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Five Conference Tournaments To Watch Next Week

The Big Ten Tournament is well under way. Here are five other conference tournaments to keep an eye on next week.

NCAA Basketball: Villanova at Xavier Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten Tournament is underway in New York City. The Big Ten players will have a nice, week-long rest next week while the rest of the country is fighting for their conference tournament lives. It was a challenge to narrow all of next week’s action to just five must-watch conference tournaments, but here’s what we came up with.

Five Conference Tournaments To Watch

ACC Tournament

When: March 6-10

Where: Brooklyn

Last year’s winner: Duke Blue Devils

What makes this tournament intriguing: The last six ACC Tournaments have produced six different winners, which is pretty unusual considering how dominant Duke and North Carolina usually are. The Clemson Tigers have the potential to win their first-ever ACC Tournament.

Predicted winner: Virginia Cavaliers

Atlantic 10 Tournament

When: March 7-11

Where: Washington D.C.

Last year’s winner: Rhode Island Rams

What makes this tournament intriguing: Rhode Island should be the favorite, but Tuesday night’s home loss to St. Joseph’s on senior night was one of the most shocking results of the year. The Rams were blown out, which opens the door for teams like Davidson and St. Bonaventure to come in and stamp their tickets to the NCAA Tournament.

Predicted winner: St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Big 12 Tournament

When: March 7-10

Where: Kansas City

Last year’s winner: Iowa State Cyclones

What makes this tournament intriguing: Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas have all taken turns leading this conference throughout the season. Texas Tech has never won this tournament and it would cap off a miracle season if they were to win this thing.

Predicted winner: West Virginia Mountaineers

Big East Tournament

When: March 7-10

Where: New York City

Last year’s winner: Villanova Wildcats

What makes this tournament intriguing: One can argue that this is pound for pound the best conference in college basketball. Madison Square Garden is just as famous for hosting New York Knicks and New York Rangers games as it is for hosting Big East Tournament basketball. Villanova and the Xavier Musketeers have been ranked in top 5 most of this season.

Predicted winner: Villanova

SEC Tournament

When: March 7-11

Where: St. Louis

Last year’s winner: Kentucky Wildcats

What makes this tournament intriguing: For the first time in SEC Tournament history, this game takes place in St. Louis. The Auburn Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers have been a lot better than usual torchbearer Kentucky. Missouri has some NBA-level talent. Arkansas is quietly putting together a nice season. Mississippi State and Alabama cannot be taken lightly. Florida is still Florida. It’s been impossible to predict SEC games this year. This tournament is no different.

Predicted winner: Tennessee Volunteers