March Madness 2012: Top 25 Teams That Need Conference Tournament Success

Teams in the top 25 can enter their conference tournament knowing that their placement in the NCAA tournament is secure, but that doesn't mean conference tournament success isn't vital to the following teams. 

It will help with their seeding, and even more importantly build up some big time positive momentum heading into the Big Dance. 

No. 6 Duke

Last time on the court, Duke was thoroughly smacked down by the Tar Heels 88-70. Any loss for the Blue Devils to North Carolina is troubling, but this one was especially so. 

It came at home, in the final game of the regular season. Duke was completely outplayed in this game and at times, especially in the first half, they didn't even look like they belonged in the same court. 

Duke must bounce back from this loss in a hurry. They have to put it together and re-find their stride in their conference tournament. 

This will help them replace the stains of their failure with confidence, and get them on the right foot headed into March Madness. 

No. 7 Ohio State

The Buckeyes lost only six games all season. Three of those losses came in their last seven games. Ohio State can take some solace in the fact that all three losses came against ranked teams, but they are going to face a steady diet of top teams if they want to accomplish their goals in the NCAA tournament. 

The Buckeyes started to turn things around with a big 72-70 win against Michigan State to end the year. 

They must now turn that into success in the conference tournament. The Buckeyes confidence took a big hit with their late season failures. 

Winning the loaded Big Ten tournament would help bring back the confidence they had early in the year. 

No. 17 Florida State

Florida State is a streaky team. They've had a three-game and two two-game losing streaks this year. They also recorded a five and seven-game winning streak. 

The Seminoles ended the regular season on a two game winning streak, but that was on the heels of two back-to-back bad losses. 

They lost to Duke at home 74-66 and followed that up with a 78-62 clunker on the road at Miami. 

Florida State must get things going in the winning direction in its conference tournament. The Seminoles have to prove to themselves that they are ready to play best basketball on the sport's biggest stage.