Conference tournament action continues Thursday as more of the nation’s top dogs enter the postseason fray. It will also be a consequential day for teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble, including North Carolina. The No. 5 seed Tar Heels will take on No. 4 seed Wake Forest in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal battle between two teams desperately seeking March momentum.
Top-ranked Duke will also begin its postseason journey as the No. 1 seed Blue Devils take on No. 8 seed Georgia Tech. If Duke and North Carolina each win, they would meet each other in a semifinal game on Friday. Elsewhere, the Big East Tournament will ramp up with the top four seeds beginning play, including St. John’s. The top-seeded Red Storm are seeking to add a conference tournament title to their regular-season crown under second-year coach Rick Pitino.
More teams clinched spots in the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday as championship week action continued heating up. McNeese is headed to the Big Dance for a second consecutive season after the No. 1 seed Cowboys beat No. 2 seed Lamar 63-54 in the Southland Tournament title game.
Prior to the arrival of coach Will Wade before the 2023-24 season, McNeese had been dancing just twice before and not since 2002. But the former LSU coach has the Cowboys projected as a No. 12 seed in Jerry Palm’s latest Bracketology.
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American will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament after the No. 2 seed Eagles toppled No. 5 seed Navy 74-52 in the conference tournament final. It will be American’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 and first trip under second-year coach Duane Simpkins. Matt Rogers led the Eagles with 28 points in the victory.
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Thursday’s conference tournament scores
2025 conference tournaments/champions
| Conference | Location | Dates | Championship game / Tournament champion |
| ACC | Charlotte, North Carolina | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| America East | Campus sites | March 8,11,15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 11 a.m. | ESPN2 |
| American | Fort Worth, Texas | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 3:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| ASUN | Campus sites | March 2,3,6,9 | Lipscomb (25-9) |
| Atlantic 10 | Washington D.C. | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 1 p.m. | CBS |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6 p.m. | ESPN |
| Big East | New York City | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
| Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 8-12 | Montana (25-9) |
| Big South | Johnson City, Tennessee | March 5,7-9 | High Point (29-5) |
| Big Ten | Indianapolis | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 3:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Big West | Henderson, Nevada | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 9:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Coastal Athletic | Washington D.C. | March 7-11 | UNCW (27-7) |
| Conference USA | Huntsville, Alabama | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 8:30 p.m. | CBSSN |
| Horizon League | Campus sites | March 4,6,10,11 | Robert Morris (25-8) |
| Ivy | Providence, Rhode Island | March 15-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 12 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, New Jersey | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 7:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
| MAC | Cleveland | March 13-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 7:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| MEAC | Norfolk, Virginia | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 1 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 6-9 | Drake (30-3) |
| Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6 p.m. | CBS |
| Northeast | Campus sites | March 5,8.11 | Saint Francis (15-17) |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Indiana | March 5-8 | SIUE (22-11) |
| Patriot | Campus sites | March 4,6,9,12 | American (22-12) |
| SEC | Nashville | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 1 p.m. | ESPN |
| Southern | Asheville, North Carolina | March 7-10 | Wofford (19-15) |
| Southland | Lake Charles, Louisiana | March 9-12 | McNeese (27-6) |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | March 5-9 | Omaha (22-12) |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Florida | March 4-10 | Troy (23-10) |
| SWAC | Atlanta | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 9:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
| WAC | St. George, Utah / Las Vegas | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 11:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| WCC | Las Vegas | March 6-11 | Gonzaga (25-8) |
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