NCAAB: The Three Most Important Conference Tournaments Tipping Off This Week

The college basketball regular season is officially over, which means Championship Week is finally here! While there are a ton of great tournaments set to kick off this week, three stand out above the rest. 

Below, we will share odds and insights from our USA Legal Betting experts into the three most important conference tournaments heading into this week.

 If you are looking to boost your bankroll before March Madness betting kicks off, we have you covered!

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook 

The Big 12 has been the best conference in basketball this season, with a whopping six teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Houston is currently the top-ranked team in the country, thanks largely to their impressive 28-3 record. While their spot in the NCAA Tournament is secure, they will be playing for a shot to capture the top overall seed this week.

The six ranked teams seem to have at-large bids for March Madness locked up, there are three 20+ win teams who could miss out with a poor tournament showing. That means there will be a lot of critical matchups early on in this tournament that will have a major impact come Selection Sunday.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook 

While the Big 12 has been the best conference in the country, the SEC isn’t far behind. They have five teams currently ranked in the top 20. Tennessee leads the way at #5, meaning they will be fighting to earn a one-seed on Selection Sunday. They won the regular season by just one game over four other teams, showing how close these teams are, and signals we are in for a great tournament.

This tournament will have a major impact on the final field for the NCAA Tournament, but we are most interested in Kentucky. The Wildcats are defensive struggles have cost them, but they finished the season by winning seven of their final eight games. That run includes wins over Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Kentucky is currently #9 in the country, but we’ll see if their elite scoring can continue to cover for their poor defense.

Odds courtesy of BetRivers Sportsbook 

The Mountain West is set to have one of their best Selection Sunday in a long time. There are six teams that have won at least 22 games, along with an UNLV team that made a late charge to finish third in the conference. ESPN currently only projects that five Mountain West teams will make the tournament, meaning there will likely be two tournament-worthy teams that will lose their bids this week.

The reason we have this as one of our most important tournaments is how many slots this mid-major conference could take up in the March Madness field. We saw San Diego State make a run to the national championship game last season, but they finished fifth in the conference this season with almost the same roster.

We believe that there are seven teams in this conference capable of winning games in the Big Dance, making the Mountain West Tournament ones to watch this week.