Teams around the country are gaining confidence as they win and advance through their women's basketball conference tournaments, some even clinching automatic bids to the 2019 NCAA tournament.
But the question fans around the country will ask is, will that momentum carry them far in the NCAA tournament? Will it sustain success and push a team past the opening weekend and toward a regional final?
RELATED: See who's already won their conference tournament in 2019 | Print the 2019 bracket
Let's take a look at last year's class of conference tournament champions and see how they performed ...
| CONFERENCE | CHAMPION | 2018 NCAA TOURNAMENT SEED | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
 America East |
Maine |
15 |
First Round |
 American Athletic |
UConn |
1 |
Final Four |
 Atlantic 10 |
George Washington | 14 | First Round |
 Atlantic Coast |
Louisville |
1 |
Final Four |
 ASUN |
Florida Gulf Coast |
12 |
Second Round |
 Big 12 |
Baylor |
2 |
Regional Semifinals |
|
|
DePaul |
5 |
Second Round |
 Big Sky |
Northern Colorado |
10 |
First Round |
 Big South |
Liberty | 14 | First Round |
 Big Ten |
Ohio State |
3 |
Second Round |
 Big West |
Cal State Northridge |
16 |
First Round |
 Colonial Athletic |
Elon |
13 |
First Round |
 Conference USA |
Western Kentucky |
11 |
First Round |
 Horizon League |
Green Bay |
7 |
First Round |
 Ivy League |
Princeton | 12 |
First Round |
 Metro Atlantic Athletic |
Quinnipiac |
9 |
Second Round |
 Mid-American |
Central Michigan |
11 |
Regional Semifinals |
 Mid-Eastern Athletic |
North Carolina A&T |
15 |
First Round |
 Missouri Valley |
Drake |
13 |
First Round |
 Mountain West |
Boise State |
16 |
First Round |
 Northeast |
St. Francis (PA) |
16 |
First Round |
 Ohio Valley |
Belmont |
12 |
First Round |
 Pac-12 |
Oregon |
2 |
Regional Finals |
 Patriot League |
American | 14 | First Round |
 Southeastern |
South Carolina |
2 |
Regional Finals |
 Southern |
Mercer |
13 |
First Round |
 Southland |
Nicholls |
16 |
First Round |
 Southwestern Athletic |
Grambling |
15 |
First Round |
 Summit League |
South Dakota State |
8 |
First Round |
 Sun Belt |
Ark. Little Rock |
14 |
First Round |
 West Coast |
Gonzaga |
13 |
First Round |
 Western Athletic |
Seattle |
15 |
First Round |
Sixteen of the past 25 national champions also won their conference tournaments, but that 16th champ didn't cut down the nets last year.
In fact, 22 of the 32 teams that earned automatic bids last season failed to even win a single game in the NCAA tournament. Another four only made it one round further. That's 81.25 percent of the teams that won their conference tournament gone in the first weekend.
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Two teams, Central Michigan (11-seed) and Baylor (2-seed), did reach their region's semifinals. Another two, Oregon (2-seed) and South Carolina (2-seed), made it to the regional finals. And two more, UConn (1-seed) and Louisville (1-seed), reached the Final Four. But that's as far as any conference champion went. And the only conference champions who made it out of the first weekend, outside of CMU, were Top-2 seeds.
Notre Dame, last year's national champ, was ACC tournament runner-up after losing to Louisville in the conference title game.
Twenty-two of 32 conference tournament champions from 2018 were handed double-digit seeds. It's a tall order to pull off that kind of upset. So when you're filling out your bracket after the next field of 64 is announced on Monday, pay more attention to a team's body of work than how it performed in its conference tournament. Pay more attention to a team's seed and the road forward it has to navigate.
No team seeded fourth or lower has ever won an NCAA tournament in women's basketball.
