NCAA women’s basketball conference tournaments heat up this weekend

The GIST: As you heard on yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, conference tournament tension will reach a fever pitch as squads scramble for automatic bids to March Madness this weekend. A whopping 32 conferences are currently duking it out, but three in particular are must-see TV.

The Big 12: Any of the seven teams that finished over .500 in conference play could feasibly make a run at the trophy. Red-hot No. 5–seed Baylor is the most dangerous underdog with their five-game win streak, but from regular-season champ Oklahoma, to betting favorite No. 2–seed Texas, to came-out-of-nowhere No. 7–seed Kansas, this tourney’s anyone’s for the taking.

The ACC: Chock-full of elite squads who love to beat up on one another, the ACC is ripe for top-notch play and potential upsets. Today’s top quarter-final matchup? No. 4–seed Notre Dame vs. No. 5–seed Louisville today at 11 a.m. ET. After that, expect tomorrow’s semis to unleash chaos.

The Pac-12: Last night’s quarter-finals delivered a double-overtime (OT) thriller, a surprisingly tight Bay Area battle, a showdown between two of the NCAA’s hottest teams, and a narrow dub. With three of the surviving teams currently in the nation’s Top 10, if you think you know what’s going to happen next — no, you don’t.