Women's basketball conference tournaments: Tracking scores, schedules for top schools

The first dose of March Madness has arrived.

College basketball's conference tournaments serve as a prelude to the NCAA tournaments, setting the stage for unlikely upsets and shining moments between bitter rivals on a grand stage.

Tournaments for the women's game, which has enjoyed a transcendent year, are already underway. Most of the top conferences started with first-round games Wednesday, and all of them will have champions inside of a week.

Most of the intrigue starts, of course, with Caitlin Clark. The Iowa star broke the women's basketball career scoring record before becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball March 3 by passing Pete Maravich. Clark and Iowa, which have won the past two Big Ten tournaments, play their first tourney game in the quarterfinals Friday.

Not to be outdone is undefeated South Carolina and defending champion LSU, which make up the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, in the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks are the defending SEC champions and have won the conference tournament in seven of the past nine seasons. They were 36-0 last season before being knocked off by Iowa in the national semifinals to snap a 42-game winning streak. The Hawkeyes went on to lose to Angel Reese and LSU in the championship game for the Tigers' first national title.

Here are the schedules and scores from the top women's college basketball conference tournaments. (All times are Eastern.)

ACC tournament bracket

Site: Greensboro, North Carolina

First round

• Wednesday, March 6: Boston College 85, Clemson 72
• Wednesday, March 6: Georgia Tech 73, Pitt 60
• Wednesday, March 6: Wake Forest 58, Virginia 55

Second round

• Thursday, March 7: Louisville vs. Boston College winner, 11 a.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Miami vs. North Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Duke vs. Georgia Tech, 5 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Florida State vs. Wake Forest, 7:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals

• Friday, March 8: Notre Dame vs. Louisville-Notre Dame winner, 11 a.m.
• Friday, March 8: Virginia Tech vs. Miami-North Carolina winner, 1:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: NC State vs. Duke-Georgia Tech winner, 5 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: Syracuse vs. Florida State-Wake Forest winner, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals

• Saturday, March 9: Quarterfinals winners, noon and 2:30 p.m.

Championship

• Sunday, March 10: Semifinals winners, 1 p.m.

Big 12 tournament bracket

Site: Kansas City, Missouri

First round

• Thursday, March 7: Houston vs. Texas Tech, 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: UCF vs. Cincinnati, 9 p.m.

Second round

• Friday, March 8: Baylor vs. Houston-Texas Tech winner, 12 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: TCU vs. Oklahoma State, 2:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: BYU vs. Kansas, 6:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: West Virginia vs. UCF-Cincinnati winner, 9 p.m.

Quarterfinals

• Saturday, March 9: Iowa State vs. TBD, 12 p.m.
• Saturday, March 9: Oklahoma vs. TCU-Oklahoma State winner, 2:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 9: Texas vs. BYU-Kansas winner, 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 9: Kansas State vs. TBD, 9 p.m.

Semifinals

• Monday, March 11: Quarterfinals winners, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Championship

• Tuesday, March 12: Semifinals winners, 9 p.m.

Big East tournament bracket

Site: Uncasville, Connecticut

First round

• Thursday, March 8: Butler vs. Providence, 11 a.m.
• Thursday, March 8: Seton Hall vs. DePaul, 1:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 8: Georgetown vs. Xavier, 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals

• Friday, March 9: UConn vs. Butler-Providence winner, noon
• Friday, March 9: Marquette vs. Villanova, 2:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 9: Creighton vs. Seton Hall-DePaul winner, 7 p.m.
• Friday, March 9: St. John's vs. Georgetown-Xavier winner, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals

• Saturday, March 10: Quarterfinals winners, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Championship

• Sunday, March 11: Semifinals winners, 7 p.m.

Big Ten tournament bracket

Site: Minneapolis, Minnesota

First round

• Wednesday, March 6: Purdue 78, Northwestern 72
• Wednesday, March 6: Minnesota 77, Rutgers 69

Second round

• Thursday, March 7: Maryland vs. Illinois, 12:30 p.m. ET
• Thursday, March 7: Nebraska vs. Purdue, 25 minutes after Maryland-Illinois ends
• Thursday, March 7: Penn State vs. Wisconsin, 6:30 p.m. ET
• Thursday, March 7: Michigan vs. Minnesota, 25 minutes after Penn State-Wisconsin ends

Quarterfinals

• Friday, March 8: Ohio State vs. Maryland-Illinois winner, 12:30 p.m. ET
• Friday, March 8: Michigan State vs. TBD, 25 minutes after first quarterfinal ends
• Friday, March 8: Iowa vs. Penn State-Wisconsin winner, 6:30 p.m. ET
• Friday, March 8: Indiana vs. TBD, 25 minutes after third quarterfinal ends

Semifinals

• Saturday, March 9: Quarterfinals winners, 2 p.m. ET and 25 minutes after first semifinal ends

Championship game

• Sunday, March 10: Semifinals winners, noon ET

Pac-12 tournament bracket

Site: Las Vegas

First round

• Wednesday, March 6: Colorado 79, Oregon 30
• Wednesday, March 6: California 65, Washington State 44
• Wednesday, March 6: Arizona 58, Washington 50
• Wednesday, March 6: Utah 71, Arizona State 60

Quarterfinals

• Thursday, March 7: Oregon State vs. Colorado, 3 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Stanford vs. California, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: USC vs. Arizona, 9 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: UCLA vs. Utah, 11:30 p.m.

Semifinals

• Friday, March 8: Quarterfinals winners, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Championship

• Sunday, March 10: Semifinals winners, 5 p.m.

SEC tournament bracket

Site: Greenville, S.C.

First round

• Wednesday, March 6: Kentucky 64, Georgia 50
• Wednesday, March 6: Florida 66, Missouri 60

Second round

• Thursday, March 7: Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State, noon
• Thursday, March 7: Tennessee vs. Kentucky, 2:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Arkansas vs. Auburn, 6 p.m.
• Thursday, March 7: Vanderbilt vs. Florida, 8:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals

• Friday, March 8: South Carolina vs. Texas A&M-Mississippi State winner, noon
• Friday, March 8: Alabama vs. Tennessee-Kentucky winner, 25 minutes after first game
• Friday, March 8: LSU vs. Arkansas-Auburn winner, 6 p.m.
• Friday, March 8: Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt-Florida winner, 25 minutes after third game

Semifinals

• Saturday, March 9: Quarterfinals winners, 4:30 p.m. and 25 minutes after first game

Championship

• Sunday, March 10: Semifinals winners, 3 p.m.