Click here to see the current MaxMadness bracket.
Selection Monday for MaxMadness presented by Milk is one week away as the high school basketball season draws to a close this weekend. 
Jerome Parkins and Bridgeport Central (Bridgeport, Conn.)
have momentum heading into MaxMadness.
Photo by Paul Stockmann
So far 42 teams have already earned berths in the 64-team virtual tournament, while eight more will qualify by Saturday night. Fourteen additional teams will receive an at-large bid. These bids will likely be awarded to top teams that failed to win a state title as well as a few teams that don't participate in traditional state tournaments.
Among the teams clinching bids to MaxMadness this weekend was Melrose (Memphis, Tenn.), which downed White Station four the fourth time this season to capture the AAA crown in Tennessee.
"I'm living in La La Land right now. It's just a dream," Melrose coach Jermaine Johnson told the Commercial Appeal after the game.
The Golden Wildcats currently check in with a No. 3 seed in the South region that already features the likes of Yates (Houston), Milton (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Winter Park (Fla.).
A junior-laden team, Melrose projects to be one of the top teams nationally in 2010. Also entering the South section of the bracket is Kentucky state champion Shelby Valley. The school of roughly 600 students shocked title-minded Ballard 73-61 in the state title game.
"We beat Mason County and we beat Ballard today to win this thing and to be a small Class A school, and to beat those tradition-rich schools is huge," head coach Jason Booher told the Times-Tribune afterward.
Ashley Hatfield and Elisha Justice were too much for the larger schools to handle; they accounted for 38 total points in the title game. The Wildcats became fan favorites at the state tournament as they slayed much larger competition. They'll have to upset several other large, well-known programs if they are going to make a deep MaxMadness run.
Simeon blasts Whitney Young, earns No. 3 seed
The Simeon Wolverines (Chicago) were a team on a mission, determined to let nothing stand in their way.
Whiteney Young (Chicago) this the hard way, as Simeon led 30-13 at halftime en route to a 51-36 victory over the Dolphins in the Class 4A state title.
Simeon won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, thanks in large part to MaxPreps All-American Derrick Rose. Without such a star-studded cast this year, few gave Simeon a chance.
"This is definitely the most important title because nobody gave us a shot," Simeon coach Robert Smith told the Journal Star. "Nobody believed in those 15 kids in the locker room except myself and my coaching staff.
The Wildcats now look to continue their amazing March run with a journey through MaxMadness. They are pegged as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest bracket, which boasts the likes of Ames (Iowa) and Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.). Kearney (Mo.) also claimed its spot in the Midwest bracket by handing St. Francis Borgia its first loss of the season by pulling off a 47-43 upset in the Class 4 title.
The Bulldogs overcame a nine-point second-quarter deficit to end St. Francis Borgia's 46-game winning streak. They project to be a No. 10 seed in the Midwest section.
The Midwest region also gained Arrowhead (Hartland, Wis.), which features 7-foot-1 center Ben Mills.
Several other state champions locked up MaxMadness bids and will make a run at the Midwest region: Bismarck (N.D.), O'Gorman (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Natrona County (Casper, Wyo.).
East region becomes clearer
The East region continues to take shape with the addition of three news teams, including one of the nation's best seniors.
Noah Cottrill makes a MaxMadness appearance after guiding Logan (W.Va.) to a state title in West Virginia.
Cottrill, who will play for Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers next year, is one of the more high-profile players from the Mountain State in recent memory. He's also ranked No. 56 in the MaxPreps Class of 2010 Top 100.
It was Cottrill's first time capturing a state title.
"It's been a long time to wait, man," Cottrill told the Charleston Daily Mail in a postgame press conference.
Fresh off a Class LL title, Bridgeport Central (Conn.) entered the fray with a No. 9 seed. The Hilltoppers used a 20-3 run late in the game against Hillhouse to finish as Connecticut's top team.
Conant (Jaffrey, N.H.), winners of New Hampshire's Class M crown, also debuted in the MaxMadness bracket, along with West (Anchorage, Alaska), the only new team in the West region.
