Nearly half of college basketball's 68 NCAA Tournament bids are awarded to the winner of a conference tournament. Only the Ivy League (currently led by Harvard) awards an automatic bid to the regular season champion.

These tournaments provide the first dose of March Madness drama and Cinderella stories. Take Florida Gulf Coast from last year, for example. Mercer was the Atlantic Sun regular season champion, but it was FGCU who won the conference tournament and earned the NCAA tournament bid. Without the conference tournament, there would be no Dunk City!

Another example of conference tournament drama are the 2008 University of Georgia Dream Dawgs. The 13-16 Bulldogs won the SEC tournament despite an abysmal 4-12 conference record and having to win four straight backs-against-the-wall elimination games. Who will be this year's big surprise and spoil an at-large bid from a bubble team?

2014 Conference Tournament Schedule and Sites

Major Conference Tournaments

American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament

FedExForum in Memphis, TN - March 12-15

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament

Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC - March 13-16

Big 12 Tournament

Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO - March 12-15

Big East Tournament

Madison Square Garden in New York, NY - March 12-15

Big Ten Tournament

Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN - March 13-16

PAC-12 Tournament

MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, NV - March 13-16

Southeastern Conference (SEC) Tournament

Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA- March 12-16

Other Tournaments

  • America East Tournament - March 8-9, 15 - Albany, N.Y.
  • Atlantic 10 Tournament - March 12-16 - Brooklyn, NY
  • Atlantic Sun Tournament - March 4-9 - Campus sites
  • Big Sky Tournament - March 13-15 - Campus sites
  • Big South Tournament - March 5, 7-9 - Conway, SC
  • Big West Tournament - March 13-15 - Anaheim, CA
  • Colonial Tournament - March 7-10 - Baltimore, MD
  • Conference USA Tournament - March 11-15 - El Paso, TX
  • Horizon Tournament - March 4-11 - Campus sites
  • MAAC Tournament - March 6-10 - Springfield, MA
  • MAC Tournament - March 10-15 - Campus Sites
  • MEAC Tournament - March 10-15 - Norfolk, VA
  • Mountain West Tournament - March 12-15 - Las Vegas, NV
  • MVC Tournament - March 6-9 - St. Louis, MO
  • Northeast Tournament - March 5-11 - Campus sites
  • Ohio Valley Tournament - March 5-8 - Nashville, TN
  • Patriot Tournament - March 3-12 - Campus sites
  • Southern Tournament - March 7-10 - Asheville, NC
  • Southland Tournament - March 13-15 - Katy, TX
  • Summit Tournament - March 13-15 - Sioux Falls, SD
  • Sun Belt Tournament - March 13-16 - New Orleans, LA
  • SWAC Tournament - March 11-15 - Houston, TX
  • WAC Tournament - March 13-15 - Las Vegas, NV
  • West Coast Tournament - March 6-11 - Las Vegas, NV