The day before Selection Sunday is one of the busiest and most drama-filled days of March Madness. No other day can match the 13 conference tournament championship games to be held Saturday that will produce the same number of automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Several automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament have already been clinched, and the journeys will come to a crashing halt for many programs looking to add their names to the list entering Selection Sunday.
Some of the big leagues such as the ACC, Big 12, Big East and Pac-12 will determine their tournament champions, but the real excitement comes from the rest of the conferences where only the winner will be going to the Big Dance.
Teams on the bubble will be watching out and pulling against potential “bid-stealers” such as UAB, which will face FAU in the Conference USA Tournament final. The Owls have already likely earned a bid in the NCAA Tournament, but if they lose to the Blazers, UAB gets the automatic bid and FAU could have to settle for an at-large bid.
And watch out for a true Cinderella in the MAAC Tournament final where No. 11 seed Marist has battled its way out of the first round to the final to face No. 1 seed Iona.
It’s all part of the perhaps the maddest day of March Madness. Here’s how to follow it. All times ET
Saturday’s conference tournament finals
ACC: No. 4 Duke vs. No. 2 Viginia
8:30 p.m. | ESPN – LIVE updates
America East: No. 2 UMass-Lowell vs. No.1 Vermont
11 a.m. | ESPN2
Big 12: No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 1 Texas
6 p.m.| ESPN – LIVE updates
Big East: No. 2 Xavier vs. No. 1 Marquette
6:30 p.m. | Fox – LIVE updates
Big West: No. 4 Cal State-Fullerton vs. No. 2 UC-Santa Barbara
9:30 p.m. | ESPN2
Conference USA: No. 3 UAB vs. No. 1 FAU
8:30 p.m. | CBS Sports Network
MAAC: No. 11 Marist vs. No. 1 Iona
7:30 p.m. | ESPNU
MAC: No. 2 Kent State vs. No. 1 Toledo
7:30 p.m. | ESPN2
MEAC: No. 3 Norfolk State vs. No. 1 Howard
1 p.m. | ESPN2
Mountain West: No. 3 Utah State vs. No. 1 San Diego State
6 p.m. | CBS
Pac-12: No. 2 Arizona vs. No.1 UCLA
10:30 p.m. | ESPN – LIVE updates
SWAC: No. 8 Texas Southern vs. No. 2 Grambling
5:30 p.m. | ESPNU
WAC:No. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Southern Utah
11:30 p.m.| ESPN2
Other conference tournaments in action Saturday
American: Semifinals – LIVE updates
Atlantic 10 – Semifinals
Big Ten: Semifinals – LIVE updates
SEC: Semifinals – LIVE updates
2023 conference tournament schedules, champions
| Conference | Tournament site | Dates (Final TV) | 2023 Champion |
| AAC | Fort Worth, Texas | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
| ACC | Greensboro, N.C. | March 7-11 (ESPN) | |
| America East | Campus sites | March 4, 7 & 11 (ESPN2) | |
| Atlantic 10 | Brooklyn, NY | March 7-9, 11-12 (CBSSN) | |
| ASUN | Campus sites | Feb. 27-28, March 2, 5 (ESPN2) | Kennesaw State |
| Big East | New York | March 8-11 (Fox) | |
| Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 4-8 (ESPN2) | Montana State |
| Big South | Charlotte, N.C. | March 1, 3-5 (ESPN2) | UNC-Asheville |
| Big Ten | Chicago | March 8-12 (CBS) | |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 8-11 (ESPN) | |
| Big West | Henderson, Nev. | March 7, 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
| Colonial | Washington D.C. | March 3-7 (CBSSN) | Charleston |
| Conference USA | Frisco, Texas | March 8-11 (CBSSN) | |
| Horizon League | Indianapolis | Feb. 28, March 2, 6-7 (ESPN) | Northern Kentucky |
| Ivy League | Princeton, N.J. | March 11-12 (ESPN2) | |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 7-11 (ESPNU) | |
| MAC | Cleveland | March 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
| MEAC | Norfolk, Va. | March 8-11 (ESPN2) | |
| Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 2-5 (CBSSN) | Drake |
| Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 8-11 (CBS) | |
| Northeast | Campus sites | March 1, 4 & 7 (ESPN2) | Fairleigh Dickinson-x |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Ind. | March 1-4 (ESPN2) | Southeast Missouri |
| Pac-12 | Las Vegas | March 8-11 (ESPN) | |
| Patriot | Campus sites | Feb. 28, March 2,5 & 8 (CBSSN) | Colgate |
| SEC | Nashville | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
| Southern | Asheville, N.C | March 3-6 (ESPN) | Furman |
| Southland | Lake Charles, La. | March 5-8 (ESPN2) | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 3-7 (ESPN2) | Oral Roberts |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Fla. | Feb. 28, March 2, 4 & 6 (ESPN2) | Louisiana |
| SWAC | Birmingham, Ala. | March 8-11 (ESPNU) | |
| WAC | Las Vegas | March 7, 9-11 (ESPN2) | |
| West Coast | Las Vegas | March 2-4 & 6-7 (ESPN) | Gonzaga |
x – Merrimack won the NEC Tournament but isn’t eligible for the NCAA Tournament; Fairleigh Dickinson is awarded the league’s automatic bid.
Who wins every college basketball game, and which teams will sink your bankroll? Visit SportsLine now to see how to pick the spread, over-under, and money line in each tournament game, all from the model that simulates every possession 10,000 times.
