Checking in on the NCAA men’s basketball conference tournaments

The GIST: Dust off your dancing shoes because March Madness is right around the corner with Selection Sunday slated for, you guessed it, this Sunday. Most of the women’s conference tournaments have already wrapped, but the men are in the thick of it. Let’s shimmy into the latest.

⚙️ How it works: All 31 conferences crown a champ, an accomplishment that comes with an automatic bid to March Madness. The other 37 spots in the 68-team field will be granted via at-large berths decided by the selection committee. That means every win (and loss) matters.

📺 What to watch: With this much chaos, there’s really no wrong answer. Just ask the Big Sky’s No. 7 seed Idaho, the bid thieves who used three straight upset Ws to earn their first Big Dance berth since 1990. As for the top dogs, they hoop in the Power Four: the ACC, SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten — save nationally-ranked No. 6 UConn (Big East) and No. 12 Gonzaga (the WCC champs).

• Despite being without their star point guard for the rest of the season, Duke, aka the nation’s No. 1 team, clinched a semifinal spot yesterday in the always-tough ACC, while both the Big 12 and Big Ten boast three teams each in the AP top 10. Multiple screens at the ready.

☝️ One more thing: The Miami Ohio RedHawks were the last remaining undefeated men’s team, that is until yesterday’s stunning 87–83 loss to No. 8 seed UMass in the MAC quarter-finals. Without an automatic berth, the RedHawks’ March Madness dreams are now in the hands of the committee. May the odds be ever in their favor.