The Power Four wrapped up their 2024/25 NCAA basketball seasons on Sunday, with newly minted conference tournament champions punching their tickets to the March Madness tournament.
While the Big 12's weekend was all chalk as No. 8 TCU added their first tournament title since 2005 to their 2024/25 regular-season conference trophy on Sunday, the ACC capped their contest with chaos.
No. 11 Duke put the conference — and the NCAA selection committee — on notice, upsetting both No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 7 NC State en route to their first ACC tournament championship in 12 years.
In the SEC, No. 5 South Carolina had the last word against No. 1 Texas. After splitting their two 2024/25 meetings and sharing the regular-season title, the defending national champion Gamecocks turned the SEC tournament final into a defensive masterclass, defeating the Longhorns 64-45 to claim the conference trophy.
Meanwhile, Sunday's Big Ten finale saw No. 4 UCLA enact revenge on their crosstown rivals, No. 2 USC. After dropping both their matchups and ceding the conference's regular-season title to the Trojans, the Bruins held USC to just 34.3% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc to snag the tournament crown with a 72-67 win.
Conference winners eye NCAA tournament seeding
With their Sunday wins and their automatic entries into the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, conference champions are now eyeing their shots at top national seedings.
While TCU and Duke each made strong cases for increasing their seeds, UCLA and South Carolina fully cemented themselves as frontrunners to top the 2024/25 bracket.
"When you win this [SEC] tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we’re the No. 1 overall seed," remarked South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "There isn’t anybody in the country that has played the schedule that we have played, that had share of the regular-season title, won this tournament and beat the No. 1 team in the country."
The stats back up Staley's claims. South Carolina played more Top 25 opponents this season than any other currently ranked squad, winning 12 of those games — seven against Top 10 teams. The only three losses they logged all season came against No. 1 Texas, No. 3 UConn, and No. 4 UCLA, with the Gamecocks handing the Longhorns two defeats in return.
UCLA head coach Cori Close took a more diplomatic approach when asked about top seeding after winning the Big Ten title.
"I think it would mean a lot for us [and USC] both to be No. 1 seeds," Close told ESPN. "And I hope we do get the chance to do it [in the Final Four] in Tampa a fourth time."
The final decisions rest with the selection committee, who will reveal their 2024/25 NCAA tournament bracket this Sunday.
How to watch Monday's Big East tournament final
Though the Power Four have handed out their hardware, other DI conference tournaments will be in action all week, with the Big East championship tipping off Monday night.
No. 3 UConn is hunting their fifth straight Big East tournament trophy, but they'll have to beat No. 23 Creighton to hoist it.
The No. 1-seed Huskies and No. 2-seed Bluejays will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverag on FS1.
The 2024/25 NCAA postseason officially tipped off on Wednesday, with top women's college basketball teams battling in conference tournaments in the lead-up to the Big Dance.
Kicking off this week's deluge of tournaments was No. 18 Tennessee, who avenged their season-ending two loss streak by opening the SEC tournament with a dominant 77-37 win over Texas A&M on Wednesday morning.
Shortly thereafter, UCF tipped off the Big 12 tournament by immediately ousting BYU 81-69, fueled in large part by senior guard Kaitlin Peterson's 35-point performance.
The ACC's debut Wednesday matchup will pit Syracuse against Boston College, while Minnesota and Washington have been tasked with kicking off the race to the Big Ten tournament title.
Most ranked squads like No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 North Carolina, and No. 20 Kansas State are waiting in the wings ahead of Thursday’s second-round slate, while AP Poll heavy-hitters No. 1 Texas, No. 2 USC, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 South Carolina won’t see their respective conference courts until Friday.
Underdogs aim to upend conference tournaments
While higher seeds have a distinct edge when it comes to conference tournament success, this week also provides underdogs one last shot at impressing the NCAA basketball committee.
Each tournament champion will book their conference's lone automatic ticket to March Madness, while the rest of the field's fate will rest in the selection committee's hands.
Top teams earn byes through to later conference competition rounds, which means lower seeds face significantly longer and more grueling schedules through the single-elimination contests.
Plus, the underdogs have arguably more to lose. Without a standout regular-season record, lower seeds must win their conference title to extend their season into the NCAA tournament, as their at-large selection chances grow dimmer the further they finished down the conference standings.
All in all, though NCAA tournament vets often see Champ Week as just another stepping stone to March Madness, bottom-of-the-table teams have much more at stake, as conference tournaments can upend both seasons and brackets.
How to watch Wednesday's NCAA conference tournament games
ACC debutant Stanford's 36-season March Madness streak is on brink of collapse, with the unranked Cardinal needing a stellar conference tournament run — or an outright title — to make this year's Big Dance.
No. 11-seed Stanford's first hurdle will be No. 14-seed Clemson, with the pair's Wednesday matchup set for 6:30 PM ET on ACCN.
After two straight Final Four appearances, unranked Iowa will begin their Big Ten tournament campaign against also-unranked Wisconsin in Wednesday's highly anticipated first-round matchup.
The No. 14-seed Badgers and No. 11-seed Hawkeyes will tip off in Indianapolis at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on Peacock.