Purdue had just battled through the Big Ten Tournament, beating three straight NCAA Tournament teams – the last a No. 1 seed in Michigan – to claim a grinding championship in Chicago.

“Obviously playing four games in four days is something we haven’t done before,” longtime coach Matt Painter said.

Yet there wasn't time for the Boilermakers to even change out of their jerseys, much less think about recharging and recovering, before seeing their names in the March Madness bracket.

League tournaments are over, but could have a lingering impact and offer an indication of what teams are positioned for tournament success. Roughly half of all Final Four teams and eventual champions since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985 won league titles; no team has won it all without reaching at least the semifinals of their conference tournament.

There is a short window to regroup, too. Most teams coming off playing at least four games in four days haven’t survived the tournament's first weekend.

Yet there are unforgettable stories like Casey Morsell’s N.C. State team two years ago, illustrating how the spectacle of March Madness captures the imagination every year. That team unexpectedly became only the second to win a league title with five games in five days before carrying that surge all the way to the sport’s biggest stage at the Final Four.

“We had to really make it happen,” the former Wolfpack guard said, “but with that, you have these miles that you’re kind of adding up.”

Springboard or burden?

For decades, college basketball’s major conferences generally had teams playing three games in three days in league tournaments. That was before waves of realignment began roughly two decades ago, gradually leading to sprawling leagues. Among power conferences in men's basketball, the Big East is the smallest at 11 schools; the Big Ten has 18.

That has led to longer regular-season schedules followed by tougher tournament grinds, particularly for those without multi-round byes awarded to top seeds.

Going back to 2005, 33 teams have entered March Madness having played at least four games in four days in the top leagues: the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern.

Roughly two-thirds (21) fell in the NCAA opening weekend of those 20 tournaments, with 13 failing to win even a game. Six ultimately reached the Final Four, while the Kemba Walker-led UConn team in 2011 is the lone national champion after its own five-games-in-five-days run through the Big East.

Many teams in those positions needed long runs to snag at-large NCAA bid. Or they had to win their league's automatic bid to reach the Big Dance at all and weren't expected to make deep runs.

But top-16 overall seeds haven't been immune, either.

Regional No. 2 seeds like Duke in 2017, North Carolina in 2018 and Ohio State in 2021; or regional 3-seeds like Georgetown in 2010 and Wisconsin last year are among those with an opening-weekend exit after playing four games in four days in league tournaments.

Seeding aside, the challenge is the same: pivot quickly.

“We’re pouring it all out. We’re doing everything we can to win every game," said Clemson coach Brad Brownell, whose Tigers are an 8-seed in the NCAAs after playing three of a possible four games in the ACC Tournament. "I mean, that’s what competitors do. You figure it out later, what’s next.”

Carrying momentum

Badgers coach Greg Gard knows that's tricky, though. His previous two teams each won three Big Ten Tournament games before falling in the title game. Each lost early in the NCAAs to a lower-seeded opponent: a first-round loss to 12-seed James Madison in 2024, followed by a second-round loss to 6-seed BYU last year.

“Obviously you want to continue to advance and win, and there’s a trophy at stake and they’re keeping score,” Gard said during the Big Ten Tournament before earning the West Region's No. 5 seed. “But just like any other experience, you have to build upon it and use it to your advantage as you walk forward.”

In the Big 12, the depth of top teams forced Iowa State to face a four-game road to win the league tourney. The Cyclones beat Arizona State and NCAA-bound Texas Tech before falling to Arizona on a late shot in the semifinals. Now they're the Midwest Region's 2-seed, coming after being a No. 1 seed in the selection committee's preliminary rankings last month.

“You dream about having the opportunity to be playing such meaningful games in March, and how special that truly is," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “So I want our guys to be in the moment. I want our guys to absorb all of it, soak it all in.”

Regrouping quickly

Morsell said he will never forget the euphoria that came as N.C. State completed its wild ACC Tournament run in 2024, coming amid uncertainty about the job security of then-coach Kevin Keatts.

“Literally just everything changed so fast,” Morsell said.

That included the time to get ready for a March Madness run that brought the Wolfpack to Pittsburgh, Dallas and Glendale, Arizona. Along the way, the team leaned on walkthroughs, shootarounds and film study to avoid putting additional wear on tired legs. Everyone was focused on recovery, including Morsell, who relied on massages and electrical-stimulation treatments.

“Everybody has little things going on, the whole team,” Morsell said. "You kind of have that moment to refresh, regroup. But you’ve definitely got to prioritize (physical therapy) to bring yourself back to normal. That’s a big important week, especially if you play five games.

“Especially if you played like over 20 minutes each game, you’re going to feel something," Morsell added with a chuckle.

The approach worked, with the Wolfpack reaching the program's first Final Four since the late Jim Valvano's “Cardiac Pack” won the 1983 NCAA title.

This year, Purdue is the only tournament team from a major conference coming off a four-games-in-four-days run. The West Region's 2-seed has a four-day window ahead of its NCAA opener against Queens in St. Louis.

“In the moment, you can't really think too much about it,” Morsell said. “You just have to go because the next game is right around the corner.”

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AP Basketball Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, and AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago, contributed to this report.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Top overall seed Duke headlines the NCAA Tournament's East Region bracket of March Madness.

The region is stacked with big names, starting with UConn as the 2-seed. That came after the Huskies had been in contention for a No. 1 seed both in the selection committee's preliminary rankings in February and even this week leading into the Big East Tournament.

In addition, Hall of Fame coaches Tom Izzo from Michigan State, Bill Self from Kansas and Rick Pitino from Big East champion St. John's lead the next teams up in the 16-team bracket.

Duke (32-2) is a No. 1 seed for the second straight year, with last year's run ending in the Final Four. Jon Scheyer's fourth squad has made it back to the top line in different fashion, relying on star freshman Cameron Boozer as the anchor to an inside-out approach that has routinely overwhelmed opponents in the paint and on the glass.

Duke begins play Thursday against 16th-seeded Siena in Greenville, South Carolina.

The rest of the bracket includes Louisville, UCLA, Ohio State, TCU, UCF, South Florida, Northern Iowa, Cal Baptist, North Dakota State and Furman.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Time and time again, Cameron Boozer attacked the paint with an Atlantic Coast Conference championship on the line. And Duke's star freshman repeatedly found himself meeting an unusual outcome.

Seeing his shots batted out of the air by Virginia's Ugonna Onyenso.

“Well," Boozer admitted, “I definitely got frustrated.”

That battle between the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Boozer and the 7-foot, 245-pound Onyenso stood out amid top-ranked Duke's 74-70 victory over the 10th-ranked Cavaliers on Saturday night in the ACC Tournament title game. Onyenso was the key to harassing the high-end NBA prospect into the roughest shooting performance of his season.

Boozer entered Saturday ranked eighth nationally in scoring (22.8) while shooting 57.9%. He finished with a season-low 13 points on a season-worst 3-for-17 shooting, with Onyenso swatting four of his shots — three in the second half.

Boozer still finished with eight rebounds and eight assists to secure tournament MVP honors, but it was a struggle all night in anchoring the interior attack that has helped Duke overwhelm opponents since January.

The battle inside

Onyenso finished with nine blocks, seven in the second half, to break former Wake Forest big man and longtime NBA star Tim Duncan's single-tournament record for blocks.

“First of all I’ve got give props to him,” Boozer said. “He’s a great defender, great shot blocker. I think there’s a lot I can learn from this game, but I just want to keep attacking, keep attacking, figure it out, find other ways to win. Obviously, my shot wasn’t falling. I wasn’t getting in a rhythm. But just had to find a way.”

Boozer's 17.6% shooting was his lowest total of the season, undercutting the 25% mark (3 for 12) against Texas in this same arena to open the season. It also marked only the third time all year Boozer had finished with just three field goals.

Two of those have come against the Cavaliers, who have held Boozer to 6-for-26 shooting (23.1%) going back to a meeting at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium two weeks ago.

Yet the Blue Devils (32-2) won both, and now head to March Madness poised to claim a No. 1 seed.

“One thing with me is I’m really good with my timing, so when we played them at Duke, I was a little bit off,” Onyenso said. "So coming into today’s game, I was like, okay, this is what I’ve got to do, steel my feet, don’t jump. That really helped me with my timing.

“Cam, he does a lot of shot faking. That’s his thing. So being able to stay on my feet when he shot faked really helped me with my timing.”

Boozer has been able to challenge opposing bigs with his ability to step out beyond the arc and even operate as a playmaker and de facto point guard in some of Duke's sets. That has allowed him to move defenders around off the dribble, then prove strong enough to finish over — or through them — with dropsteps and spin moves in the paint.

Or, if he didn't finish, he often ended up at the foul line.

Yet Onyenso repeatedly shut those off in a way no one else has all year, even No. 3 Michigan's deep front line in a marquee nonconference game last month. He also avoided foul trouble, picking up a single foul with 6:33 left in the second half, even as Boozer repeatedly went at him and initiated contact.

“Look, we’re going to continue to go to him regardless of how he’s playing,” coach Jon Scheyer said, standing on the court amid fallen confetti and players starting to cut down the nets after the win. “He didn’t have his best stuff. But in fairness to him, we rely on him so heavily. We played three games in a row. They're loaded up, they have a great frontcourt.”

The finish

Fittingly, Boozer made the biggest play to help Duke hold on, coming after he attacked Onyenso in the final 30 seconds with the Blue Devils protecting a two-point lead. Once again, Onyenso blocked his shot — his 21st block of the three games in Charlotte — only for Boozer to wrestle control of the rebound.

But instead of forcing it back up, Boozer kicked the ball out for Duke to work on the clock. Isaiah Evans followed with a pair of free throws to push the margin to 72-68, then Boozer closed with two clinching foul shots with 3.9 left to seal Scheyer's third ACC Tournament title in his four seasons.

“Give them credit, because they protect the rim probably better than anybody we’ve played,” Scheyer said. “You just believe he’s going to come through, and he did.”

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