College basketball conference tournament favorites to know during men’s Championship Week

Conference tournaments have begun in men’s college basketball and we break down the teams you should be following.

These teams aren’t going anywhere but the NIT (maybe) if they get upset over the next 11 days. Still, they’ve established themselves as the top dog in their respective leagues and are on track to scare the hell out of a single-digit seed on the NCAA tournament’s opening weekend.

1. Yale (Ivy League)

Did you know that the Ivy League is almost .500 in the last five NCAA tournaments? Because the Ivy League is almost .500 in the last five NCAA tournaments.

Yale knocked off Auburn last March, and upset that came just a year after Princeton made a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16.

The Bulldogs have dominated the rest of the Ivies so far this season (12-1) and are fully capable of having another magical March moment (or two) in a couple of weeks.

2. Akron (Mid-American)

Typically one of the more balanced conferences in the sport, the MAC has been dominated by the Zips this season. Akron is 16-1 in league play heading into their regular season finale, with their lone loss coming on the road against Ohio.

They still need to win the MAC tournament to go dancing, but this is a team with more than enough offensive firepower to knock off a four or five seed in the first round.

3. High Point (Big South)

The Panthers have a sparkling 26-5 overall record and finished the regular season three games clear of both Winthrop and UNC Asheville.

4. McNeese (Southland)

You know about Will Wade. You know about the gaudy record (25-6, 19-1).

But let’s get to the real star of the show here …

His team has to take care of business in the Southland tourney, but this man was built for March Madness.

5. Towson (Coastal Athletic Association)

Towson may have been the worst program in Division-I when Pat Skerry took over in 2011-12. In his first season on the job, the Tigers started 0-22 and finished 1-31. Last week they wrapped up their first outright regular season conference championship under Skerry’s watch. Next up is trying to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.

6. Chattanooga (Southern)

The Mocs have been the class of the SoCon all season, claiming the regular season title by two games. That’s especially important in a conference where the No. 1 seed has won the league tournament a whopping seven years in a row. The next longest streak in Division-I is three.

7. Omaha (Summit League)

If you haven’t heard about the Mavericks, now is the time to familiarize yourself.

Omaha was picked to finish eighth in the Summit League before the start of the season, but wound up winning the league’s regular season title by a game over St. Thomas.

That’s not the wild part of Omaha’s story, though. The wild part is the tradition the Mavericks created of beating the absolute hell out of a trashcan in their locker room following wins.

If you’re wondering what that looks like, it’s pretty much just like it sounds.

Greatest sport in the world.

8. Southern (SWAC)

There’s still a week left in the SWAC’s regular season, but the Jaguars have already locked up a share of the league’s regular season title, and are a near lock to win it outright. They’ve lost just twice since the calendar flipped to 2025.