dailynewsnblog
The first conference tournament brackets for the 2025-26 season are set. Plenty of leagues will begin their respective conference tournaments next week, with teams that will be looking to extend their seasons for another day and potentially steal a bid to the NCAA Tournament in action.
Multiple brackets — including the Patriot League, the NEC, the Ohio Valley Conference and the WCC — were finalized this weekend as the race toward Selection Sunday becomes a full sprint to the finish line. In the WCC, Gonzaga earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Saint Mary’s earned the No. 2 seed. Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s will have to win just one game to advance to the conference title game.
With Gonzaga set to depart for the new-look Pac-12 this summer, a matchup between Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga in the championship could be the last game between the West Coast rivals for the foreseeable future. Santa Clara, a team that enters March on the bubble, is the No. 3 seed in the conference Tournament.
In the Patriot League, Navy earned the No. 1 overall seed and earned a first-round bye. Navy will face the winner of No. 9 seed Army and No. 8 Bucknell on Thursday. In the OVC, Tennessee State earned the No. 1 seed and a triple-bye after capturing the program’s first regular-season title in 32 years. Tennessee State shared the conference title with Morehead State, the No. 2 seed in the bracket.
Entering Friday, the final day of the regular season, seven different teams were mathematically alive for at least a share of the SBC championship. Troy captured the Sun Belt title after defeating UL Monroe to earn the No. 1 seed in next week’s tournament. Marshall earned the No. 2 seed and the bye into the semifinals, despite losing to Georgia Southern. There was a six-way tie (with 11-7 conference records) for second place in the conference standings.
Because of the Sun Belt’s tournament format which places the top two seeds in the conference’s semifinals, Troy and Marshall will need to win just one game next weekend (March 8) to advance to the Sun Belt Tournament championship game. The tournament gets started Tuesday in Pensacola, Florida, when No. 14 seed UL Monroe will face No. 11 seed Old Dominion before No. 13 seed Georgia State meets No. 12 seed Louisiana.
The Horizon League will get college basketball’s postseason underway on Monday with a first-round game between No. 10 seed Cleveland State and No. 11 seed IU Indianapolis.
While the Horizon League will be the first league to get its tournament underway, other leagues will be in action later in the week. Among the leagues that will have first-round games on Wednesday are the ASUN, Big South, Northeast, Ohio Valley and the Summit League and we are just days away from the rest of the conferences to get underway.
When conference tournament results roll in, we’ll be keeping track of them here as teams begin to claim automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament with the first ticket punched on Saturday when the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament crowns its champion with No. 1 seed Tennessee State and No. 2 seed Morehead State expected to battle for the conference’s AQ spot in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Monday’s conference tournament schedule
Tuesday’s conference tournament schedule
Wednesday’s conference tournament schedule
2025-26 conference tournament champions
| CONFERENCE | DATES | LOCATION | CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION |
| America East | March 7, 10, 14 | Higher seed hosts | March 14, 11 a.m. ESPN2 |
| American | March 11-15 | Birmingham, Ala. | March 15, 3:15 p.m. ESPN |
| Atlantic 10 | March 11-15 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | March 15, 1 p.m. CBS |
| ACC | March 10-14 | Charlotte, N.C. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. ESPN |
| ASUN | March 4,6-8 | Jacksonville, Fla. | March 8, 2 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big 12 | March 10-14 | Kansas City, Mo. | March 14, 6 p.m. ESPN |
| Big East | March 11-14 | New York City | March 14, 6:30 p.m. FOX |
| Big Sky | March 7-11 | Boise, Idaho | March 11, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big South | March 4, 6-8 | Johnson City, Tenn. | March 8, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big Ten | March 10-15 | Chicago | March 15, 3:30 p.m. CBS |
| Big West | March 11-14 | Henderson, Nev. | March 14, 10 p.m. ESPN2 |
| CAA | March 6-10 | Washington, D.C. | March 10, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Conference USA | March 10-14 | Huntsville, Ala. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Horizon League | March 2,4,8-10 | Indianapolis | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Ivy League | March 14-15 | Ithaca, N.Y. | March 15, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAAC | March 5-10 | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAC | March 12-14 | Cleveland | March 14, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MEAC | March 11-14 | Norfolk, Va. | March 14, 1 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | March 5-8 | St. Louis | March 8, 12 p.m. CBS |
| Mountain West | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 6 p.m. CBS |
| Northeast | March 4,7,10 | Higher seed hosts | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Ohio Valley | March 4-7 | Evansville, Ind. | March 7, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Patriot League | March 3,5,8,11 | Higher seed hosts | March 11, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| SEC | March 11-15 | Nashville, Tenn. | March 15, 1 p.m. ESPN |
| SoCon | March 6-9 | Asheville, N.C. | March 9, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Southland | March 8-11 | Lake Charles, La. | March 11, 5 p.m. ESPN2 |
| SWAC | March 9-14 | Atlanta | March 14, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU |
| Summit League | March 4-8 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 8, 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Sun Belt | March 3-9 | Pensacola, Fla. | March 9, 6 p.m. ESPN2 |
| West Coast | March 5-10 | Las Vegas | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN |
| WAC | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 12 a.m. ESPN2 |
