With the FIBA continental championships over and done with, all of the zone and automatic qualifiers are accounted for. However, with only 20 slots in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain being given away as prizes for the teams that top their zonal qualifiers, there are four more set aside for the so-called "wild card" entries.

Wild cards are teams that for one reason or another did not perform well in their respective continental championships but are given seats in the World Cup in acknowledgement of their countries' love for basketball or previous results. The teams that will qualify for a wild card will be named at FIBA's central board meeting in Buenos Aires in November. Of course, wild card seats do not come cheap -- $674,600, in fact.

Here are our predictions for the last four seats, and why these teams will or will not make it to Spain.

WHO'S IN

China
China was clearly a disappointment in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. Despite parading the tallest roster in the tournament, they struggled against the other known powerhouses of Asian basketball. An upset defeat by a much smaller Korea team set the tone for a beatdown at the hands of 2007 and 2009 champions Iran, while their perimeter defense was too slow to react against Chinese Taipei's outside shooting. Nevertheless, China is still the world's largest media market, and the Chinese basketball federation has money to burn. Next year could very well be a mere blip on the radar for China, who should make it to Spain easily.

Brazil
Minus top players Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa, Brazil struggled big-time against the likes of Puerto Rico and Canada. Varejao, though, was recovering from a blood clot and a quadriceps injury, while Barbosa suffered a torn ACL in February. Center Tiago Splitter was also absent from the 2013 lineup. With Brazil's Big Three on board, though, there is no way this team will not be a top-five team in 2014. Brazil needs all the exposure it gets in preparation for the 2016 Olympics, and the experience should do the likes of Rafael Luz very well.

Russia
The Russians were a team in turmoil at Eurobasket 2013, with their head coach quitting just one month before the tournament. They also missed out on the services of NBA All-Star Andrei Kirilenko who led the Russians to third place in London. With a young core composed of Alexey Shved and Sergey Karasev, though, this team should be formidable. The only question is if the Russian Basketball Federation will shell out any money for the wild-card fee. But if Brooklyn Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov decides to help out the federation, Russia in Spain should be a done deal.

Canada
With a roster composed roughly half of NBA players, Canada was expected to make a splash in FIBA America 2013. As it turned out, the young team -- six players were aged 24 and younger -- simply did not have the veteran smarts nor the toughness to compete against the best of the Western Hemisphere. But the likes of Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicholson and Tristan Thompson should be one year older and one year wiser in 2014, should Canada be chosen for one of the wild cards. One exciting prospect to watch out for is Andrew Wiggins, who is projected as a possible first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

WHO'S OUT

Nigeria
Perhaps the only African nation to express interest in a wild card, Nigeria might have an outsider's chance. After all, they did get into the 2012 Olympics via the qualifying tournament in Caracas. Nigeria also has a tall, talented roster that just disappointed in Abidjan. However, it is interesting to note that Olympic revelation Chamberlain Oguchi did not play in 2013, and neither did starting point guard Tony Skinn. If the Nigerian Basketball Federation is able to cough up the money, we might just see another African team in Spain. But the state of the Nigerian economy will most likely make the joining fee less than palatable.

Italy
Playing minus Andrea Bargnani and Danilo Gallinari, the Italians were bullied around in Eurobasket 2013. Should Italy convince their stars to play for the national team, they might just make a case for the wild card. However, as is common with eurozone countries nowadays, it is hard to justify the $674,600 wild card fee to stakeholders. Such a pity, really, considering that Marco Belinelli and Luigi Datome are set to make waves in the NBA.

Turkey
After winning the silver in the 2010 FIBA World Cup, the Turks have been in free fall. The team placed 11th in Eurobasket 2011 and 17th in 2013 despite a solid core of Hedo Turkoglu, Omer Asik and Ersan Ilyasova. A last FIBA World Cup appearance for the 2010 hosts should be a fitting send-off to Turkoglu's international career, but it doesn't seem like FIBA is inclined to give Turkey one more shot.

Chinese Taipei
The relatively smaller Chinese Taipei team clinically demolished China in the FIBA Asia 2013 quarterfinal, but was put away easily by Korea in the semifinal. Chinese Taipei has an interesting frontline headed by Quincy Davis and a battery of outside shooters. However, should China be given a wild card entry, which is almost a done deal, FIBA might not be inclined to give a second slot to another Asian team.