March Madness: Important conference tournament insights you should know

March Madness is on the horizon, but some argue the annual college basketball frenzy actually tips off two weeks earlier. Regular seasons have concluded for many teams, and that means conference tournaments are on tap.

Here, we’ll offer some insight into a few tournaments getting started in the next few days. Some of them boast quirky brackets, and a few feature potential Cinderella threats you’ll definitely want to scout before Selection Sunday. Let’s dive in!

ASUN the first to tip off

The ASUN started its conference tournament bright and early on Sunday, March 2, two full weeks before Selection Sunday. Austin Peay and Central Arkansas advanced out of their first-round games and into the quarterfinals, which are set for Monday.

The top seed in the bracket is Lipscomb. The Bisons posted a 14-4 mark in conference play and edged North Alabama, who also won 14 games over ASUN foes. Lipscomb’s non-league slate included road losses to SEC opponents Kentucky and Arkansas, while North Alabama dropped a one-point heartbreaker to Samford (more on them later) and got thumped by probable #1 seed Auburn.

These ASUN teams will probably be lower seeds in the Big Dance, but don’t completely sleep on this league. This was the conference that produced Florida Gulf Coast back in 2013, and 2019’s Liberty team upset Mississippi State in the first round.

Keep an eye on the SoCon

The Southern Conference, meanwhile, sees its conference tournament tip off on Friday in Asheville, North Carolina. This was quietly a very strong league this season, with four teams posting 20 or more wins and a fifth settling for 19.

The top seed is Chattanooga, and the Mocs come in on an 11-game win streak. In fact, they’ve won 23 of their last 28 games after an 0-3 start (which included losses at both USC and Saint Mary’s). If you like good guard play, you’ll love watching this team run its offense. Honor Huff, Bash Wieland, and Trey Bonham combine to average 42 points per game, and the Mocs move and take care of the ball very, very well.

Last season’s SoCon tournament produced Samford, known for its distinctive “Bucky Ball” style of play. You may remember the Bulldogs gave Kansas quite a scare in the first round last year. This year, however, Samford is the #4 seed in the bracket, following a 22-9 regular season and a 12-6 SoCon campaign.

Wackiness in the West Coast Conference

We’ll finish things up with a look at the league that includes Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The WCC begins its tournament Thursday in Las Vegas, and this bracket is a head-scratcher.

It’s not unusual for leagues to award tournament byes to its top teams. Some bigger leagues even do double-byes in an effort to fit more teams into the mix. The West Coast Conference, however, takes things further.

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga, the top two tournament seeds, don’t play until the semifinals on Monday. By contrast, Pacific or San Diego, the bottom two seeds, would have to play four games in four days to reach the fresh-as-daisies Gaels or Bulldogs.

Saint Mary’s earned the top seed with a 17-1 WCC record. At 27-4 overall, they’re a pretty safe bet to make the field regardless of what happens in Las Vegas. Gonzaga, meanwhile, has had a “down” year by the program’s lofty standards. They were swept by Saint Mary’s and dropped a pair of other WCC contests. ESPN’s latest “bubble watch” has them as a “should be in” team, but they’re far from the tournament locks they usually are going into March.

Don’t sleep on this tournament’s #3 and #4 seeds, either. San Francisco and Santa Clara play their first tournament games on Sunday. They’ve combined for 43 wins this season. San Francisco is the only WCC team to pin a loss on Saint Mary’s this year, while Santa Clara played several major-conference teams tough early in the year and has gone 17-6 over their last 23 outings.