A Little Rhody sweep? It’s possible.

The new year is almost upon us, and the state of college basketball in Rhode Island is as good as it’s been in a decade.

One recent NCAA tourney bracket projection (which, admittedly, is a waste of brain cells at this date) had Brown, Providence and Rhode Island all in the field of 64. Now that would lock up a happy New Year!

But is this based at all on reality? Here’s the optimistic view. Brown owns the highest RPI of any Ivy team and has already proven it can win on the road. With two proven scorers (Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman) leading the way, Craig Robinson’s team could easily be a factor until the last weekend or two in a wide-open Ivy race. Cornell is still the pick here with Brown and Penn supplying the stiffest chase.

Providence should beat St. Peter’s tomorrow and be 9-3 heading into the Big East season. Winning nine games against a top-15 schedule is a coup for the Friars and should keep Tim Welsh’s team in the postseason discussion all year. There are a few keys for the Friars, however. The first revolves around Sharaud Curry’s health. Is he getting on the bus in a week or two or staying on the shelf for the year? Also, five of the first eight league games are away from the Dunk and this group of players has yet to show it can win big road games. If that trend ends, the Friars can reach the NCAAs for the second time in five years.

URI is in outstanding position to reach its first NCAA Tournament in nine seasons and the first in Jim Baron’s seven years. Ram fans need to keep pulling for PC (ouch) and Syracuse to look good to preserve their only signature wins but Rhody’s season will ultimately lean on its showing in a handful of Atlantic 10 games. Tests against Dayton and UMass (twice each) and Xavier at the Ryan Center will help crystalize Rhody’s rÉsumÉ.

Here’s a look at both the A-10 and Big East, which both appear as balanced as they’ve been in several years.

•A-10: The league is clearly better with four teams in excellent shape to make NCAA runs. While URI, UMass and Dayton are good, Xavier remains the team to beat. It’s tough to pick against a backcourt of seniors Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell and impressive big men like Josh Duncan, Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson.

We’ll get a great early read on URI’s status when the Rams open at Dayton, come home to face a dangerous Duquesne squad and then play at Saint Louis. The Rams’ home schedule features a three-game stretch in February (Xavier, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s) that could ultimately determine the conference title.

The A-10 prediction: 1, Xavier; 2, URI; 3, Duquesne; 4, Dayton; 5, Umass; 6, Saint Joseph’s; 7, Charlotte; 8, Temple; 9, St. Louis; 10, Fordham; 11, La Salle; 12, Richmond; 13, George Washington; 14, St. Bonaventure.

•Big East: The league is again filled with good teams and both Georgetown and Pittsburgh have a chance to be great. The Hoyas faded badly in their trip to Memphis last week but John Thompson is mixing some new talents like Chris Wright and Austin Freeman in with established vets Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace and DaJuan Summers. Hibbert, of course, is the key. When he’s using his 7-foot-2 size to dominate, the Hoyas can beat anyone.

Marquette and West Virginia are positioned right behind the two top 10 teams. Both lack enough skilled big men but no one wants to deal with either team. The strength of the league is in the next seven teams, depth that is unmatched in the country. Louisville could emerge as the leader of this group or Rick Pitino’s team could implode. Where does PC fit in that mix? Tough to tell with Curry’s status unknown. Without him, the Friars lack a proven point guard and are shaky at center. For this prediction, we’ll assume Curry returns to make some sort of solid contribution to the team.

Big East order of finish: 1, Pittsburgh; 2, Georgetown; 3, West Virginia; 4, Marquette; 5, Louisville; 6, Connecticut; 7, Villanova; 8, Providence; 9, Syracuse; 10, Notre Dame; 11, Seton Hall; 12, Cincinnati; 13, South Florida; 14, DePaul; 15, St. John’s; 16, Rutgers.

kmcnamar@projo.com