CONFERENCE TOURNEY STORY LINES

ACC

Top-ranked Virginia, which became the unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday, begins in Thursday’s quarterfinals and looks solid for a No. 1 seed regardless of what happens in Brooklyn. The Cavaliers are No. 1 in the RPI and in KenPom, won the ACC regular-season race by four games and own a 9-1 record against Quadrant 1 opponents through Sunday’s games — Quadrant 1 contests are home games vs. teams ranked 1-30 in RPI, neutral games vs. 1-50 and away games vs. 1-75. The other question is what happens with rivals Duke and North Carolina. The fifth-ranked Blue Devils open play in Thursday’s quarterfinals while sitting at No. 3in KenPom and No. 4 in the RPI. A run to a second straight ACC Tournament title could help them snag a No. 1 seed. As for the No. 12 Tar Heels, they finished tied for third in the standings but ended up as the No. 6 seed due to tiebreakers. Yet they enter Wednesday’s second-round game against the Wake Forest-Syracuse winner with 10 Quadrant 1 wins, second only to Kansas (11) — and that could have them in contention for a 2-seed despite their low ACC Tournament seeding. The ACC has a national-best five teams in the AP Top 25.

BIG EAST

Villanova hopped over Xavier to reach No. 2 in Monday’s poll, though the third-ranked Musketeers are the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament. And Villanova swept the regular-season series. Both teams open play in Thursday’s quarterfinals in New York’s Madison Square Garden, with Xavier facing the St. John’s-Georgetown winner and Villanova facing the DePaul-Marquette winner. And one — maybe both? — could end up earning No. 1NCAA seeds.