Everyone knows the front-runners. Now it's time for the sleepers.
For different reasons, every power-conference tournament carries some interest. Not all of them have in the equation what you might call a legitimate dark horse, but several of them do.
The following teams are dark horses because they are not widely expected to contend for the conference-tourney title but could do so anyway. That could be thanks to a late-season hot streak, a favorable draw, a weak conference or a combination of those factors.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Jordan Murphy (right)Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Regular season rundown: A five-game losing streak in late January appeared to 86 the Minnesota Golden Gophers' season.