College basketball’s conference tournament season hits a new gear Thursday with postseason games from seven different leagues set to span much of the day. Action tips off from the Sun Belt Tournament at 12:30 with No. 8 seed South Alabama taking on No. 9 seed Appalachian State and will run into the early-morning hours of Friday as No. 7 seed Pacific plays No. 10 seed Pepperdine in an 11:30 tip at the WCC Tournament.
In between, the ASUN semifinals, Patriot League semifinals, Horizon League second round, OVC second round and Missouri Valley first round will keep college hoops junkies entertained. Collectively, the action marks an uptick in the amount of do-or-die action that defines March in the sport as teams jockey for automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The Horizon League Tournament could also be the backdrop to history on Thursday as No. 8 seed Detroit Mercy takes on No. 1 seed Youngstown State with star guard Antoine Davis needing just 26 points to break Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record. If he’s going to break the all-time scoring mark of 3,667 points, this could be his last chance.
Though the power conference tournaments don’t begin until next week, many of the league tournaments underway this week are for one-bid leagues. By the end of the week, the first automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament will be punched as conferences begin crowning tournament champions in those joyful and chaotic scenes that highlight the days leading up to Selection Sunday.
Thursday conference tournament schedule, scores
2023 conference tournament schedules, champions
Conference | Tournament site | Dates (Final TV) | 2023 Champion |
AAC | Fort Worth, Texas | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
ACC | Greensboro, N.C. | March 7-11 (ESPN) | |
America East | Campus sites | March 4, 7 & 11 (ESPN2) | |
Atlantic 10 | Brooklyn, NY | March 7-9, 11-12 (CBSSN) | |
ASUN | Campus sites | Feb. 27-28, March 2,5 (ESPN2) | |
Big East | New York | March 8-11 (Fox) | |
Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 4-8 (ESPN2) | |
Big South | Charlotte, N.C. | March 1, 3-5 (ESPN2) | |
Big Ten | Chicago | March 8-12 (CBS) | |
Big 12 | Kansas City | March 8-11 (ESPN) | |
Big West | Henderson, Nev. | March 7, 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
Colonial | Washington D.C. | March 3-7 (CBSSN) | |
Conference USA | Frisco, Texas | March 8-11 (CBSSN) | |
Horizon League | Indianapolis | Feb. 28, March 2, 6-7 (ESPN) | |
Ivy League | Princeton, N.J. | March 11-12 (ESPN2) | |
MAAC | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 7-11 (ESPNU) | |
MAC | Cleveland | March 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
MEAC | Norfolk, Va. | March 8-11 (ESPN2) | |
Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 2-5 (CBSSN) | |
Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 8-11 (CBS) | |
Northeast | Campus sites | March 1, 4 & 7 (ESPN2) | |
Ohio Valley | Evansville, Ind. | March 1-4 (ESPN2) | |
Pac-12 | Las Vegas | March 8-11 (ESPN) | |
Patriot | Campus sites | Feb. 28, March 2,5 & 8 (CBSSN) | |
SEC | Nashville | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
Southern | Asheville, N.C | March 3-6 (ESPN) | |
Southland | Lake Charles, La. | March 5-8 (ESPN2) | |
Summit | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 3-7 (ESPN2) | |
Sun Belt | Pensacola, Fla. | Feb. 28, March 2, 4 & 6 (ESPN2) | |
SWAC | Birmingham, Ala. | March 8-11 (ESPNU) | |
WAC | Las Vegas | March 7, 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
West Coast | Las Vegas | March 2-4 & 6-7 (ESPN) |
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