Pac 12 Conference (conference rank: 6th) March 8-11 All games at Las Vegas kPOY: Lonzo Ball, UCLA. Regular season champ: Oregon (preseason #6 / 1st Pac 12, current #17) and Arizona (preseason #10 / 2nd Pac 12, current #21) Overachiever: UCLA (preseason #21, current #16) Underachiever: Oregon State (preseason #81, current #272) While the Pac 12 had multiple teams in the AP […]

Big East Conference (conference rank: 3rd) March 8-11 All games at Madison Square Garden kPOY: Josh Hart, Villanova. Regular season champ: Villanova (preseason #2 / 1st Big East, current #2) Overachiever: Marquette (preseason #47, current #28) Underachiever: Xavier (preseason #11, current #43) You still hear people use the term “Power 5” to describe the best basketball conferences, but it is dying. It […]

Mountain West Conference (conference rank: 9th) March 8-11 All games at UNLV. kPOY: Chandler Hutchinson, Boise State Regular season champ: Nevada (preseason #114 / 3rd MW, current #57) Overachiever: Nevada Underachiever: UNLV (preseason #179, current #251) For the second consecutive season, the Mountain West will be a one-bid league so these teams are playing for all the marbles. Nevada is […]

Atlantic Coast Conference (conference rank: 2nd) March 7-11 All games at Brooklyn, N.Y. kPOY: John Collins, Wake Forest Regular season champ: North Carolina (preseason #5 / 1st ACC, current #4) Overachiever: Wake Forest (preseason #76, current #30) Underachiever: N.C. State (preseason #35, current #100) The ACC makes its debut in Brooklyn this week. It appears that eight teams have at-large bids […]

Sun Belt Conference (conference rank: 15th) March 8-11 All games at New Orleans. kPOY: Kevin Hervey, UT Arlington. Regular season champ: UT Arlington (preseason #67 / 1st Sun Belt, current #72) Overachiever: Arkansas State (preseason #281, current #119) Underachiever: Little Rock (preseason #139, current #241) Last season, UT Arlington was flirting with the top 50, having beaten Memphis and Ohio […]

Southland Conference (conference rank: 27th) March 8-11 All games at Katy, Texas. kPOY: Rashawn Thomas, Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Regular season champ: New Orleans (preseason #297 / 7th Southland, current #179) Overachiever: New Orleans Underachiever: Stephen F. Austin (preseason #124, current #232) There couldn’t have many regular-season champions more surprising than New Orleans this season.

Big Sky Conference (conference rank: 26th) March 7, 9-11 All games at Reno. kPOY: Jacob Wiley, Eastern Washington. Regular season champ: North Dakota (preseason #146 / 1st Big Sky, current #184) Overachiever: Eastern Washington (preseason #250, current #186) Underachiever: Idaho State (preseason #238, current #329) Weber State, North Dakota, and Eastern Washington are ranked 183, 184, and 186, respectively, at press time. […]

Conference USA (conference rank: 20th) March 8-11 All games at Birmingham, Ala. kPOY: Jacorey Williams, Middle Tennessee. Regular season champ: Middle Tennessee (preseason #121 / 2nd CUSA, current #52) Overachiever: Middle Tennessee Underachiever: UAB (preseason #89, current #195) Many coaches and like-minded folks in the media like to criticize transfers as low-character people that can’t handle adversity. Of course, almost all […]

Southwestern Athletic Conference (conference rank: 32nd) March 7, 10-11 First round at higher seed, remaining rounds at Houston. kPOY: Zach Lofton, Texas Southern. Regular season champ: Texas Southern (preseason #248 / 1st SWAC, current #202) Overachiever: Alcorn State (preseason #338, current #287) Underachiever: Alabama A&M (preseason #347, current #351) Of all 32 conferences, the SWAC needs a tournament the least. For the […]

Mid-American Conference (conference rank: 14th) March 6, 9-11 First round at higher seed, remaining rounds at Cleveland. kPOY: Isaiah Johnson, Akron. Regular season champ: Akron (preseason #90 / 2nd MAC, current #114) Overachiever: Kent State (preseason #210, current #146) Underachiever: Central Michigan (preseason #149, current #233) The MAC seems to consistently produce a wide-open tournament especially now that they’ve switched to […]