Conference tournaments are well underway. The bubble is popping for some teams, while others are playing themselves into higher seedings as Selection Sunday looms.
On Saturday, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and a slew of midmajors are battling in their conference tournament semifinals. The Big East is competing in the quarterfinals.
Our women’s basketball experts at The Athletic are here with their takeaways as teams fight for a conference title.
A bubble bursts
Before we even got to Championship Sunday, the bubble already burst for at least one team in women’s college hoops.
Richmond went 17-1 through Atlantic 10 play and won the conference regular-season title outright, but the Spiders dropped a stunner in the semifinals to No. 4 seed St. Joseph’s. Junior Laura Ziegler hit a game-winning jumper as time expired to lift the Hawks to a 50-49 win over the expected A-10 champs.
The Spiders were considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, so their loss has huge implications for bubble teams (and will probably leave the Spiders feeling a little anxious on Selection Sunday, too).
LAURA ZIEGLER WINS IT AT THE BUZZER!
@SJUHawks_WBB is going to the @A10WBB Championship! pic.twitter.com/Q92hgEVmUh— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 8, 2025
The Spiders had been in both Sabreena Merchant’s power rankings and in my AP Top-25 ballot over the last few weeks. The A-10 had been considered a single-bid league, but now that conference will likely steal a second bid — the first for whichever team wins the conference tournament championship, and the second for Richmond.
So, who’s biting their nails on the bubble now?
In Mark Schindler’s most recent Bubble Watch, he wrote that Virginia Tech (18-12) was his last team in, so the Hokies — in their first season under coach Megan Duffy — might not be dancing, especially after their first-round exit in the ACC tournament with a loss to Georgia Tech. Out of the Big Ten, Washington (19-13) picked up a nice first-round win over Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament but fell to a hot Michigan squad in the quarterfinals. Colorado (20-12) had been sitting on the bubble with Arizona but the Buffaloes beat the Wildcats in the first round of the Big 12 tournament before falling to regular-season champs TCU in the quarterfinals. That win should move them into slightly safer territory, but these mid-major upsets can sometimes have major domino effects for other teams, including power conference squads.
— Chantel Jennings
(Photo of Washington’s Elle Ladine: Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
