This is college basketball’s moment on the sport calendar. Or at least when the anticipation for its moment starts to build.
The Super Bowl is over, and it’s the thick of league play with Selection Sunday and March Madness a little more than a month away. Now is the time to prepare for what’s to come on the brackets, and to catch up on the best teams as the sport barrels towards the 2025 NCAA tournament.
These last few weeks of the regular season are often what separate the top seeds from the middling ones, and the bubble teams that make it from the bubble teams that don’t. It’s also when conference champions are crowned, a distinction that carries different meanings for different leagues since conference tournament champions, not regular season champions, receive a league’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
This can be harder to judge due to the increasingly unbalanced schedules that had to be implemented after leagues expanded due to conference realignment. But the race for these regular-season conference titles are still meaningful accomplishments that most real contenders collect along the way, and the pursuit fuels the rivalries and passion that are the undercurrent of all college sports.
Heading into the final month of the 2024-25 men’s basketball regular season, there is no team running away with first place in any of the major conferences. Here’s a look at the current regular-season championship odds for the top contenders in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Mountain West Conference, American and West Coast Conference, according to BetMGM.
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NCAA basketball conference winner odds by league
*Regular season conference winner odds from BetMGM as of Tuesday, Feb. 11
ACC
The situation: Duke’s loss at Clemson last weekend gave the Tigers a chance, but they’ll have to navigate four road games over their final six regular season contests. Duke has the more favorable schedule down the stretch. Red-hot Louisville looms one-game back as well, with a tiebreaker over Clemson but not Duke.
Big Ten
The situation: There’s a three-way logjam atop the Big Ten involving Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan. The Boilermakers and Wolverines will provide a little more clarity when they play Monday night, but it’s the first of four remaining games involving the three schools.
Big East
The situation: St. John’s and Creighton meet this Saturday at Madison Square Garden with first place in the Big East on the line. The Bluejays sit one game behind St. John’s in the league standings but already own a 57-56 win over the Red Storm in Omaha earlier this season.
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Big 12
The situation: Houston and Arizona are tied atop the league with one conference loss, but their game in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday represents a two-game swing in the standings. The winner will hold the tiebreaker because it’s their only regular-season matchup this season.
SEC
The situation: The winner of this weekend’s clash between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Auburn will be in the driver’s seat for the regular-season title, but the two are scheduled to play again in their regular season finale. Don’t count out Florida or Texas A&M based on their schedules.
Mountain West Conference
The situation: New Mexico has a one-game lead on Utah State in the standings with a game between the two at The Pit in New Mexico looming this weekend. The two teams also play Boise State and San Diego State in games that will determine the regular-season champion over the next two weeks
West Coast Conference
The situation: Saint Mary’s has at least a two-loss cushion over the rest of the league (including Gonzaga), and the Gaels are likely to be favored in every remaining game except their annual matchup at Gonzaga.
American Athletic Conference
The situation: Memphis is one game ahead of UAB in the loss column of the AAC standings after beating the Blazers at home on Jan. 26, but it must still play its return game at UAB next month.
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