NCAAW: Going for the ’ship

The GIST: Hello, March and hello, madness. While we count down toSelection Sunday, some conference tournaments are getting underway, with four of the Power Five tourneys tipping off today. Let’s get ready for game time, baby.

The context: The single-elimination conference tournaments are a BFD. With 68 March Madness spots available (for the first time ever!), 32 of those are “automatic qualifiers,” representing the 32 Division I conferences. In short, win your conference title and you’re going to the Big Dance.

• Teams who don’twin their conference will still have a chance to be selected for March Madness, but their hopes rest on being granted one of the highly coveted 36 at-large bids.

• As each conference operates on their own schedule, some tourneys have already started, with the first champs set to be crowned this Sunday. Give us all of the hoops, please.

Must-watch games: Tomorrow’s Pac-12 slate features some of the nation’s best squads. Defending champs No. 2 Stanford begin play at 5:30 p.m. ET, where they’ll face the winner of tonight’s 5:30 p.m. ET matchup between Oregon State and Arizona State. Then friend of The GIST Sedona Prince and Oregon take on either UCLA or USC at 9 p.m. ET.

• Over in the stacked SEC, five of the top-25 teams will go head-to-head for the title, including Aliyah Boston’s No. 1 South Carolina. Other SEC squads to watch include No. 23 Florida and No. 24 Georgia, who begin play tomorrow.

• TL;DR? Clear your cal — it’s tourney time.