\ud83c\udf9f\ufe0f How it works and why it matters<\/h3>\n
The single-elimination conference tournaments are a BFD.<\/strong> Sixty-eight March Madness spots are up for grabs in women\u2019s and men\u2019s DI hoops, and over 350 teams are shooting for postseason glory. Thirty-two national tourney spots \u2014 one for each DI conference \u2014 are \u201cautomatic qualifiers<\/a>.\u201d In short, if you win your conference tourney, you\u2019re dancing.<\/p>\n Teams who don\u2019t hoist conference trophies<\/strong> will still have the chance to be selected for March Madness, but their hopes rest with the 12-person men\u2019s<\/a> and women\u2019s selection committees<\/a>, who will award the highly coveted 36 at-large bids<\/a> next Sunday.<\/p>\n The biggest national contenders hail from the <\/strong>Power Six conferences<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. All but three of the 40 women\u2019s national titles ever awarded and 53 of the last 55 men\u2019s \u2019ships have been bagged by schools from one of these six conferences.<\/p>\n ACC: <\/strong>The ACC was one of the season\u2019s most competitive conferences, led by regular season champs No. 10 Notre Dame and their history-making head coach<\/a> Niele Ivey. But the Olivia Miles\u2013less<\/a> Irish were stunned by Louisville 64\u201338 in yesterday\u2019s semi and must now watch from home as Louisville takes on No. 8 Virginia Tech in today\u2019s ACC championship tilt<\/a>.<\/p>\n Big 12: <\/strong>Both the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners and No. 12 Texas Longhorns hooked dubs yesterday to share the Big 12 regular season title. Down to the minute. The conference tourney<\/a> doesn\u2019t tip off until Thursday, with fellow contender No. 23 Iowa State sure to be plotting an upset.<\/p>\n Big East: <\/strong>It\u2019s been a rollercoaster year<\/a> for the season champs No. 9 UConn Huskies, but with star guard Nika M\u00fchl (who recently broke GOAT Sue Bird\u2019s UConn season assists record<\/a>) and yesterday\u2019s return of guard Azzi Fudd<\/a>, the Huskies\u2019 bite is back. They\u2019ll face Marquette just before No. 11 Villanova takes on Creighton in today\u2019s tourney semifinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Big Ten: <\/strong>The No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers clinched the season title<\/a> nearly two weeks ago, but don\u2019t let that fool you: This conference is cutthroat. No. 14 Ohio State, who lost six <\/em>of their last 10 regular season games, overcame a 24-point deficit<\/a> to boot the Hoosiers out of the tourney<\/a> yesterday. They\u2019ll take on the inimitable Caitlin Clark\u2019s<\/a> No. 7 Iowa for the Big Ten trophy today.<\/p>\n Pac-12: <\/strong>Bringing the most bedlam is the Pac-12. No. 3 Utah and No. 6 Stanford shared the regular season title<\/a>, but both were edged out of the conference tourney<\/a> late last week by Washington State and No. 19 UCLA, respectively.<\/p>\n SEC: <\/strong>To no one\u2019s surprise, the defending national champs No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks \u2014 the only undefeated women\u2019s or men\u2019s<\/em> DI hoops team \u2014 are heavily favored to take their seventh tourney title<\/a> in the last nine years this afternoon.<\/p>\n SOURCE: PETER G. AIKEN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ACC:<\/strong> Of all the Power Six conferences, the ACC\u2019s men brought the most suspense, with yesterday\u2019s final regular season games breaking a three-way tie for the title. No. 13 Virginia and No. 16 Miami now share that trophy, while No. 25 Pitt\u2019s last-day stumble<\/a> is simply fuel for vengeance in this week\u2019s conference tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n Big 12: <\/strong>In a season where the Big 12 has ruthlessly reigned supreme<\/a>, the defending national champs No. 3 Kansas proved their dominance yet again, securing a record 64th (!!!) regular season conference title<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Big East:<\/strong> Thanks to their steady climb since early January, the No. 6 Marquette Golden Eagles flew away with the regular-season trophy<\/a>, but they can\u2019t nest comfy: Parity is the name of the Big East game, and four<\/em> other squads, including No. 14 UConn and No. 19 Xavier, could feasibly steal next Saturday\u2019s tourney title<\/a>.<\/p>\n Big Ten:<\/strong> Led by Canadian star center Zach Edey<\/a>, No. 5 Purdue nabbed their 25th Big Ten season title<\/a> a week ago; however, the Boilermakers lost a whopping four<\/em> of their seven February games to No. 15 Indiana, No. 21 Maryland and unranked Northwestern. Any of the six teams tied for second place<\/em><\/a> entering today could inject chaos into the conference tourney<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pac-12:<\/strong> The only Pac-12 teams that defeated the season titleholders<\/a> No. 4 UCLA Bruins this season? Their unranked cross-town rivals USC Trojans and the No. 8 Arizona Wildcats. In what could <\/em>be a preview of next week\u2019s conference championship game, the Bruins defeated the \u2019Cats 82\u201373 last night.<\/p>\n SEC:<\/strong> While No. 2 Alabama may be drawing some well-deserved off-court side eye<\/a>, their on-court supremacy earned the Crimson Tide the regular-season\u2019s top spot<\/a>. As for their top tourney<\/a> challenger? No. 24 Texas A&M boasts the next-best conference record and<\/em> just rolled Bama to their second SEC loss<\/a> yesterday.<\/p>\n SOURCE: MITCHELL LEFF\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Prep your snacks and snuggle into your sofa <\/strong>because this week will have more drama than Outer Banks<\/em><\/a>. For the gals, ACC finalists Louisville and No. 8 Virginia Tech start today\u2019s ESPN party at 1 p.m. ET, with the battle for the SEC and Big Ten titles tipping off at 3 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET, respectively.<\/p>\n As for the fellas,<\/strong> the ACC kicks off their tourney on Tuesday, while the rest of the Power Six take the hardcourt on Wednesday.<\/p>\n And sneaking in just under the wire?<\/strong> The Big 12 women, who\u2019ll start shooting for their final rose<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\ud83d\udc83 The women<\/h3>\n
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best<\/del> upset coast.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\ud83d\udd7a The men<\/h3>\n
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\ud83d\udcfa What to watch<\/h3>\n
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