2021 NCAA conference tournaments

One of the most fun aspects of March Madness happens before the tournament even starts — tracking and watching all of the conference tournaments.

This year, 31 conferences are holding conference tournaments (down one from 32 with the Ivy League not playing due to COVID-19) to earn spots in the 2021 NCAA tournament.

On Tuesday night, No. 1 Gonzaga rallied from down 12 at the half to beat BYU and win the WCC tournament championship. Also, Drexel won the CAA title by defeating Elon and Cleveland State clinched the Horizon League automatic bid. Mount St. Mary’s took the Northeast title and Oral Roberts picked up the Summit League crown.

The tournaments continue until right before Selection Sunday on Sunday, March 14.

The table below will be updated as champions are crowned in each tournament and if schedules are altered due to COVID-19. Click or tap here for live scores. You can c lick or tap here to get a printable bracket for the tournament.

Scroll to the right to view the conference tournament champions.

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Sources: Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers agree to 4-year extension

TAMPA, Fla. — Quarterback Tom Brady has reached agreement with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a four-year contract extension that voids to a one-year extension, sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal ties Brady to Tampa through the 2022 season, sources said.

The move saves the Buccaneers $19 million against the cap this year, sources said. The additional voidable years are there to defray the cost. It was another effort from Brady to keep as much of the team together as possible.

As of Friday morning, prior to Brady’s new deal, the Bucs were $7.756 million over the $182.5 million salary cap, after using the franchise tag on wide receiver Chris Godwin and re-signing inside linebacker Lavonte David to a two-year extension.

Like Brady’s deal, David’s contract includes voidable years, something the Bucs have not used in well over a decade. David will only count $3.5 million against the salary cap in 2021, despite playing on a two-year deal worth $25 million because his contract includes three voidable years. The drawbacks to doing voidable years, however, mean that they’ll essentially be borrowing from the future. But they recognize that Brady’s window is a small one, even with an extra year on what was originally a two-year contract.

“Tom is one of those guys that understands that it takes a whole village to win,” David said Friday. “It takes a takes a team, a group of guys to win football games. Me, the same thing. I’m all about team. And I’ll do what I can, do what it takes to hopefully get everybody back and go do this thing again. … The bond that we had, the bond that we shared this year — it was like no other.”

Brady’s deal gives the Bucs space to try and bring back outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, who notched 4.0 sacks in the postseason and led the NFL with 19.5 sacks last year.

But Barrett isn’t the only one the Bucs have to think about. Tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, wide receiver Antonio Brown, kicker Ryan Succop and running back Leonard Fournette are all set to become free agents on March 17 if new deals can’t be reached.

In February, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said that he and coach Bruce Arians would be “elated” if they could extend Brady.

Brady, 43, has previously said his goal was to play until age 45, but he said during the week of the Super Bowl that he would now consider playing beyond 45. Brady will be 44 next season, and tacking on a year to his deal keeps him under contract through his 45th birthday. Family will play a major role in determining if, in fact, Brady plays beyond that.

In his first season with the Buccaneers, Brady won his seventh Super Bowl, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in the NFL’s first Super Bowl played, and won, by the hosting team.