Conference tournaments begin in earnest with plenty of teams on the NCAA tourney bubble

There were plenty of men's college basketball teams sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble Monday that saw Drake beat Indiana State for the Missouri Valley Tournament title and did not know whether that was a good thing.

Had the Sycamores done enough to earn at at-large bid? Would the Bulldogs have done enough if they lost?

As most conferences get underway with their own tournaments Tuesday and Wednesday, the focus will be just as much on those teams trying to play their way into the field of 68 as those ranked in the Top 25. And each day that passes, teams precariously on the bubble will be watching results around the nation and trying to decipher where exactly they stack up.

“The guys have been watching all these conference tournaments,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said, "and you see teams — Who was it? East Tennessee State was down 20 and came back and sent it to overtime and ended up winning? And you see the guys from Chattanooga, you know? They're crying, right? The season's over. The finality of it.