The WCC Tournament and Arch Madness headline an action-packed first half of the conference tournament season.
As several conferences finish their regular-season slate, others are in the process of determining their leagues automatic bids. We have already had six days of conference tournament action, and seven tickets will be punched before any of the high-major conference tournaments even begin.
With that in mind, here is a look at the 10 most intriguing events of the first half of the 2025 conference tournament season.
More Heat Check CBB:
- Bracketology: Projected field | Bubble Watch
- Tournament Index: Complete March Madness projections
- Full conference tournament TV schedule
10. Alabama at Auburn — Saturday, 2:30 PM ET, ESPN
While most of this list will focus on mid-major conference tournament action, it’s hard to ignore this massive SEC matchup. The Tigers host the Crimson Tide on Senior Night in what is the final top-10 matchup of the regular season. Both teams still have national championship aspirations, and a win for Alabama would lock them in to the 3-seed in the SEC tournament — and sparing them a potential rematch with Auburn in the Semifinals. Alabama’s Mark Sears and Auburn’s Johni Broome are both Hoop Hall Awards finalists, and each should put on a show in what will be their final regular-season games. While it shouldn’t take away from the importance of the conference tournaments, this game is an excellent appetizer to what should be a wildly entertaining SEC tournament.
9. Horizon League Tournament — Championship: Tuesday, 7 PM, ESPN
The Horizon League semifinals are set, with the four remaining teams resuming play in Indianapolis on Monday to compete for the league’s automatic bid. For the most part, the tournament has been chalk, helped by the home-site games of the first two rounds. However, there was one exception: Oakland upset Milwaukee and is now two games away from returning to the tournament just one season after upsetting Kentucky in the Big Dance. The Golden Grizzlies will next face Robert Morris, and though the Colonials are the favorites to win the tournament, they split their season series with the other semifinalists, Youngstown State and Cleveland State. The final three games on a neutral floor should be the perfect ending to an event that has already seen several great games.
8. Summit League Tournament — Championship: Sunday, 9 PM, CBS Sports Network
The Summit League Tournament is generally one of the better offensive showcases during Championship Week. The league had just three teams rank outside the top 160 in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency, and those three teams have already been eliminated. Meanwhile, the remaining semifinalists all rank outside the top 250 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Coupled with the league’s overall up-tempo style of play, these games should be entertaining for all who tune in. Among the upset contenders, 5-seed South Dakota plays the third-fastest pace in America and will look to take out regular-season champs Omaha, with both schools looking for their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. Meanwhile, 6-seed North Dakota just knocked off South Dakota State behind Treysen Eaglestaff‘s incredible 51-point outburst. The only downside: The winner may not get to play in the NCAA Tournament, as St. Thomas is still in its probationary period after transitioning from Division III.
7. Big South Conference Tournament — Championship: Sunday, 12 PM, ESPN2
The High Point Panthers, which went 14-2 in league play, won their quarterfinals matchup against Gardner-Webb by 21 points for their 12th straight win. The Panthers — led by potential March stars like Kezza Giffa, Kimani Hamilton and D’Maurian Williams — have won their past six games by double digits, and they are looking like a strong Cinderella candidate if they can earn the first Division I NCAA Tournament bid in program history. If you want to get to know the Panthers before filling out your brackets, make sure to watch their final two games of this event. Meanwhile, the other three semifinalists are all 20-win teams — and 3-seed UNC Asheville gave HPU one of its Big South losses before taking the Panthers to OT in the rematch. The scores of those two games were 103-99 and 104-100, respectively, setting up a potentially explosive rubber match in Sunday’s title game.
6. Ohio Valley Conference Tournament — Championship: Saturday, 9 PM, ESPN2
While the OVC might not be the best conference in the country — KenPom has the league ranked 28 out of 31, with no teams ranked in the top 200 — this will still be the first ticket punched for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The final pits rivals SEMO and SIUE against each other, providing the icing on the cake. Southeast Missouri swept the regular-season series to lock up the conference title, winning both games by a combined 31 points. The potential for this game to be a repeat of the previous two is what keeps it on the bottom half of this list. However, with SIUE chasing its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, don’t expect the Cougars to go down without a fight.
5. Southern Conference Tournament — Championship: Monday, 7 PM, ESPN
The SoCon is one of the strongest conferences playing a conference tournament this weekend. Of the eight remaining teams, KenPom has six of them ranked between 105th and 150th in the country. After a 4-3 start to conference play, Chattanooga has won 11 straight games heading into the conference tournament. It will take a herculean effort to beat the Mocs at this point, but potential upsets like this are what make March Madness great. The winner of the Samford-Furman quarterfinal will provide a stiff semifinal challenge should Chattanooga make it there, with UNC Greensboro and East Tennessee State looking the most dangerous on the other side of the bracket.
4. Sun Belt Conference Tournament — Championship: Monday, 7 PM, ESPN2
Coming into the season, the Sun Belt was expected to be one of the most competitive leagues in the country. That expectation was proven correct, with the conference’s regular-season title eventually being shared by four teams. The Sun Belt gives the top two seeds (South Alabama and James Madison) a bye to the semifinals, while the 3- and 4-seeds (Troy and Arkansas State) receive a bye to the quarterfinals. As a result, those four teams will not begin postseason play until Saturday. In the meantime, 10-seed Old Dominion has won three games over the past three days to make a surprise quarterfinal appearance. If the rest of the tournament is anything like the regular season, fans are in for multiple close contests that could be remembered for years.
3. Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament — Championship: Sunday, 2 PM, ESPN2
With its overtime win over Queens, Lipscomb advanced to its first ASUN title game since 2020, where the Bison will face North Alabama, the team that eliminated them last season. As for UNA, this has been a dream season for Tony Pujol’s squad, which has put together the program’s first 20-win season and won its regular-season conference title at the Division I level. A win over Lipscomb would catapult the Lions to their first D-I NCAA Tournament as well. Both finalists are a threat to pull an upset over an unsuspecting 3- or 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and this ASUN Championship game should be one of the most entertaining mid-major title bouts of the season.
2. Missouri Valley Conference Tournament — Championship: Sunday, 2:15 PM, CBS
Arch Madness is almost always one of the best events in college basketball, and this year has been no different. So far, the MVC conference tournament has played host to a surprising upset run — 11-seed Valparaiso beat UIC and Northern Iowa to advance to the semifinals — and multiple final-possession wins. The Drake Bulldogs are also in the semis, and a win there would potentially lock them into the NCAA Tournament. If that happens, the championship game could become a possible bid-stealing opportunity for Valpo or, perhaps more likely, 2-seed Bradley. However, if Belmont knocks Drake out on Saturday, it will be a long week in Des Moines as the Bulldogs sweat out their NCAA Tournament fate.
1. West Coast Conference Tournament — Championship: Tuesday, 9 PM, ESPN
The WCC is the only top-10 league (by KenPom standards) to play a first-weekend tournament. While it is likely that either Saint Mary’s or Gonzaga will cut down the nets, the strength of the next handful of teams provides at least a small chance that the first bid stealer appears before the bigger tournaments even begin. Even if Santa Clara, San Francisco or Oregon State aren’t able to upset either of the top two teams, a game between the Gaels and the Bulldogs would be the best possible matching during this first slate of conference tournaments.