The stage is set for a wild Saturday in college basketball, as 15 of the 32 conferences will crown their tournament champions with the countdown to Selection Sunday on CBS dwindling to just one more day. While brand-name conferences such as the ACC, Big 12, Big East and Pac-12 are among those whose tournaments will be decided, the day will also belong to some of the sport’s lesser-known leagues.
Of the 15 leagues with tournament title games Saturday, most are likely to be one-bid conferences for the NCAA Tournament. That means it will be do-or-die for the hopes of many teams in action. One game that could be particularly captivating on Saturday is a Conference USA Tournament title showdown between Louisiana Tech and UAB at 8:30 pm ET on CBS Sports Network.
Neither is likely to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but whichever team gets there can be a threat. UAB (26-7) has won six straight under third-year coach Andy Kennedy, while Louisiana Tech (24-9) appears to have found its stride this week after a rough ending to its regular season.
Brackets are here! Get back in your pools and join our Men’s and Women’s Challenges for the chance to win a new truck and a college basketball dream trip!
Whoever wins it will join the parade of teams securing automatic bids to the Big Dance. Here is the full rundown of those who have punched their tickets so far.
With Selection Sunday rapidly approaching, here’s the full rundown of all those who have secured their spots in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Saturday’s conference championship games
- America East: UMBC at Vermont, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
- CAEM: Norfolk State vs. Coppin State, 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
- MAAC: Monmouth vs. Saint Peter’s, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
- Mountain West: Boise State vs. San Diego State, 6 p.m. (CBS)
- Big 12: Kansas vs. Texas Tech, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
- SWAC: Alcorn State vs. Texas Southern, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
- Big East: Villanova vs. Creighton, 6:30 p.m. (Fox)
- Mac: Akron vs. Kent State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
- BigSky: Montana State vs. Northern Colorado, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
- ACC: Duke vs. Virginia Tech, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Conference USA: Louisiana Tech vs. UAB, 8:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
- Pac-12: Arizona vs. UCLA, 9 p.m. (Fox)
- Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
- WAC: New Mexico State vs. Abilene Christian, 10 p.m. (ESPN)
- Big West: Long Beach State vs. Cal-State Fullerton, 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday’s other conference tournaments in action
2022 conference tournament schedules, champions
| Conference | Tournament website | Dates (Final TV) | 2022 Champions |
| AAFC | Fort Worth, TX | March 10-13 (ESPN) | |
| ACC | Brooklyn, NY | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
| America East | campus locations | March 6, 9 & 12 (ESPN2) | |
| Atlantic 10 | washington d.c. | March 9-13 (CBSSN) | |
| ASUN | campus locations | March 1, 3, 5 & 8 (ESPN) | Bellarmine (20-13) – x |
| Big East | new York | March 9-12 (Fox) | |
| BigSky | Boise, Idaho | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
| BigSouth | Charlotte, NC | March 2, 4-6 (ESPN2) | Longwood (26-6) |
| Big Ten | Indianapolis | March 9-13 (CBS) | |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
| Big West | Henderson, Nev. | March 8, 10-12 (ESPN2) | |
| Colonial | washington d.c. | March 5-8 (CBSSN) | Delaware (22-12) |
| Conference USA | Frisco, TX | March 8-12 (CBSSN) | |
| Horizon League | Indianapolis | March 1, 3, 7 & 8 (ESPN) | Wright State (21-13) |
| Ivy League | Cambridge, Mass. | March 12-13 (ESPN2) | |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, NJ | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
| Mac | Cleveland, Ohio | March 10-12 (ESPN2) | |
| CAEM | Norfolk, Va. | March 9-12 (ESPN2) | |
| missouri valley | St.Louis | March 3-6 (CBS) | Loyola-Chicago (25-7) |
| Mountain West | Vegas | March 9-12 (CBS) | |
| Nord Est | campus locations | Feb. 28, March 2, 5 & 8 (ESPN) | Bryant (22-9) |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Ind. | March 2-5 (ESPN2) | Murray State (30-2) |
| Pac-12 | Vegas | March 9-12 (Fox) | |
| Patriot | campus locations | March 1, 3, 6 & 9 (CBSSN) | Colgate (23-11) |
| DRY | Tampa | March 9-13 (ESPN) | |
| Southern | Asheville, NC | March 4-7 (ESPN) | Chattanooga (27-7) |
| Southland | Katy, TX | March 9-12 (ESPN2) | |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, SD | March 5-8 (ESPN2) | S. Dakota State (30–4) |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Fla. | March 3, 5-7 (ESPN2) | Georgia State (18-10) |
| SWAC | Birmingham, Ala. | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
| WAC | Vegas | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
| West Coast | Vegas | March 3-5 & 7-8 (ESPN) | Gonzaga (26-3) |
x – Bellarmine is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament so ASUN regular season champion Jacksonville State is awarded the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.