The first conference tournaments for the 2025-26 college basketball season are underway. On Tuesday, the Sun Belt and the Patriot League began their respective tournaments less than 24 hours after the first postseason game of 2026 between No. 10 seed Cleveland State and No. 11 seed IU Indianapolis in the Horizon League play-in game.
No. 8 seed Bucknell defeated No. 9 seed Army 65-55 to advance. On the other side of the bracket, No. 10 Holy Cross knocked out No. 7 seed Lafayette from NCAA Tournament contention with a 65-55 win. Bucknell will face No. 1 seed Army and Holy Cross will play No. 2 seed Lehigh on Thursday.
In the Sun Belt, No. 12 seed Louisiana opened the tournament with an 84-75 win over No. 13 seed Georgia State to set up a date with No. 9 seed James Madison on Wednesday. On the other side, No. 11 Old Dominion defeated No. 14 seed UL Monroe 87-80 and will face No. 10 seed Georgia Southern also on Wednesday.
Bracketology: Iowa State falls to No. 4 seed as Texas Tech rises in NCAA Tournament projection
David Cobb
Due to the Sun Belt’s tournament format, which places the top two seeds in the conference’s semifinals, Troy and Marshall will need to win just one game next weekend (March 8) to advance to the Sun Belt Tournament championship game.
In the Horizon League, Green Bay, coached by Doug Gottlieb, advanced to the next round with an 64-56 win over No. 6 seed Purdue Fort-Wayne. The Horizon League, alongside the ASUN, Big South, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Summit League and Sun Belt will be in action on Wednesday.
When conference tournament results roll in, we’ll be keeping track of them here as teams begin to claim automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament with the first ticket punched on Saturday when the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament crowns its champion with No. 1 seed Tennessee State and No. 2 seed Morehead State expected to battle for the conference’s AQ spot in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Tuesday’s conference tournament results
Wednesday’s conference tournament schedule
2025-26 conference tournament champions
| CONFERENCE | DATES | LOCATION | CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION |
| America East | March 7, 10, 14 | Higher seed hosts | March 14, 11 a.m. ESPN2 |
| American | March 11-15 | Birmingham, Ala. | March 15, 3:15 p.m. ESPN |
| Atlantic 10 | March 11-15 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | March 15, 1 p.m. CBS |
| ACC | March 10-14 | Charlotte, N.C. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. ESPN |
| ASUN | March 4,6-8 | Jacksonville, Fla. | March 8, 2 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big 12 | March 10-14 | Kansas City, Mo. | March 14, 6 p.m. ESPN |
| Big East | March 11-14 | New York City | March 14, 6:30 p.m. FOX |
| Big Sky | March 7-11 | Boise, Idaho | March 11, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big South | March 4, 6-8 | Johnson City, Tenn. | March 8, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big Ten | March 10-15 | Chicago | March 15, 3:30 p.m. CBS |
| Big West | March 11-14 | Henderson, Nev. | March 14, 10 p.m. ESPN2 |
| CAA | March 6-10 | Washington, D.C. | March 10, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Conference USA | March 10-14 | Huntsville, Ala. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Horizon League | March 2,4,8-10 | Indianapolis | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Ivy League | March 14-15 | Ithaca, N.Y. | March 15, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAAC | March 5-10 | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAC | March 12-14 | Cleveland | March 14, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MEAC | March 11-14 | Norfolk, Va. | March 14, 1 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | March 5-8 | St. Louis | March 8, 12 p.m. CBS |
| Mountain West | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 6 p.m. CBS |
| Northeast | March 4,7,10 | Higher seed hosts | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Ohio Valley | March 4-7 | Evansville, Ind. | March 7, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Patriot League | March 3,5,8,11 | Higher seed hosts | March 11, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| SEC | March 11-15 | Nashville, Tenn. | March 15, 1 p.m. ESPN |
| SoCon | March 6-9 | Asheville, N.C. | March 9, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Southland | March 8-11 | Lake Charles, La. | March 11, 5 p.m. ESPN2 |
| SWAC | March 9-14 | Atlanta | March 14, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU |
| Summit League | March 4-8 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 8, 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Sun Belt | March 3-9 | Pensacola, Fla. | March 9, 6 p.m. ESPN2 |
| West Coast | March 5-10 | Las Vegas | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN |
| WAC | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 12 a.m. ESPN2 |
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