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What’s at stake in each conference basketball tournament in Las Vegas?

So much for being on the bubble.

Gonzaga closed the regular season on an eight-game winning streak and is in line to make its 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

The No. 19 Bulldogs (24-6) are the second seed for the West Coast Conference tournament that starts Thursday at Orleans Arena. No. 23 Saint Mary’s (24-7) won the outright regular-season title and enters the WCC tournament as the top seed for the second straight year.

The final is at 6 p.m. Tuesday and will be televised on ESPN.

Gonzaga stumbled to a 16-6 record and was projected to miss the tournament in numerous computer models. But after earning Quad 1 wins over San Francisco and Saint Mary’s last week, it would take a shocking upset to keep the Bulldogs out.

CBS Sports has Gonzaga as a No. 8 seed. ESPN puts the Bulldogs as a No. 7 seed.

“We’re playing our best basketball, and it’s March,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said following Saturday’s win at Saint Mary’s. “That’s a great sign.”

Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga earned byes into the semifinals of the WCC tournament. No. 3 San Francisco (22-9) and No. 4 Santa Clara (19-12) have byes into the quarterfinals.

San Diego, which was picked to finish ninth in the WCC preseason coaches poll, is the No. 5 seed and meets the winner of Thursday’s play-in game between No. 8 seed Pepperdine (12-19) and No. 9 Pacific (6-25). The other second-round game Friday is No. 6 Portland (11-20) facing No. 7 Loyola Marymount (12-18), which upended UNLV 78-75 on Dec. 9 at the Dollar Loan Center.

In the women’s tournament, Gonzaga (29-2) earned the top seed after going unbeaten in conference play. Santa Clara (24-7) was second and also earned a triple bye into the semifinals.

The women’s final is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday on ESPNU.

Four other conferences will hold their tournaments in Las Vegas. Here’s a rundown of each:

Mountain West

When: March 13-16 (men, final at 3 p.m. on KLAS-8); March 10-13 (women, final at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network)

Where: Thomas &Mack Center

What: While the Pac-12 struggles to put more than two teams in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountain West has picked up the slack.

The conference boasted six teams — San Diego State (19), Boise State (24), New Mexico (28), Colorado State (33), Utah State (36) and UNR (40) — in the top 40 of Monday’s NET rankings. That doesn’t include UNLV, which had won nine of its past 10 games entering Tuesday and could steal a bid if it stays hot.

This might be the most exciting tournament since the days of Jimmer Fredette, Darington Hobson and Kawhi Leonard.

No. 23 UNLV is the clear favorite on the women’s side after claiming its third straight regular-season crown.

Pac-12

When: March 13-16 (men, final at 6 p.m. on KVVU-5); March 6-10 (women, final at 2 p.m. on ESPN)

Where: T-Mobile Arena (men); MGM Grand Garden Arena (women)

What: Kyle Smith has quietly done one of the best coaching jobs in America to have Washington State (14-5 Pac-12) in the hunt for a regular-season conference title. The Cougars and first-place Arizona (14-4) are locks for the NCAA Tournament.

After that, it looks like a storied conference could go out with a whimper in its final season.

Colorado (11-7) and Utah (9-9) are squarely on the NCAA bubble as one of the last four teams in or the first four out, depending on whose predictions you trust. Oregon (11-7) looks like it must win the conference tournament to make the NCAA field.

Big West

When: March 13-16 (men and women; women’s final at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+, men’s final at 6 p.m. on ESPN2)

Where: Dollar Loan Center

What: UC Irvine (15-3 Big West) has the No. 1 seed locked up with two games remaining and will be the heavy favorite to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. UNLV transfer Devin Tillis leads the team in rebounding with 6.2 per game. The Anteaters own a road win over Southern California and lost by one point at San Diego State.

UC Davis (12-6) and Long Beach State (10-8) have also clinched a place in Henderson. The real race is for the final five spots, as six teams (Hawaii, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton) are separated by two games in the loss column heading into the final week of the regular season.

Second-place UC San Diego is ineligible for the tournament during its reclassification period to Division I.

Western Athletic

When: March 13-16 (men and women; women’s final at 10:30 a.m. on ESPNU, men’s final at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2)

Where: Orleans Arena

What: Grand Canyon (16-3 WAC) holds a comfortable advantage in the WAC Resume Seeding System, which determines the top tournament seed. The Antelopes (7.52 points) lead Tarleton State (3.66 points) in the latest rankings that were released March 3. Tarleton State (15-3) has won 10 straight games.

Texas-Arlington, Seattle, Utah Valley and Abilene Christian have also clinched berths in the conference tournament. Stephen F. Austin and California Baptist have the inside track on the final two spots as Utah Tech has lost five straight.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.

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