Taking a Look at Regular Season Conference Titles That Will Be Decided Today
Sure, there are conference tournaments going on today. Sure, there are bubble teams playing all over the place. But, there are also regular season conference titles that will be decided today as well. These are vital for seeding and staying close to home. Either way, here’s what we have.
ACC – Virginia clinched the ACC regular season championship.
Big East – This comes down today between Xavier and Villanova. It’s quite simple. If Xavier beats DePaul at DePaul, the Musketeers will be your outright Big East champions. If Villanova loses to Georgetown, Xavier wins the Big East outright. If Xavier loses and Villanova wins, it will be a share of the title, but Nova will end up as the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament due to the sweep of Xavier. The Musketeers have only split with one team so far in the Big East – that was Providence. If the Big East wants two number 1 seeds, both teams need to win today and get to the Big East Tournament title game. That would keep that hope alive.
Big 12 – Kansas clinched the conference title.
SEC – This comes down between Auburn and Tennessee – just like everyone predicted all along. Both teams are currently 12-5 in SEC play, but Auburn holds the tiebreaker over Tennessee. That’s thanks to a win that no one really talked about at the time. Auburn won in Knoxville back on January 2. Similar to the Big East it’s pretty simple today. A win by Auburn at home over South Carolina gives them the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. A loss by Tennessee gives Auburn the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. Obviously a loss by Auburn and win by Tennessee would bump the Volunteers up. I’m going to guess both teams win, giving them a share of the SEC title and Auburn as the No. 1 seed.
Pac-12 – Arizona has already clinched a share of the Pac-12 title thanks to the win over Stanford in Tuscon on Thursday. However, a loss today to Cal and a win by USC over UCLA, would make it a share. It’s been a weird year in the Pac-12 and the two teams implicated by the FBI documents and then everything else going on with Arizona and De’Anthony Melton missing the entire year it’s sort of crazy that both teams are the clear top-2 teams in the conference. Again, a win by Arizona at home over Cal and they are the outright Pac-12 champs and pretty much holding on to that top-4 protected seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MWC – Nevada clinched the Mountain West regular season title.
A-10 – Rhode Island clinched the A-10 regular season title.
Conference-USA – Middle Tennessee State clinched the C-USA title.
Sun Belt – Louisiana Lafayette clinched the Sun Belt title.
Big Sky – Montana clinched the Big Sky regular season title.
WAC – New Mexico State clinched the WAC regular season title.
Big Sky – UC-Irvine and UC-Davis are currently tied on top of the standings with an 11-4 record. The two teams play today at UC-Irvine. UC-Davis won the earlier matchup this year at home 64-53. The winner of the Big Sky will likely be a 16 seed, maybe a 15 seed, but either way we have a game tonight to determine the regular season champ.
Ivy League – Penn and Harvard are tied on top of the standings with an 11-2 record. Penn plays today at Brown while Harvard plays home to Columbia. A win by Penn would give it the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament (second year of this).
Southland Conference – Nicholls State is currently leading the Southland Conference at 15-2. However, it plays at Southeastern Louisiana today, who is second in the standings. A win by Southeastern Louisiana today at home would create a share for the title. Again, just another awesome ending for conference play. There are a handful of leagues that will be decided with one game today.
SWAC – If Grambling State wins today at Alabama State it will win the SWAC outright. Grambling is currently 12-5 in SWAC play with Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M and Arkansas Pine-Bluff all at 11-6.