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Champ Week: Predicting Power 6, top mid-major college basketball conference tournament champions

Champ Week is here in college basketball. Which programs will win the most pivotal conference tournaments ahead of Selection Sunday?

By Mike Phillips

Connecticut v Marquette
Connecticut v Marquette / Patrick McDermott/GettyImages
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ACC Tournament Prediction

  • Dates: March 12-16
  • Location: Washington, D.C.
  • Venue: Capital One Arena
  • Top Seed: North Carolina
  • Bracket

The ACC is still stuck in a down cycle as it has three legitimate tournament teams in North Carolina, Duke and Clemson along with a true bubble team in Virginia and three more (Wake Forest, Syracuse and Pittsburgh) that could really use the automatic bid to go dancing.

While there is modest bid thief potential here, Duke and North Carolina have been a cut above the rest of the conference and will find their way to the title game on Saturday night. The Tar Heels swept the season series from the Blue Devils and even though it is hard to beat the same team three times in one season, North Carolina can get the job done.

Prediction: North Carolina

Atlantic 10 Tournament Prediction

  • Dates: March 12-17
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • Venue: Barclays Center
  • Top Seed: Richmond
  • Bracket

This is a situation similar to the American where there is one near-lock for the NCAA Tournament in Dayton, which didn't even claim the top seed in the conference. The regular season crown was split between Richmond and Loyola-Chicago, with the Spiders claiming the top seed due to tiebreakers.

The hottest team right now is the Ramblers, who have surged down the stretch and made an incredible worst-to-first leap in their second year as an A-10 member. Going through Dayton in the semifinals won't be easy but Loyola Chicago has confidence from beating them a few weeks ago to get the job done and steal the league's auto bid.

Prediction: Loyola Chicago

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