Selection Sunday won’t happen until March 16, but Championship Week is already underway. Several mid- and low-major conferences will be beginning their postseason tournaments, with the winner claiming the automatic bid for each league.
Here is a breakdown of five conference tournaments that get underway this week. Keep checking back to Hoops HQ for more previews of the postseason tournaments being held outside the Power Five conferences.
Atlantic Sun
Dates: March 2-9
TV: ESPN+
Notable: Queens (No. 6 seed) is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as it transitions to Division-I
Lipscomb (22-9, 14-4 ASUN) was the preseason favorite in this conference for a reason and will be the favorite in this tournament. The Bisons are led by 6-foot-8 senior forward Jacob Ognacevic (20.3 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game. The Bisons are not only one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation, but they are also elite at ball control, averaging fewer than 10 turnovers per game.
The two biggest threats to Lipscomb are North Alabama, which tied the Bisons in the regular season standings, and No. 5 seed Eastern Kentucky, which swept the Bisons in the two previous matchups. The duo of 6-foot-2 guard George Kimble and 6-foot-6 forward Devontae Blanton have the potential to carry the Colonels deep in this tournament. They combine to average 34.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game.
Sun Belt
Dates: March 4-11
TV: ESPN+ and ESPN2
Notable: There was a four-way tie at the top of the standings, with the tiebreakers favoring James Madison and South Alabama
The unique bracket of the entire conference championship format would force the bottom teams to win seven games to win the autobid. That prevents true darkhorses from emerging, though No. 5 seed Marshall does have the longest win streak coming into the Sun Belt Tournament with four straight games. James Madison (20-11, 13-5) is the hottest team overall, having won 10 of the last 11 games before a double-overtime loss to Texas State at the end of the regular season.
The team with the highest ceiling in the field is four-seed Arkansas State (22-9, 13-5), which scored a nonconference win over Memphis. Taryn Todd, a 6-foot-5 senior guard who averages 15 points per game, is their top guy, but 6-foot-10 forward Izaiyah Nelson is the big X-factor. He averages 10 points and 8.6 rebounds per game but has been dominant lately, including three recent games of 19 or more boards along with a career-high 30-point, 21-rebound performance at Louisiana. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be a surprise if any co-regular season champs win this one.
Patriot League
Dates: March 4-12
TV: ESPN+ (1st two rounds), CBSSN (semis and finals)
Notable: For the first time since 2018, the Colgate Raiders (No. 3 seed) aren’t the No. 1 seed
A decade ago, Bucknell (16-14, 12-5 Patriot) was the premier program in the conference. Now, Bison are back as co-regular season champions, led by 7-foot junior center Noah Williamson (17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds per game). American (18-12, 12-5) has its own frontcourt star in 6-foot-9 senior forward Matt Rogers, but its strength remains on defense, where it leads the Patriot League with 65 points per game allowed.
Yet, even with this being the weakest Colgate team (13-17, 10-7) in years, don’t discount the Raiders completely. They have a regular season win over Bucknell and are led by 6-foot-11 senior center Jeff Woodard (14.9 points, 7.8 rebounds per game). But in order to get back to the NCAA Tournament, the Raiders will likely have to beat the top two teams in the event.
Horizon League
Dates: March 4-11
TV: TV+, ESPNU, ESPN2, and ESPN
Notable: Matchups for each round are based on the remaining seeds.
For the first time since joining the Horizon League, Robert Morris (23-8. 15-5) finished in the top five of the standings, winning 13 of its last 14 games to clinch the No. 1 seed. Yet the top five teams have all been grouped together throughout league play, so any of them has a legit shot at winning the tournament, though either preseason favorite Purdue-Fort Wayne (19-12, 12-8) or Youngstown State (19-12, 13-7) won’t be making it to Indy for the semifinals since they’re matched up in the second round.
Two teams in the middle tier of the Horizon can pose a threat. Oakland (14-17, 11-9) has the all-time leader in wins in Greg Kampe, along with a good frontcourt duo in senior 6-foot-9 forwards Allen David Mukeba and Tuburu Naivalurua, who each average around 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Another darkhorse to watch is Northern Kentucky (16-15, 11-9), a team that won seven of the last nine games to end the regular season.
Big South
Dates: March 5-9
TV: ESPN+, ESPN for the finals
Notable: Longwood enters the tournament with a current 11-game win streak, tied for the longest in the country behind Central Connecticut (12)
High Point (26-5, 14-2) was the clear-cut preseason favorite and has somehow found a way to overachieve, dominating the last four opponents by 20 or more points to be the clear favorite for this event. The top-20 scoring unit is led by senior guards Kezza Giffa (14.6 points per game) and Texas Tech transfer D’maurian Williams (14.5 points per game). The Panthers’ lone loss in Big South play was at Longwood and UNC Asheville, two potential darkhorses.
Although High Point has a pair of 20-plus-point wins over them, Winthrop (21-10, 11-5) and its fast-paced offense (sixth nationally with 84.4 points per game) could be the scariest team in the field. The Eagles have four players averaging at least 12 points per game, led by all-league six-foot-seven forward Kelton Talford (15.9 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game.
