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As conference regular seasons trickle away, it's getting closer to conference tournament time.
Let's have a skinny on the Power Five conference tournaments, where they take place, who's ahead of the crowd, and what it all means in the big picture of the NCAA Tournament.
College Basketball Conference Tournament prediction 2024
ACC
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Duke and North Carolina, not surprisingly, are the two biggest favorites. Of the two, Duke is the team looking more consistent, which is surprising, given UNC's pair of senior stars, RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. Duke's outstanding sophomore class is coming on, giving the Devils the edge. Early pick is Duke.
Big Ten
Purdue has run away with the league in the regular season. It's not difficult to imagine the Boilermakers sweeping away the conference tournament crown.
Purdue has Zach Edey, who is probably the best player in the nation, and a core of excellent guards led by Braden Smith. Illinois is the only other ranked team, and Purdue is the easy pick here.
Big 12
This is a much more difficult tournament to forecast. Houston's outstanding defense makes it the likely favorite, while Kansas's talent and history is imposing.
Baylor, Texas Tech and BYU are also ranked, but the pick here is Iowa State. The Cyclones are playing excellent basketball and have the best mix of elite offense and defense. It will be a grind, but we take the Cyclones.
Pac-12
Arizona and Washington State are the only ranked teams in the league, and Arizona is head and shoulder above the field.
Caleb Love is one of the most complete players in college basketball and will keep Arizona's top ranked offense humming. It matters more in the Pac-12 than most leagues. The tournament looks like a shootout, and that's Arizona's game.
SEC
Alabama is the offensive dynamo, but Kentucky just exposed the Tide's defense. Kentucky could be dangerous, but so could Auburn or even Florida or South Carolina.
However, the best team in the league has been Tennessee. Dalton Knecht is a next-level scorer, while UT's depth could wear down other SEC teams. We take the Vols.
NCAA Basketball Conference Tournament Locations 2024
ACC: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Big Ten: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Big 12: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO
Pac-12: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
SEC: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
How do Conference Tournaments Work in College Basketball?
For the power conferences, the conference tournament is mostly a way to hone post-season skills.
For smaller conferences, the conference tournament winner will likely take the lone NCAA Tournament bid. But larger conferences, albeit with some variations in the number of teams playing and byes given to higher-ranked teams, make everyone play to single-elimination victory of banquishment.
Is it pivotal for the NCAA Tournament? Rarely, unless the winner comes from nowhere to snag an NCAA Tournament bid, but it's certainly exciting and entertaining seeing teams battle to a championship.
Who do you like in the conference tournaments? Which will be the best? Weigh in below in the comments section.
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