Conference Tournament Previews (ACC, BIG 12, BIG Ten)

Some of the most competitive conference tournaments take place less than a week before Selection Sunday. These tournaments commonly don’t even end until Friday night, or less than 48 hours before the tournament brackets are announced.

Additionally, a few teams from each of these conferences should be shoe-ins already and a conference championship is just a way to complement their resume for a higher seed. Let’s take a look at a preview of the ACC, BIG 12, and BIG Ten conference tournaments.

Most years Duke and North Carolina will set the tone for the ACC. This season has been no different. North Carolina has been a surprise team that has bounced around in the top 10 for most of the season. Duke started the season ranked 2nd in the nation but had to climb back into it in the second half of the season. These two rival teams should be considered the favorites to win the ACC tournament. It will be a battle if it comes down to them two in the finals.

There are five other teams that currently have winning records in the ACC who all could make a run at the championship. It should be one of the top conference tournaments this year.

The BIG12 is stacked this year. For most of the season Houston has controlled the No. 1 ranking in the country. They are the clear favorite to win the conference tournament but then you also have four other teams ranked in the top 20 hailing from the BIG12. Those teams include current No. 6 Iowa State, No. 11 Baylor, No. 20 BYU, and No. 14 Kansas, who can never be slept on.

While Houston is the No. 1 team in the country and the clear favorite tow in the BIG 12 Tournament, it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t win it. They are just 13-3 in conference play while four other teams have 10 wins or more and could easily upset Houston.

With so many ranked teams in the BIG 12, expect a sizable amount of teams to make it into the field of 64.

The BIG Ten tournament may be a one horse race. Purde has dominated in conference play so far this season with a 16-3 record. They have also maintained a top ranking in the AP Poll as they are currently the No. 3 team in the country.

One team that has arguably the best chance to take down Purdue and win the tournament is Illinois who have been hovering just above a top 10 team in the country this season. However, Illinois has lost to Purude in both of their meetings this year. Purdue has only lost to Northwestern, Ohio State, and Nebraska in conference play. There likely will be a handful of teams from the BIG Ten representing in the NCAA Tournament regardless of the outcome of this conference championship.