With Selection Sunday fast approaching, as many as half a dozen teams from New York State are in position to make the NCAA Tournament.

Here's a look at where each team stands now and what they need to do to make the Big Dance:

Syracuse

The skinny: Despite getting thrashed by Virginia 79-53 on Monday night, the Orange (19-11, 10-7 ACC) are safely into the Big Dance thanks to wins over then-No. 1 Duke in January and then-No. 18 Louisville in February. The Orange have a NET ranking of 39 and are currently a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com. Syracuse will be a top-7 seed in the ACC Tournament next week in Charlotte, N.C., and the Orange will get a first-round bye. They could help their NCAA Tournament seeding with a deep run in the ACCs.

Key quote: "You play the 1-2-5 teams in the country in 10 days - we're not as good as they are. That's the bottom line," Jim Boeheim said, per Syracuse.com. "We played pretty well against Duke. Really well at North Carolina. We had a really good first half (against Virginia). We're not better than these teams. We're not even close to being better than these teams. That doesn't mean you can't be a good team. These teams are three or four of the best teams in the country. "We need to learn from it, figure some things out."

St. John's

The skinny: The Johnnies seemed like a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team when they were picked fourth in the Big East Conference, and then began the season a perfect 12-0. Yet since then the Red Storm have gone 8-10 and are now 20-10 overall, 8-9 in the Big East. They do own signature wins against Marquette (twice) and Villanova and have a NET ranking of 61. Palm still has them as a 9 seed -- ironically against No. 8 Syracuse. Still, if the Johnnies lose their regular-season finale on Saturday at Xavier, they would drop to 8-10 in the Big East. The last Big East team to make the Big Dance with a sub-.500 league record was UConn back in 2012. With a loss Saturday, St. John's might have to make a run next week in the Big East Tournament to feel good about making the Dance.

Key quote: "We need to regroup, take a couple of days to get our minds and bodies right and then get ready to go on Saturday in Cincinnati," guard Mustapha Heron said after the team lost at DePaul on Sunday.

Buffalo

The skinny: The Bulls are 26-3 and 14-2 in the Mid-American Conference. They have already set a school record for regular-season victories under Naismith Coach of the Year candidate Nate Oats. The Bulls have a NET of 15 and are projected as a No. 6 seed, per CBSSports.com. In the MAC, they have a two-game lead with two to play. The need to win one more or have Bowling Green lose one to win the MAC outright. Led by possible MAC Player of the Year CJ Massinburg, Buffalo is the clear favorite to win the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.

Key quote: "We need to be playing our best basketball going into NCAA Tournament," Oats told SNY.tv. "The better we're playing, the higher our seed, the better chance we give ourselves of making an NCAA Tournament run. We're mainly worried about getting ourselves playing at an elite level and not worrying so much about who our opponent is."

Hofstra

The skinny: Led by Haggerty Award favorite Justin Wright-Foreman, the Pride are 25-6, 15-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association and clinched the CAA regular-season title last Thursday. They open conference tournament play as the No. 1 seed and will face the Towson-James Madison winner on Sunday at noon. From there, they would need to win two more games to clinch the CAA's automatic bid to the Big Dance. They could face the winner of a potential Northeastern/Charleston semifinal in the CAA title game on Tuesday in North Charleston, S.C. CBSSports.com has the Pride as a No. 14 seed. If they don't win the CAA Tournament, they'll likely land in the NIT.

Key quote: "It's my last year and I want to go out with a bang," Wright-Foreman said. "I want to go out with the achievements but I also just want to win. I want to win games and I want to go to the (NCAA) Tournament and so does everyone else here. Everybody else here understands that."

Iona

The skinny: After a 2-9 start to the season in which one player was booted from the team for fighting with an assistant, the Gaels have come on strong when it matters most. Iona (14-15, 12-6 MAAC) won seven straight to capture the MAAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. They will need to win it to advance to the Big Dance for the fourth straight season and the sixth time in nine years under coach Tim Cluess. Iona opens on Friday.

Key quote: "My message to my team is to continue to chase your dreams," Cluess said. "We're talking about hard work every day, that's what it's all about."

Stony Brook

The skinny: Stony Brook is 23-7 overall and 11-4 in the America East. They will try to secure the No. 2 seed with a win Tuesday at Hartford. Stony Brook opens the America East Tournament on Saturday in the quarterfinals and will need to win it to make the Big Dance.

Key quote: "Our effort in the second half was phenomenal," coach Jeff Boals said after Saturday's loss at Vermont. "Heading into halftime, we had 12 turnovers and that's way too many. We came out, limited those and got offensive rebounds and played some really good defense. I give a lot of credit to our guys for battling back and getting back into the game, but at the end, they made plays and we didn't. That's what it comes down to against good teams."

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