, upsetting No. 3 seed Iowa State in Ames.

Then, of course, there was the Mountain West. Considered a "mid-major" by most, the Mountain West made waves last season as four teams from the conference -- BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico and UNLV -- were included in the 64-team field. BYU, which had never won an NCAA Tournament game, went on to reach the Sweet 16.

Conference USA also made its mark on the women's college basketball world last season. In the NCAA Tournament, Tulane, Cincinnati and TCU both won first-round games, while Houston reached the WNIT championship.

C-USA appears to be riding the momentum into this season. The Horned Frogs are ranked 20th in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, while Cincinnati is ranked 22nd. Tulane just missed out on the top 25, but received a respectable amount of votes for consideration.

The recognition and achievements shouldn't be taken lightly, because these programs have taken games to the next level. Last season, the Mountain West ended 2001-02 ranked sixth in the conference RPI, while C-USA finished eighth -- both ahead of the 10th-ranked Pac-10.

And with good coaches, a lot of talent and schools that have committed themselves to the sport, it seems the conferences will only continue to climb.

A closer look at some of the top teams from the two biggest conferences on the rise:

Mountain West
BYU: The Cougars went 24-9 last season, but those final two wins were huge as BYU upset sixth-seeded Florida and third-seeded Iowa State (on the Cyclones' homecourt) to become just the third No. 11 seed to reach the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994. BYU, which returns the bulk of its scoring this season, had earned the league's automatic bid to the Big Dance by winning the Mountain West tournament crown, and ended up winning 14 of its last 17 games.

For the first time in league history, BYU was voted the preseason favorite by Mountain West media members, and seniors Erin Thorn and Jennifer Leitner have a lot to do with it. Thorn, a 5-10 guard who was voted MVP at last season's conference championship, ranked second in the league in 3-point field goals made (38) and also finished fourth in assists (3.64). She averaged 17.3 points on the season. Leitner, a 6-1 forward who came up in the clutch in the NCAA Tournament, averaged 11.9 points and 8.7 boards a game. She grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds in the first-round upset over Florida.

BYU, which is very well-coached and plays a very up-tempo style, led the Mountain West in almost every statistical category, ranking first in scoring offense (68.9) and defense (58.0), field-goal percentage (42.9), 3-point field-goal percentage (36.7), 3-point field goals made (101) and turnover margin (plus-2.71).

New Mexico: Don Flanagan has been a very good coach for a very long time, so it's no surprise to see the Lobos raising their level of play. New Mexico went 22-9 last season, which included a win over then-No. 8 Texas Tech.

Senior center Jordan Adams is probably the most well-known Lobo. The second-team all-conference pick was the team's leading scorer (14.0), and she ranked fifth in the nation with 92 blocked shots (3.0 per game). Adams, just the third Lobo to reach the 1,000-point plateau during her junior year, is New Mexico's career shot blocker (258), and ranks second only in school history -- men and women -- behind NBA player Luc Longley.

While Adams -- one of four returning starters -- played a key role in last season's success, so did New Mexico's freshmen. Point guard Mandi Moore was voted the league's Newcomer of the Year after averaging 9.4 points and 2.5 rebounds. Her 4.7 assists average was tops in the conference.

Conference USA
Cincinnati: The Bearcats went 27-5 last year, earning their first national ranking in program history on Dec. 31, 2001, after starting the season with 11 consecutive wins. The Bearcats, who finished second in the regular-season race, climbed to No. 19 after winning the Conference USA tournament title.

Cincinnati returns four starters from last year's team and was picked by the league's coaches, along with TCU, to finish atop the conference. Junior guard Valerie King is one reason the Bearcats face such high expectations. As one of the country's top five wings, King set a school and C-USA record with 101 3-pointers, ranked fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage (89.2), 24th in scoring (19.8), second in 3-point field-goals made and eighth in 3-point percentage (43.0). In the C-USA tournament, she averaged 26.7 points, hit 13 3-pointers and went 21-for-23 from the free-throw line to earn her second consecutive C-USA tournament MVP award.

TCU: Jeff Mittie and the Horned Frogs went 24-7 last season for their second straight 20-win season. Sandora Irvin, a 6-4 sophomore post, led the way, averaging 10.8 points, 9.5 rebounds (second in the league) and 2.7 blocks per game. She also set the school's single-season records for rebounds and blocked shots.

In addition to three returning starters, TCU also gets senior guard Tricia Payne, the team's 2000-01 Most Valuable Player (11.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg) who sat out last season with a torn ACL.

Replacing Kati Safaritova will be tough, but this is a good, athletic team that likes to run.

With its No. 20 ranking in the coaches poll, TCU earned its first-ever national ranking. Not a bad way to start off the season.

Tulane: The Green Wave return four starters and 11 letterwinners from last season's team that won 24 games, the third-highest single-season win total in school history.

Tulane has a very solid inside game, led by 6-3 senior center Teana McKiver, who led the Green Wave in scoring (16.4) and ranked third nationally in field-goal percentage (62.3). The only Conference USA player to rank among the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots, McKiver already has earned preseason all-league recognition.

Gwen Slaughter, another 6-3 post, is a rebounding machine who posted 11 double-doubles as a junior for Tulane, which has appeared in the NCAA Tournament for eight straight seasons.

Houston: If you know only one thing about the Cougars, it should be that Chandi Jones is amazing. The 5-10 junior guard/forward is a great slasher, and one of the best players in the country you've probably unfortunately never heard of.

Jones, the conference's preseason Player of the Year, ranked fifth in the nation in scoring last season with a 22.5 average. She became the 13th fastest player in Division I history -- and fastest in C-USA history -- to reach the 1,000-point plateau, needing just 47 games.

Nancy Lieberman, an ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage.