A college basketball season full of parity and upsets culminated in an insane final few days of conference tournament championships – with a pair of Power-6 conferences being won by teams not expected to earn at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament.
First it was the Wolfpack of NC State, who became the second program ever to win five straight games in five days to win a conference championship, starting as the 10 seed in the ACC and mowing down five teams that all won a national championship this past decade in Louisville, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Then the Oregon Ducks knocked off Washington State in the final Pac-12 championship, resulting in Dana Altman’s team taking a bid.
Additionally, a pair of mid-major conferences had potential bid thieves as well. The AAC championship will be between UAB and Temple, while FAU could still earn an at-large bid despite losing in the semifinals. And finally the Atlantic 10 conference had a wild weekend where each of the top four seeds were upset on the same day, resulting in a championship battle between Duquesne and VCU, while a ranked Dayton team will likely earn an at-large bid giving the conference two teams in the big dance.
All this bid thievery is bad news for teams who were on the right side of the bubble, and is a likely death sentence for the teams who were borderline. Fans of Indiana State, Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Texas A&M, and Colorado will be extra sweaty for the next few hours until the bracket is revealed starting at 6:00 PM ET.