College basketball’s Champ Week has arrived as the sport will take center stage with a packed slate of conference tournament action leading into the NCAA Tournament. While several conference tournaments have already begun, and some have already crowned champions who secured automatic bids to the Big Dance, this week will feature the more prominent teams from the Power Five conferences.
With conference expansion making these tournament brackets so large, it may seem unlikely for a true underdog to make a deep run and win a conference title, but this is March where anything is possible. Just think back to NC State’s run as the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament in 2024, Georgetown’s Big East title as the No. 8 seed in 2021, or Oregon State’s Pac-12 championship as a No. 5 seed that same year.
Here are the biggest sleeper teams that could make some noise in each of the Power Five conference tournaments.
ACC: Louisville (6 seed)
The ACC has been Duke vs the field all season, and there’s no reason to think differently in the conference tournament. Louisville sits on the other side of the bracket though and has a strong chance to reach the final from the bottom half. The Cardinals have been a solid team all season and have the offensive firepower to compete with anyone in the country.
Their star freshman guard, Mikel Brown Jr., missed the final two games of the regular season due to injury, but J’Vonne Hadley and Ryan Conwell stepped up in his absence. If the Cardinals want to make a serious run through the bracket though, they will likely need Brown back on the floor.
Big 12: TCU (6 seed)
TCU has been one of the strangest teams this season looking incredible at times with wins over Florida, Iowa State, and Texas Tech, but having some head-scratching losses to teams like New Orleans, Notre Dame, and Utah. Jamie Dixon’s team is hot at the right time, winning eight of their last nine games to play their way into the NCAA tournament field. They’re a higher number seed that no one will want to face either in March Madness or this Big 12 bracket.
If they can advance to the quarterfinals, they would meet Kansas who they’d like another shot at after blowing a 15-point lead with four minutes remaining before ultimately losing to the Jayhawks in overtime back in January. BYU is another team to keep an eye on as a surprising No. 10 seed. The Cougars will end up with a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than in the conference tournament and arguably have the best player in the bracket in AJ Dybantsa.
Big East: Providence (9 seed)
I feel pretty confident saying the Big East is a two-horse race between St. John's and UConn, and would be surprised if those two teams don’t end up meeting in the finals. So let’s get a little crazy with a sleeper. Kim English and the Providence Friars will be playing with absolutely nothing to lose and had a bit of a hot stretch at the end of February.
If they can beat Butler in the opening round, they’d face the top-seeded Johnnies, who the Friars already beat once this season and played competitively against in the second meeting. We’ve already seen multiple No. 1 seeds fall in their conference tournaments, so why couldn’t it happen again? Providence could very easily lose in that opening-round game, but a team going on a run after already announcing that its coach will be fired would be a very March kind of story.
Big Ten: Purdue (7 seed)
This season has been a major disappointment for Purdue compared to preseason expectations, but this team is still very talented and may be the strongest No. 7 seed in conference tournament history. I also like how the bracket sets up for them, with likely matchups against Indiana and Nebraska to get to the semifinals.
As much as the Boilermakers have struggled down the stretch, it’s hard to count out a team with Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer who have the experience of playing at this time of year. There’s a reason the Boilermakers have the third-best odds to win the tournament despite entering as the seventh seed.
SEC: Tennessee (5 seed)
Tennessee is flying under the radar much more this year compared to past seasons, and it feels strange to see them outside the top four seeds in the SEC tournament. This isn’t the typical Rick Barnes team that prides itself primarily on defense. This Vols team is much stronger offensively, led by Nate Ament and Ja'Kobi Gillespie. Ament missed the final two games of the regular season with an injury, but Rick Barnes has said he expects him to play in the SEC tournament.
If the Vols can get through their opening game, they would face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt in what would be the third meeting between the teams in the past month, with them splitting the previous two matchups. There’s just something about no one really talking about Tennessee this year, compared to the past when they were a popular pick, that makes them more intriguing to me heading into March.