All the major conference tournaments will have started as of Wednesday evening. With that comes those first and second round games that are typically glossed over. Except this year, with what appears to be one of the worst bubbles for the NCAA Tournament that we have seen in quite some time, these games carry a much larger importance. We’ll break down each of the major conferences’ fields and which early slate games have a major impact for selection Sunday.
ACC
The Tuesday first round games in the ACC were wild. Stanford and Virginia Tech were teams on the bubble that took losses to Pitt and Wake Forest respectively. The SMU Mustangs stayed alive after defeating Syracuse 86-69. On Wednesday, the NC State Wolfpack started the afternoon in Charlotte by surely locking themselves in with a 98-88 victory over Pitt. One of the best freshmen in the country, Mikel Brown Jr., was absent for Louisville on Wednesday. That didn’t stop the Cardinals from getting an important four-point win over SMU, 62-58. Another bubble team went down as the red-hot Seminoles beat Cal 96-89 in the second round. To cap it off, the seemingly March-bound Clemson Tigers picked up a 71-62 win over Wake Forest. The shorthanded Duke Blue Devils will start their postseason campaign in Thursday’s ACC quarterfinals.
Big 12
It wasn’t a wildly eventful day in Kansas City on Tuesday for the Big 12 Tournament. Unless you’re a college basketball sicko, you probably weren’t watching Baylor and Arizona State on ESPN+ around noon. Cincinnati stayed alive after beating Utah 73-66. AJ Dybansta led BYU with 40 points on 15-of-21 shooting to a 105-91 win over Kansas State.
Later, Oklahoma State took down Colorado 92-83. Round two started with Iowa State mauling Arizona State 91-42, inevitably ending Sun Devil head coach Dan Hurley’s campaign in Tempe. One of the better games of the day took place between Cincinnati and UCF. The Bearcats blew a 12-point lead late, the Knights forced overtime and went on to win 66-65. This will likely lead to Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller being fired and UCF being locked into the NCAA Tournament. In the third game of the day, BYU advanced to the quarterfinals while eliminating West Virginia’s tournament hopes with a 68-48 win. The nightcap stole the best game of the day in Kansas City. The TCU Horned Frogs had been on fire down the stretch of the season and were able to win a tight one, 95-88, against Oklahoma State to finish Wednesday night’s action. Thursday's Big 12 matchups are some of the best in the entire slate.
Big Ten
While the Big Ten tournament was technically underway on Tuesday evening, there weren’t many eyes on the United Center. Play-in games were between Maryland and Oregon, and Penn State and Northwestern. Maryland and Northwestern advanced to play in the second round on Wednesday. The Terps contested early, but the Iowa Hawkeyes were able to pull away and win 75-64. They now face Ohio State in the third round. Washington was able to outlast USC and win, 83-79. The only game of note with bubble implications was between Indiana and Northwestern. The Hoosiers fell to the Wildcats for the seventh straight time, 74-61, dashing their NCAA Tournament contention chances.
To cap off the second day in Chicago, Rutgers took down Minnesota, 72-67. Still, none of the top four seeds are in action as round three will begin for the Big Ten at noon Eastern on Thursday.
Big East
Madison Square Garden is the home of the Big East conference tournament and some important bubble watch games. On Wednesday, every team in action boasted a conference record of 8-12, 7-13, or 6-14. Let’s keep it short and sweet here. Georgetown, Providence, and Xavier were able to pick up their respective wins, all coming by ten or fewer points. Big East action will start to spice up on Thursday at the Garden as all top four seeds play starting at noon ET with 1-seed St. John’s and 9-seed Providence.
SEC
Finally, the SEC got its first round started in Nashville on Wednesday. Kentucky’s already disappointing season almost got worse to start SEC tourney play. LSU kept it tight for a while before the Wildcats were able to finish them off at the end, 87-82.
Auburn was able to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a much-needed win over Mississippi State, 79-61, they will play Tennessee on Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Continuing the theme of bubbles bursting, Ole Miss took down the Texas Longhorns, 76-66, in an upset in Nashville. Finally, the nightcap went to Oklahoma as they defeated South Carolina 86-74. The Sooners are a bit away from the bubble, but with all the other teams losing, they are in a good position due to all the other bubble team losses. Don’t be surprised to see some noise in this conference the rest of the week.
Life on the bubble is certainly not for the faint of heart. Conference tournaments are filled with teams on the outside looking to sneak into March Madness. While most of those teams won’t pull off Cinderella runs to win their conference and punch an auto-bid, that heightens the importance of every single game. Quarterfinal action will get underway in the ACC, Big 12, and Big East on Thursday. For the SEC and Big Ten, its second and third round games and their quarterfinals begin on Friday.
