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Sunday, December 22, 2024
The first two NCAA Tournament bids went out after dramatic finishes in championship games to set the stage. Plus a long day of tournaments ends with a thrilling back-and-forth between two star guards, a surprise champion in the ACC and a three-way tie atop the Big East.
San Diego State remained undefeated and continued one of the season’s best early stories, gritting out a win over recent nemesis Fresno State on New Year’s Day. The Mountain West, American and Southern Conference were among the few busy to start 2020.
Mike Daum’s terrific career at South Dakota State finished up this year. Surprisingly, it didn’t include another Summit League tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance, as this time it was North Dakota State returning to postseason supremacy.
Three more tickets are punched, and all three seemed unlikely in one way or another. Plus a few semifinals are set while others are right behind them, an unexpected outright regular season title, and a couple of Big Ten teams need to stop the bleeding.
Conference play is here in earnest now, and it couldn’t come soon enough. The ACC, Southern Conference and WCC offered some glimpses of where we’ll see it at its best over the next two months.
