The ASUN Tournament semifinals provided plenty of drama Wednesday as No. 6 seed Queens pushed No. 1 seed Lipscomb to overtime before falling 81-75. Had Queens pulled the upset, it would have clinched the first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance for No. 2 seed North Alabama.
Since Queens is still completing its mandatory four-year transition period to Division I, the Royals are not eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament. Thus, if they had upset Lipscomb, North Alabama would have become the league’s rep for the Big Dance after the Lions bested No. 4 seed Jacksonville 78-63 in the other semifinal.
Either way, North Alabama earned a spot in the ASUN Tournament championship game on Sunday. But things would have been much easier for UNA if Queens had taken down Lipscomb. Now, instead of playing at home in the title game with a spot in the NCAA Tournament already secured, UNA will be required to travel to Lipscomb for a winner-take-all showdown.
Conference tournament action will continue heating up Friday as the Southern Conference and CAA join the fray with their first rounds getting underway. Other tournaments will be progressing along, including the Missouri Valley Conference, which is set for four quarterfinal games.
Among those from the Valley in action will be No. 1 seed Drake, which takes on No. 8 seed Southern Illinois. The Bulldogs (27-3) have withstood the loss of coach Darian DeVries to West Virginia with little trouble to cement their place as one of the top threats from the mid-major ranks.
First-year coach Ben McCollum has established himself as a rising star in the profession after arriving from Division II Northwest Missouri State, where he won four national championships. The Bulldogs harbor faint hopes of making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. But if they were to stumble in the league tournament, it would mean that the MVC’s NCAA Tournament representative will be a less frightening team than Drake, which went 3-0 against high-major competition in non conference play.
SportsLine conference tournament odds, picks: Proven experts share best bets for every tourney
Thursday’s conference tournament scoreboard
2025 conference tournaments
| Conference | Location | Dates | Championship game / Tournament champion |
| ACC | Charlotte, North Carolina | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| America East | Campus sites | March 8,11,15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 11 a.m. | ESPN2 |
| American | Fort Worth, Texas | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 3:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| ASUN | Campus sites | March 2,3,6,9 | Sun., Mar. 9, 2 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Atlantic 10 | Washington D.C. | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 1 p.m. | CBS |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6 p.m. | ESPN |
| Big East | New York City | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
| Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 8-12 | Wed., Mar. 12, 11:30 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Big South | Johnson City, Tennessee | March 5,7-9 | Sun., Mar. 9, 12 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Big Ten | Indianapolis | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 3:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Big West | Henderson, Nevada | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 9:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Coastal Athletic | Washington D.C. | March 7-11 | Tue., Mar. 11, 7 p.m. | CBSSN |
| Conference USA | Huntsville, Alabama | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 8:30 p.m. | CBSSN |
| Horizon League | Campus sites | March 4,6,10,11 | Tue., Mar. 11, 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Ivy | Providence, Rhode Island | March 15-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 12 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, New Jersey | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 7:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
| MAC | Cleveland | March 13-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 7:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| MEAC | Norfolk, Virginia | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 1 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 6-9 | Sun., Mar. 9, 2:10 p.m. | CBS |
| Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 12-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 6 p.m. | CBS |
| Northeast | Campus sites | March 5,8.11 | Tue., Mar. 11, 7 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Indiana | March 5-8 | Sat., Mar. 8, 9 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Patriot | Campus sites | March 4,6,9,12 | Wed., Mar. 12, 7 p.m. | CBSSN |
| SEC | Nashville | March 12-16 | Sun., Mar. 16, 1 p.m. | ESPN |
| Southern | Asheville, North Carolina | March 7-10 | Mon., Mar. 10, 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Southland | Lake Charles, Louisiana | March 9-12 | Wed., Mar. 12, 5 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | March 5-9 | Sun., Mar. 9, 9 p.m. | CBSSN |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Florida | March 4-10 | Mon., Mar. 10, 7 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| SWAC | Atlanta | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 9:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
| WAC | St. George, Utah / Las Vegas | March 11-15 | Sat., Mar. 15, 11:40 p.m. | ESPN2 |
| WCC | Las Vegas | March 6-11 | Tue., Mar. 11, 9 p.m. | ESPN |
