It’s time for the conference tournament.
While some playoff tournaments have started this week and last, a few more will begin over the next few days as college basketball moves closer to Selection Sunday for the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
MANDATORY READING: March Madness Bracketology: NCAA Tournament Bubble Predictions, New No. 1 Seed
While some conference tournaments are already ending, we have seen autobids get places in the Big Dance by winning their respective tournaments. That is to say, the number of offers available for spots in March Madness is decreasing and will only continue to decrease.
A handful of teams enter conference tournaments with little else to prove, but they should remember that seeding can still be done. Other teams participate in their respective conference tournaments I treat it like the NCAA tournamentas in case of loss, they could disappear from the parentheses before even being revealed.
Here’s a look at the latest NCAA Tournament preview, including bubble teams and locks to reach March Madness:
Advertisement
Bubble Watch Tracker with March Madness Support
March Madness Locks
Based on matches through Tuesday March 10
-
Big Ten (9): Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio State, UCLA
-
Big 12 (7): Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU, Texas Christian
-
SEC (7): Florida, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky
-
ACC (6): Duke, Virginia, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami,
-
Great East (3): UConn, Villanova, St. John’s
-
Other (10): Gonzaga, Utah State, Queens (NC)*, High Point*, Northern Iowa*, Long Island*, Tennessee State*, Furman*, North Dakota State*, Troy*
*Cleaned an automatic berth by winning the conference title
42 teams entered play on Tuesday, March 10, with a 99.4% chance or better of reaching the tournament, according to “TourneyCast” by Bart Torvik“These “locks” represent 62% of the field this season for the NCAA Tournament.
Torvik’s measurements are used in the NCAA’s BPI equation, alongside third-party analyst Ken Pomeroy, also called KenPom by college basketball fans.
The 42 teams considered “locked in” include eight other teams that punched their ticket to the tournament with an automatic bid by winning their conference tournaments.
Advertisement
NCAA tournament likely
-
ACC (1): State of North Carolina
-
Other (3): Miami (Ohio), Howard, Hofstra
Heading into the final week of the regular season, these are the teams that are “likely to participate” and have between a 70% and 98.9% chance of reaching the NCAA tournament, according to Torvik.
Although NC State is still likely in the tournament, they were considered a lock last week. However, the Wolfpack have slipped as of late with six losses in their last seven games.
Last week, 11 teams were on the “probable” list. That number was reduced to five teams as most teams either locked in a spot or fell into the bubble.
NCAA Tournament Bubble Teams
-
SEC (4): Oklahoma, Auburn, Texas, Missouri
-
Big 12 (2): Cincinnati, Central Florida
-
ACC (1): Southern Methodist
-
Other (13): UMBC, Wright State, VCU, McNeese State, Lehigh, Boston University, South Florida, Utah Valley, Akron, Yale, Bethum-Cookman, Liberty, New Mexico
All teams included in this list have a 70% or less chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Some of these teams are “more involved” in the tournament than others, but none can afford a major mistake in the conference tournaments, and some teams must win the tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Advertisement
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: March Madness bracket tracking: Who’s in, out and on the NCAA bubble
