What To Watch For In These Six College Basketball Conference Tournaments

Updated Mar 10, 2021 9:37 pm EST

By Mark Titus
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

Ed. note: This college basketball season, FOX Sports is proud to bring you a newsletter for all your college hoops needs, with Mark Titus at the helm. Subscribe now!

THE OPENING TIP

The NCAA has not been shy with its messaging that one of its top priorities this season was to make sure the NCAA Tournament would be played so that the massive TV and sponsorship checks could be cashed to keep the sport afloat. 

With that said, I wouldn’t blame you if you happened to tune out for various parts of this year's regular season. After all, why should we care about games in December and January when the sport’s governing body is so focused on the postseason tournament? Along those same lines, now that March is here, why should we care about the major conference tournaments going on this week? The smaller conferences are at least interesting in that the winners get their tickets punched to the Big Dance.

But what’s the point of watching the big boys play in yet another empty gym, especially when there was talk of teams opting out as recently as a few weeks ago? What’s the point of pretending to care about anything that happens between now and Selection Sunday when there has been so much focus on getting to the NCAA Tournament finish line?

I’m glad you asked. Here are three things to watch for in each of the power conference tournaments this week.

BIG EAST

1. Seton Hall vs. St. John’s play-out game

When these two bubble teams meet Thursday (five days after St. John’s erased an 18-0 deficit to beat the Pirates to close out the regular season), I won’t go as far as to say the winner will definitely be in the NCAA Tournament, but I do know that the loser will certainly be out.

2. Villanova is limping into postseason play (literally).

The best Villanova teams are ones that have All-American-caliber point guards, which was something the Wildcats had this year until Collin Gillespie tore his MCL last week against Creighton. Now the most logical replacement at point guard for Gillespie (Justin Moore) is apparently not going to play in the Big East Tournament after suffering an ankle sprain at Providence on Saturday, putting Villanova’s run of three straight Big East Tournament titles (and five straight title game appearances) in serious jeopardy.

3. It feels almost too perfect for UConn in the Huskies’ return to the Big East Tournament.

Despite not playing in the Big East the past seven seasons, the Huskies still share the all-time Big East Tournament title record with Georgetown, having won America’s most notable conference tourney seven times since 1990. There’s plenty of reason to believe an eighth trophy could be on the way this week, when you consider that the Huskies are red-hot (6-1 in their past seven games), they will have the best player on the floor in every game they play (James Bouknight), Villanova is banged up, and Creighton isn’t exactly a paragon of stability at the moment.

BIG TEN

1. The Illinois vs. Michigan saga

Michigan won two fewer conference games than Illinois this season. In the lone matchup between the two teams, a fully healthy Michigan squad lost to Illinois by 23 points at home, despite the Illini’s best player being out. Yet Michigan was declared the regular-season Big Ten champion because the Wolverines’ conference win percentage was a hair better, while Illinois got nothing. Throw in an adamant belief from Illini fans that Michigan dodged Illinois when the Wolverines came back from a COVID pause in mid-February, and I think it’s fair to say that the Illinois and Michigan fan bases aren’t particularly fond of each other.

2. Can Ohio State get back on track?

Once upon a time, the Buckeyes were ranked No. 4 in the nation and appeared to be well on their way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament -- and by "once upon a time," I mean just more than two weeks ago. Now Ohio State enters the Big Ten Tournament having lost four games in a row, with a matchup against either Minnesota or Northwestern (both beat Ohio State earlier in the year) awaiting on Wednesday, followed by a game against Purdue (who swept the Buckeyes this year) on Thursday should Ohio State advance.

3. Wisconsin looking to salvage what has been a disappointing season

We have all seen the following scenario play out in college basketball over the years ... A team enters the month of March playing great basketball, and then, out of nowhere, it has its magical run end with just one off-day in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. But in the case of Wisconsin, an opportunity exists for the opposite to work in its favor. The Badgers were at one point ranked No. 4 in the nation in the AP Poll, but they fell to sixth in the Big Ten standings after losing five of their last six games in the regular season. And yet, all of that could easily be forgotten if Wisconsin can find a way to get some mojo back in the Big Ten Tournament and use that as a springboard for a memorable NCAA Tournament run.

BIG 12

1. Baylor’s reascension to the "team most likely to give Gonzaga a good game" throne

The Bears have been considered the second-best team in the country for basically the entire season, except for maybe a window of a week or two when they came back from a COVID pause and looked a little rusty as Michigan was lighting the world on fire. But in the three games since Baylor’s loss at Allen Fieldhouse to close out February, the Bears have returned to form with three wins over ranked Big 12 opponents. I’ve seen enough to believe that Baylor is back to being every bit the national title contender we thought it was, but I still wouldn’t hate it if the Bears rolled through the Big 12 Tournament and solidified my belief anyway.

2. The Cade Cunningham show

If UConn isn’t the most popular sleeper pick for March Madness, Oklahoma State surely will be, thanks in large part to freshman phenom Cade Cunningham. But the Cowboys are far from a one-man team, as proven by their surprise win at West Virginia without Cunningham to close out the regular season. With an immediate rematch vs. West Virginia scheduled for Thursday and a potential showdown with Baylor in the semifinals, Oklahoma State will certainly have a nice stage to make the case that the NCAA tourney sleeper buzz is warranted.

3. Iowa State is the best two-win team in college basketball history.

Barring a miracle, Iowa State’s season will end Wednesday with a loss to Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. This would be the Cyclones’ 18th straight loss (and 19th straight Big 12 loss) to drop their record to 2-22 on the season. But before we put the Cyclones’ season to bed for good, I want to point out that they had six Big 12 games this season decided by six or fewer points, including two games vs. West Virginia, a game vs. Baylor and a game at Texas. What does this ultimately mean? Absolutely nothing. I’m just surprised that Iowa State was good enough to hang with some of the best teams in the Big 12 but never good enough to win any of those games. It’s amazing, really.

ACC

1. The year of Josh Pastner

Pastner has been a content gold mine all season, but what makes everything he has done so funny is the fact that Georgia Tech is actually pretty good. In fact, Pastner's star big man, Moses Wright, was just named ACC Player of the Year. In the past few weeks, the Yellow Jackets have gone from being on the wrong side of the bubble to the right side of the bubble to the hottest team in the ACC, having won six straight entering the conference tourney. That's not bad for a team that started the season by not even running 5-on-5 in practice.

2. Can Virginia or Florida State make America believe again?

The worst season of ACC basketball in my lifetime could be semi-salvaged if a team from the conference can make a Final Four run, and the best candidates to do that are Virginia and Florida State. That’s right: The hopes of what is typically America’s best basketball conference lie on the shoulders of a team that lost to San Francisco and/or a team that is 3-4 on the season away from home.

3. Duke

This year's college basketball season has been anything but conventional and that became more than evident on Thursday morning when Duke withdrew from the ACC Tournament following a positive COVID-19 test within the program. Duke athletic director Kevin White released a statement saying that the cancelation "will end our 2020-21 season," which in return snaps the Blue Devils' streak of 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Who's ready for the "put an asterisk next to this year" argument from Duke fans when discussing their NCAA Tournament streak? I, for one, can't wait!

SEC

1. Arkansas out to prove it is a legit Final Four contender.

Most people already believe in Alabama as a Final Four threat to some degree, but for whatever reason, doubts seem to remain about how good Arkansas is. Maybe it’s because the Hogs’ best player (Moses Moody) is a freshman, and we’ve all decided that Oklahoma State is the only freshman-led team we trust? Maybe it’s because they are newcomers to the national scene this year after playing a ridiculously easy nonconference schedule and struggling to beat any team with a pulse until the end of January? I’m not entirely sure. All I know is Arkansas is absolutely red-hot and the most intriguing team in the SEC.

2. Will a middle-of-the-pack SEC team emerge?

You heard it here first: At least one SEC team that isn't Alabama or Arkansas is going to make the Sweet 16. The problem is ... I don’t know who it’s going to be yet. Florida, LSU, Ole Miss and especially Tennessee and Missouri have all looked good enough at times, but they’ve also laid some absolute stinkers. Here’s to hoping it sorts itself out in the SEC Tournament so I don’t have to resort to flipping coins as I fill out my bracket on Selection Sunday.

3. Kentucky is officially out of chances.

"If the Cats can just …"

How many times have those words been said about Kentucky this season? As loss after loss after loss piled up, we kept trying to figure out the Wildcats’ path back into the NCAA Tournament picture. Now March is here, and the path is clear: Kentucky has to win the SEC Tournament, which is highly unlikely given that the Cats’ path will have to go through Alabama to get to the semifinals.

Then again, crazier things have happened. If the Cats can just do something they haven’t done all year and win four straight games ...

PAC-12

1. Bill Walton

I honestly can’t think of any other reason to watch. Outside of maybe UCLA, there aren’t any teams on the bubble in the Pac-12, so there’s nothing to keep an eye on there. Oregon, Colorado and USC are all pretty good and could win a game or two in the NCAA Tournament, but none of them feels like a realistic Final Four pick. I guess you could watch Evan Mobley play a few more times before he goes to the NBA? You could watch Bobby Hurley lose his mind as the most talented roster in the Pac-12 loses yet again?

Or just do what we all do with the Pac-12 throughout the regular season, and throw a game on, turn your brain off and let Bill Walton take you to places you never knew you needed to go.

BIG TEN STAT OF THE WEEK

LOVE FOR THE LITTLE GUY

A smorgasbord of love for the little guy this week, in honor of the smaller conferences crowning tournament champions across the country.

Shoutout to:
 
1. Colgate for somehow being ranked No. 9 in the country in the NET rankings.

2. Oral Roberts junior Kevin Obanor for the tip-in at the buzzer to beat No. 1 seed South Dakota State in the Summit League semifinals on Monday.

3. Loyola-Chicago‘s Cameron Krutwig for securing a place for himself and his mustache in the Missouri Valley record books.

4. JMU’s Zach Jacobs for getting T’d up for simply stating the name of an apparel company that all the cool kids wore during recess in the 1990s.

And shoutout to the following schools, which have punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament:

  • Drexel (first appearance since 1996!)
  • Appalachian State (first appearance since 2000!)
  • UNC Greensboro
  • Liberty
  • Winthrop
  • Morehead State
  • Loyola-Chicago
  • Cleveland State
  • Mount St. Mary’s
  • Oral Roberts
  • Gonzaga

THIS WEEK IN TITUS AND TATE

March is here, conference tournaments are here, and Tate and I are here for your listening pleasure! In this week’s pod, we previewed the major college basketball tournaments, including why the SEC could be the most interesting tourney of the bunch. UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley joined the show to discuss James Bouknight’s return from injury, his program’s return to the Big East Championship, and best of all ... he gave us a guarantee that you’ll see nothing less than a "killer" if he faces his alma mater, Seton Hall, in the tournament.

As always, you can listen to every show and subscribe here. And go ahead and subscribe to our new YouTube channel here.

See you next week!