As we edge closer to the midpoint of men’s basketball season, there are 28 teams with unbeaten conference records.

The most surprising? Cleveland State in the Horizon League.

Remember the Vikings? Cleveland State opened with an upset—or was it an upset?—at USF. Then the Vikings defeated Florida State in a tournament at Daytona Beach. But not satisfied with victories against teams from the Big East and ACC, the Vikings (13-5) have stormed to a 7-0 mark in the Horizon, stunning Butler 56-52 along the way.

Cleveland State is very much a player for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Somewhere, Mouse McFadden is smiling.

Other unbeaten conference teams thus far:

* ACC: Duke (15-1, 3-0). The Blue Devils have taken command of the league after North Carolina’s crushing defeat against Maryland on Saturday. Duke’s only loss was 65-64 against Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20.

* Atlantic Sun: Jacksonville (9-8, 5-0). The Dolphins followed up a miracle 65-64 finish at Savannah State with Saturday’s 67-56 win against rival North Florida. Jacksonville—a Final Four team with Artis Gilmore in 1970 (imagine that?)—hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1986.

* Big 12: We’re down to Kansas (18-0, 3-0) and Baylor (15-2, 3-0). Kansas might be the nation’s best team and it’s now just four victories away from the best start in school history (22-0 in 1996-97). But Baylor might be the nation’s best STORY. Coach Scott Drew has led an amazing turnaround for a program that weathered a cover-up in the 2003 murder of Patrick Dennehy, the firing of a coach and athletic director, not to mention NCAA penalties. Baylor ended a 25-game road losing streak in the Big 12 on Saturday night by defeating Nebraska 72-70.

* Big South: UNC-Asheville (14-4, 3-0)—The Bulldogs, of course, are best known for employing 7-foot-7, 360-pound center Kenny George. Let’s hope George emerges to scare somebody in the first round of an NCAA Tournament game. Asheville’s next big one is Feb. 2 against Winthrop.

* Big Ten: Wisconsin (15-2, 4-0) and Indiana (15-1, 4-0) were the front-runners heading into Sunday. Circle the date: Jan. 31, Indiana at Wisconsin.

* Big West: Cal State Northridge (13-3, 5-0) leads the loop for a league that always provides a great show for the East Coast insomniacs or sickos who wants 16 consecutive hours of basketball (instead of 14) on Selection Sunday Eve.

* Conference USA: Everybody knows about Memphis (17-0, 4-0). But there’s UCF (10-7, 3-0) hanging in there. The only regular-season meeting is Feb. 9—UCF at Memphis.

* Ivy: Can’t get a read on this yet. League play just began. Cornell and Yale both won their first conference games.

* MAC: Akron (13-3, 3-0) has broken in front in the East Division.

* MEAC: Hampton (9-6, 4-0) and Delaware State (6-9, 3-0) are the leaders. Hampton played tough against Maryland (70-64) and George Mason (57-54).

* Missouri Valley: Drake (16-1, 7-0) is the surprising front-runner. Or maybe it’s not that surprising. Drake has non-conference wins against Iowa State and Iowa.

* Mountain West: San Diego State (14-4, 4-0) has Coach Steve Fisher again dreaming about pulling the first-round NCAA upset.

* Patriot: Ah, college basketball at its purest level. No scholarships in the Patriot League, you know. Lafayette (12-6, 3-0) and Bucknell (8-9, 3-0) are head of the class.

* SEC: We expected Tennessee (16-1, 3-0) to be leading the East. Not sure we saw Mississippi State (13-5, 4-0) heading up the West. But there’s a long way to go.

* Southern: Super sophomore guard Stephen Curry (37 points in Saturday night’s 85-58 win against Chattanooga) has Davidson (10-6, 8-0) again looking like a dangerous team in March.

* Summit: Yes, the Summit League. We don’t think it was named for Pat Summitt. Anyway, the former Mid-Continent League has always feisty Oral Roberts (12-5, 7-0) in first place.

* Sun Belt: Ronnie Arrow has returned for a second stint at South Alabama and the Jaguars have rewarded him with a great start (15-3, 7-0).

* West Coast: Fascinating race. Gonzaga (14-4, 3-0) can hear the footsteps of Saint Mary’s (15-2, 2-0), which shows all the signs of becoming America’s Darling this March. The Gaels have lost only at Southern Illinois at Texas, but they have victories against Drake, Oregon, Seton Hall and San Diego State. Gonzaga goes to Saint Mary’s on Feb. 4 (ESPN2, 11 p.m.).

* WAC: Utah State (14-5, 4-0) is looking good, but the WAC isn’t what it used to be.