Potential Chaos Teams in Men's College Basketball Power Conference Tournaments

Crowning a national champion is the main objective of the postseason, but March Madness is iconic because of the chaos it brings.

And the mayhem truly starts during conference tournament week as bubble teams hope to avoid bid-stealers.

On the bright side, most every mid-major league is no longer a threat to swipe a ticket to the Big Dance. Murray State won the Ohio Valley Conference tourney, for example, avoiding the situation where a second OVC team that otherwise wouldn't land an at-large bid would be headed to March Madness with the Racers.

The possibility of a surprise high-major champion remains, though. Last season, both Georgetown and Ohio State put together unexpected runs and eliminated two spots for bubble teams.

Plus, a couple of teams may have multiple shots at bubble-dwelling squads and can significantly impact projected brackets.

Get ready for a wild week, especially if any of the following programs start to win a few matchups.

Butler Bulldogs

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If you subscribe to the "tough to beat a team three times" notion, Xavier is cooked. After starting 14-3 this season, the Musketeers slumped to a 4-9 finish—but two victories came against Butler.

Round 3 is coming in the Big East tournament.

During this prolonged skid, Xavier has tumbled from a possible top-six seed to a definite bubble team. The only positive news right now is knocking off Georgetown in the regular-season finale ended a five-game losing streak and temporarily saved the Musketeers from leaving the projected field.

Butler lost the first matchup to Xavier by 15 points but stayed within two points in their February clash. If the Bulldogs can steal a win, they'll put an ugly exclamation mark on Xavier's once-promising year and perhaps give a different bubble team a spot in March Madness.

Central Florida Knights

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Entering the AAC tournament, Houston is a lock. Memphis is probably in, but that's not a guarantee. SMU is squarely on the bubble.

The latter two teams, in theory, could be handed a frustrating result by Johnny Dawkins' UCF squad.

To be clear, this is more a reflection of the bracket than UCF's strength. In the regular season, the Knights split with South Florida—the AAC's worst seed in the tournament—so this is also a projection of UCF avoiding another loss to USF.

But if the bracket stays to the chalk, No. 6 UCF would play No. 3 Memphis in the quarterfinals and No. 2 SMU in the semis. If the Knights win both games, Memphis would get dragged closer to the bubble as SMU potentially falls out of the race.

Dayton Flyers

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Dayton can throw a problematic wrench in either the Atlantic 10's hopes for two tickets to the Big Dance or the bubble in general.

Though the Flyers finished second in conference play, third-seeded VCU is viewed more favorably on BracketMatrix projections. Still, VCU isn't a lock for March Madness.

In the A-10 quarterfinals, Dayton and VCU will share the outlook of a victory not helping much compared to a loss being terrible. For the sake of argument, assume both programs win. That would set up a date between the teams in the A-10 semifinals.

Even with a victory, Dayton would probably be on the outside looking in. VCU, though, may find itself drifting to the wrong side of the cut line with a loss.

Additionally, an A-10 championship for the Flyers can provide some chaos. Davidson has a strong chance of landing at an-large bid, especially if the loss happens in the title matchup. Dayton winning the tournament would likely shrink the bubble.

Indiana Hoosiers

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Sure, my personal opinion is the Hoosiers are headed for a rapid exit from the Big Ten tournament. That doesn't change the bracket havoc Mike Woodson's team can create.

Indiana's opening game is against bubble-dwelling Michigan. For now, the Wolverines appear to be on the proper side of the cut line with Indiana on the opposite side. This singular result might not flip the programs—Michigan hammered IU by 18 points in late January, after all—but it undoubtedly would be impactful.

Top-seeded Illinois awaits the winner in the quarterfinals, presenting yet another opportunity for IU to bolster its resume.

If the Hoosiers can pull off a couple of upsets in Indianapolis, they'll be firmly in the conversation on Selection Sunday.

UNLV Rebels

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As with Butler and UCF, the Rebels won't be in the NCAA tournament unless they win the conference tournament. But they, too, could complicate the bubble.

In the Mountain West quarterfinals, UNLV takes on a semi-sliding Wyoming squad. Though the Cowboys ended the regular season with an overtime win against Fresno State, four recent losses have dropped the Pokes to an uncomfortable spot.

And one of those letdowns happened against the Rebels, who clipped Wyoming 64-57 last week.

If UNLV wins, it's anyone's guess whether Wyoming will be included in the NCAA field or narrowly miss.

Virginia Tech Hokies

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Because of its loss to Clemson in the regular-season finale, Virginia Tech has a grim reality in the ACC tournament. Short of winning the title, expect the Hokies to miss the Big Dance.

They certainly shouldn't hate this draw, though.

In the second round, No. 7 Virginia Tech will get a rematch with 10th-seeded Clemson. Win that outing, and the Hokies will challenge No. 2 Notre Dame—which they defeated two months ago—in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame needs a victory to feel more secure, so Virginia Tech even has a shot at spoiling the Fighting Irish's NCAA tournament dreams, too.

Overall, it's a favorable path to the semifinals. And the buzz for a possible ACC bid-stealer would become awfully loud if the Hokies ultimately make it there.