At this point, barring a couple of potential late games tonight, I believe everyone has completed their regular season. Championship Week is ready to truly begin!
In most years, winning the regular season conference championship meant a lot more than simply a banner. For many of the smaller conferences, it also meant a guarantee that you would be playing somewhere in March. If you won the conference tournament, you were dancing. But even if you were upset, you got a chance to play in the NIT. For a small conference, getting exposure from a deep NIT run can help their program. And at a minimum, it was a chance to play one more game that mattered.
Unfortunately, with the NIT being shrunk to 16 teams, that guarantee is gone this year. And there are already 5 regular season champs who have been eliminated from their conference tournament. You never know who the NCAA will pick for the 16 teams, but I suspect that the regular season champ of a small conference isn’t likely tops on their list. They know they will make more money if the bigger schools are there.
So, I feel it is important at this time to congratulate all those regular season champions – especially those who might already have fallen in their conference tournaments.
Editors note: A few conferences have not posted their full bracket yet – so I used the standings page to determine their regular season champion – so a couple of these might be unofficial. If I notice a change, we will edit this – especially since I might use this to track the tournament champions
| CONFERENCE | CHAMP DATE | REG SEASON CHAMP | RESULT | CONF CHAMP |
| Ohio Valley | 3/6 | Belmont | Lost in champ to Morehead St 86-71 | Morehead St |
| Atlantic Sun | 3/7 | Liberty | Beat North Alabama 79-75 | Liberty |
| Big South | 3/7 | Winthrop | Beat Campbell 80-53 | Winthrop |
| Missouri Valley | 3/7 | Loyola Chicago | Beat Drake 75-65 | Loyola Chicago |
| Southern | 3/8 | UNC Greensboro | Championship vs Mercer | |
| Sun Belt | 3/8 | Texas State | Lost to Appalachian State 76-73 (Quarterfinals) | Georgia State vs Appalachian State |
| Colonial | 3/9 | James Madison | Lost to Elon 72-71 (Quarterfinals) | |
| Horizon | 3/9 | Cleveland State | Semifinals vs Milwaukee | |
| Northeast | 3/9 | Wagner | Lost to Mt St Marys 66-60 (Semifinals) | Bryant vs Mt St Marys |
| Summit | 3/9 | South Dakota St | Semifinals vs Oral Roberts | |
| West Coast | 3/9 | Gonzaga | Semifinals vs St Mary’s | |
| ACC | 3/13 | Virginia | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| America East | 3/13 | UMBC | Lost to UMass Lowell 79-77 (Semifinals) | Hartford vs UMass Lowell |
| Big 12 | 3/13 | Baylor | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Big East | 3/13 | Villanova | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Big Sky | 3/13 | Southern Utah | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Big West | 3/13 | UC Santa Barbara | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Conf USA | 3/13 | Western Kentucky | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| MAAC | 3/13 | Siena | Quarterfinals on 3/10 | |
| MAC | 3/13 | Toledo | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| MEAC | 3/13 | North Carolina A&T | Semifinals on 3/12 | |
| Mt West | 3/13 | San Diego St | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Pac 12 | 3/13 | Oregon | Quarterfinals on 3/11 | |
| Southland | 3/13 | Nicholls | Semifinals on 3/12 | |
| SWAC | 3/13 | Prairie View A&M | Quarterfinals on 3/10 | |
| WAC | 3/13 | Grand Canyon | Semifinals on 3/12 | |
| American | 3/14 | Wichita State | Quarterfinals on 3/12 | |
| Atlantic 10 | 3/14 | St Bonaventure | Championship vs VCU | |
| Big 10 | 3/14 | Michigan | Quarterfinals on 3/12 | |
| Patriot | 3/14 | Navy | Lost to Loyola MD 76-68 (Quarterfinals) | Semis on Wed |
| SEC | 3/14 | Alabama | Quarterfinals on 3/12 |