NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 32 conference tournaments for 2019-20
By Connor Hope
12) West Coast Conference
March 5-8
The WCC is certainly better now than it was five years ago, but that does not mean Gonzaga is less of a favorite to win the auto-bid. BYU appears to be the only team standing in the Zags way, and they are not guaranteed to make it to the Championship Game. The tournament format, however, should keep most of the games close, so that will at least give fans in attendance a reason not to hit the tables at the half. If we get USF-Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s-BYU in the semifinals, it could be one of the best tournaments in the first week.
11) Big 12 Conference
March 11-14
The Big 12 may be one of the five best conferences in the country, but that doesn’t mean the conference tournament will be all that interesting until the end. There are really only three teams that I can see winning the auto-bid: Kansas, because they are the best team in the country; Baylor, because they may be the most complete team in the country; and Iowa State, because that is how the Big 12 Tournament works. The Baylor-Kansas Championship Game could be the most exciting game of the season, but the rest of the tournament may not be much more than a formality.
10) Mountain West Conference
March 4-7
If you have told me three weeks ago that the Mountain West Conference would be one of the 10 most anticipated conference tournaments this season, I would have called you crazy. San Diego State was riding high, carrying an undefeated record and one of the best margins of victory in the country. The last three games, however, have been a struggle with a loss at home against UNLV and two tough wins over Colorado State and Nevada. The apparent vulnerability of San Diego State has added additional bid-steal intrigue to a previously set in stone tournament.
9) Missouri Valley Conference
March 5-8
One of the few true bid steal opportunities this season, Arch Madness will have a ton of bubble teams rooting for Northern Iowa and the rest of the country rooting for madness. The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is still one of the more underrated events in college basketball, but I am not sure how it will stack up this season. The atmosphere will be great and UNI has already shown some vulnerability, but it is unclear which teams can really beat them on a neutral floor. Loyola-Chicago is probably the best bet, but even they appear to be three steps behind the Panthers.