Men's college basketball conference tournaments 2026: March Madness schedule, brackets, automatic-bid tracker


                        Men's college basketball conference tournaments 2026: March Madness schedule, brackets, automatic-bid tracker
By: CBS Sports Posted On: March 02, 2026 View: 2

The first conference tournament brackets for the 2025-26 season are set. Plenty of leagues will begin their respective conference tournaments next week, with teams that will be looking to extend their seasons for another day and potentially steal a bid to the NCAA Tournament in action.

Multiple brackets -- including the Patriot League, the NEC, the Ohio Valley Conference and the WCC -- were finalized this weekend as the race toward Selection Sunday becomes a full sprint to the finish line. In the WCC, Gonzaga earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Saint Mary's earned the No. 2 seed. Gonzaga and Saint Mary's will have to win just one game to advance to the conference title game.

With Gonzaga set to depart for the new-look Pac-12 this summer, a matchup between Saint Mary's and Gonzaga in the championship could be the last game between the West Coast rivals for the foreseeable future. Santa Clara, a team that enters March on the bubble, is the No. 3 seed in the conference Tournament.

In the Patriot League, Navy earned the No. 1 overall seed and earned a first-round bye. Navy will face the winner of No. 9 seed Army and No. 8 Bucknell on Thursday. In the OVC, Tennessee State earned the No. 1 seed and a triple-bye after capturing the program's first regular-season title in 32 years. Tennessee State shared the conference title with Morehead State, the No. 2 seed in the bracket.

Entering Friday, the final day of the regular season, seven different teams were mathematically alive for at least a share of the SBC championship. Troy captured the Sun Belt title after defeating UL Monroe to earn the No. 1 seed in next week's tournament. Marshall earned the No. 2 seed and the bye into the semifinals, despite losing to Georgia Southern. There was a six-way tie (with 11-7 conference records) for second place in the conference standings.

Because of 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. The tournament gets started Tuesday in Pensacola, Florida, when No. 14 seed UL Monroe will face No. 11 seed Old Dominion before No. 13 seed Georgia State meets No. 12 seed Louisiana.

The Horizon League will get college basketball's postseason underway on Monday with a first-round game between No. 10 seed Cleveland State and No. 11 seed IU Indianapolis.

While the Horizon League will be the first league to get its tournament underway, other leagues will be in action later in the week. Among the leagues that will have first-round games on Wednesday are the ASUN, Big South, Northeast, Ohio Valley and the Summit League and we are just days away from the rest of the conferences to get underway.

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.

Monday's conference tournament schedule

Tuesday's conference tournament schedule

Wednesday's conference tournament schedule

2025-26 conference tournament champions

CONFERENCEDATESLOCATIONCHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION
America EastMarch 7, 10, 14Higher seed hostsMarch 14, 11 a.m. ESPN2
AmericanMarch 11-15Birmingham, Ala.March 15, 3:15 p.m. ESPN
Atlantic 10March 11-15Pittsburgh, Pa.March 15, 1 p.m. CBS
ACCMarch 10-14Charlotte, N.C.March 14, 8:30 p.m. ESPN
ASUNMarch 4,6-8Jacksonville, Fla.March 8, 2 p.m. ESPN2
Big 12March 10-14Kansas City, Mo.March 14, 6 p.m. ESPN
Big EastMarch 11-14New York CityMarch 14, 6:30 p.m. FOX
Big SkyMarch 7-11Boise, IdahoMarch 11, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2
Big SouthMarch 4, 6-8Johnson City, Tenn.March 8, 12 p.m. ESPN2
Big TenMarch 10-15ChicagoMarch 15, 3:30 p.m. CBS
Big WestMarch 11-14Henderson, Nev.March 14, 10 p.m. ESPN2
CAAMarch 6-10Washington, D.C.March 10, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network
Conference USAMarch 10-14Huntsville, Ala.March 14, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network
Horizon LeagueMarch 2,4,8-10IndianapolisMarch 10, 7 p.m. ESPN
Ivy LeagueMarch 14-15Ithaca, N.Y.March 15, 12 p.m. ESPN2
MAACMarch 5-10Atlantic City, N.J.March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN2
MACMarch 12-14ClevelandMarch 14, 8 p.m. ESPN2
MEACMarch 11-14Norfolk, Va.March 14, 1 p.m. ESPN2
Missouri ValleyMarch 5-8St. LouisMarch 8, 12 p.m. CBS
Mountain WestMarch 11-14Las VegasMarch 14, 6 p.m. CBS
NortheastMarch 4,7,10Higher seed hostsMarch 10, 7 p.m. ESPN2
Ohio ValleyMarch 4-7Evansville, Ind.March 7, 8 p.m. ESPN2
Patriot LeagueMarch 3,5,8,11Higher seed hostsMarch 11, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network
SECMarch 11-15Nashville, Tenn.March 15, 1 p.m. ESPN
SoConMarch 6-9Asheville, N.C.March 9, 7 p.m. ESPN
SouthlandMarch 8-11Lake Charles, La.March 11, 5 p.m. ESPN2
SWACMarch 9-14AtlantaMarch 14, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU
Summit LeagueMarch 4-8Sioux Falls, S.D.March 8, 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network
Sun BeltMarch 3-9Pensacola, Fla.March 9, 6 p.m. ESPN2
West CoastMarch 5-10Las VegasMarch 10, 9 p.m. ESPN
WACMarch 11-14Las VegasMarch 14, 12 a.m. ESPN2

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