All articles tagged with #conference tournaments
Selection Sunday nears as 31 automatic bids to the 2026 NCAA men’s tournament are clinched across conferences, led by UMBC’s America East title and a program-record 12-game win streak. The tracker will continue updating with champions like Idaho, Lehigh, McNeese, Gonzaga, Siena, Wright State, Hofstra, Furman, Troy and others, outlining seed expectations and potential upsets as championship week unfolds.
The NCAA outlines that 31 Division I conferences will award automatic bids to their tournament winners, joining 37 at-large teams to form the 68-team field for the 2026 men’s basketball tournament. The article provides a comprehensive table of all conference schedules, locations, and TV info, with Selection Sunday on March 15 and the bracket’s CBS reveal that evening.
As ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten open postseason play, CBS Sports’ Bracketology maps bubble teams’ chances by the round they’d need to exit to earn an at-large bid. The piece lists target rounds and paths for teams from Cal, Virginia Tech, SMU, Stanford, and VCU to Seton Hall, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Indiana, Auburn, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and San Diego State, outlining expected probabilities for advancing to the quarterfinals, semifinals or title game. It underscores that early wins and favorable outcomes in conference tournaments will be crucial for those on the bubble to crack the field of 68.
A projection model using a decade of opponent-adjusted data simulates 1,000,000 conference-tournament brackets to estimate each team’s odds of winning its conference and earning an automatic NCAA bid. It highlights Duke’s 70.6% chance to win the ACC and Akron favored over Miami (OH) in the MAC, with these projections aligning with sportsbooks in some cases. The piece also lays out early-week bets for Week 2 of conference tournaments (e.g., Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Wichita State, Villanova, Hawaii, Bowling Green, Yale) and notes FanDuel odds accompany the projected win percentages, offering readers betting angles while explaining the model’s methodology.
The Minutes surveys a troubling trend in Power 5 basketball—the firing of four Black head coaches—along with broader questions about representation in coaching roles, while noting that the first two NCAA automatic bids went to Black coaches (Nolan Smith at Tennessee State and Rod Strickland at LIU). The piece then delivers exhaustive conference-by-conference previews and picks for the upcoming tournament week, outlining top players, seeds, dark horses, and Minutes’ selections for each bracket, followed by light features and humor.
OutKick maintains a live tracker of the 2026 NCAA Tournament automatic bids through Selection Sunday, listing clinched bids (ASUN: Queens; Big South: High Point; MVC: Northern Iowa; NEC: LIU; OVC: Tennessee State) and outlining remaining conference finals, upcoming title-game times, and the March 15 bracket reveal on CBS at 6 p.m. ET.
Saturday reshaped the NCAA tournament bubble: Florida moved into No. 1-seed momentum after beating Kentucky, while UConn slipped; Wisconsin handed Purdue a loss on Senior Day; St. John’s clinched the Big East regular-season title. Duke beat UNC; BYU snapped a three-game skid with a rally over Texas Tech; NC State’s at-large hopes dimmed and Virginia Tech’s bubble prospects worsened. Cincinnati and SMU stumbled, Duquesne staged a historic comeback to beat Richmond, Auburn slid, St. Thomas’ season ended, and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson along with Tennessee State provided late-season sparks.
With Selection Sunday looming and conference tournaments starting, several bubble teams improved (Ohio State, Oklahoma, UCLA, VCU, Texas A&M, Stanford, West Virginia) while a cluster of others tumbled (Auburn, Cal, Cincinnati, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Seton Hall, SMU, Texas, UCF, USC, Virginia Tech), leaving the field to rely on late wins and deep conference runs in the next week.
Conferences are increasingly using stepladder-style brackets to reward regular-season success and boost the odds that mid- and low-major teams can compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Belt leads with a seven-round ladder, where seeds like No. 7 can face multiple higher seeds, while top seeds get byes or easier paths; other leagues (WCC, AAC, Big Ten, MEAC) are adopting similar formats to protect strong teams, increase competitiveness, and drive revenue from advancing NCAA teams.
As March Madness approaches, the sport’s elite (Duke, Michigan, UConn, Arizona, Florida) look secure for top seed lines, but the real drama is on the bubble where Ohio State and Indiana face elimination pressure and UCLA sits on the edge. With conference tournaments opening, several teams (Auburn, VCU, Santa Clara, San Diego State, USF, etc.) must bolster resumes through deep runs or signature wins to secure an at-large bid, while others ride solid metrics to stay in the field as selections loom.
Sports Illustrated's The Minutes assesses the Big East's revenue-share era and concludes it hasn't created a competitive advantage, likely leaving the league with about three NCAA bids this year, led by UConn as the sole national title contender. The piece then deep dives dozens of conference tournaments with seed lines, standout players, coaches, potential dark horses, and 'Minutes picks' across the country as Selection Sunday approaches.
As conference tournaments progress, the national seed picture remains largely unchanged. NC State is making a push for a top-eight seed, while Mississippi State's strong SEC tournament performance has them closing in on a Top 16 seed.
Selection Sunday is here, with several conference championships still to be played before the brackets are revealed. The SEC and Big Ten men's title games are missing their top seeds, while the women's side features four conference championship games. Follow live updates as titles are won and tickets are punched, with several games already underway and some unexpected developments, including a serious injury in the SEC title game between Florida and Auburn.
As conference tournaments wrap up, the NCAA Tournament bubble is shrinking with teams securing automatic bids and others uncertain of their fate. New Mexico wins the Mountain West tournament, securing a spot in the field of 68. The American Athletic Conference tournament creates chaos with upsets, potentially leading to multiple bids from the conference. NC State and Oregon also secure spots by winning their respective conference tournaments, further reducing the available spots for bubble teams.
Wisconsin stunned No. 3 Purdue in the Big 10 tournament, Iowa State routed No. 1 Houston to claim the Big 12 crown, and NC State completed a miraculous run in the ACC tournament with a title win over rivals No. 4 UNC, setting the stage for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.