There's no disputing that conference tournaments are wildly popular and wonderfully entertaining. But do they matter?

Sure, they are important to the leagues, the local economies of the host cities and the ruler of the sports universe (ESPN), but does winning a conference postseason championship translate into momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament?

Maybe. Maybe not.

"Sometimes it does, but there is data that says it does not," says Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "Personally, I put a lot of emphasis on the conference tournament."

In the last 10 years, 20 of the teams that ended up in the Final Four did so after winning their conference's tournament. Of course, this means that the other 20 teams reached the Final Four without winning their league's championship.

When he was at Kentucky, Pitino won the SEC Tournament five times in six years. The exception was 1996, when he lost in the conference championship but went on to win his only NCAA Tournament title.

"It really means a lot to me because you are playing the best basketball. You get a lot of days close together that you have to prepare," Pitino says. "I like that you have to focus. You go home on a high note, you feel good about playing in the (NCAA) Tournament. To me, it's a lot more pertinent than it is to some other coaches. But everybody has a different feeling on it."

Over the last 10 years, the national-title winner won its conference championship six times.

Nobody gained a greater head of steam during its conference playoffs than Connecticut in 2011. The Huskies entered the Big East Tournament having lost four of their final five regular-season games. They were the No. 9 seed when they trounced DePaul by 26 in the first round of the conference tourney. The Huskies won on five consecutive days and kept rolling with six more wins in the NCAA Tournament. Eleven shining moments, if you will.

"The value of conference tournaments is greater for those teams that are in the middle class of their conference or at the bottom of the barrel," says St. John's coach Steve Lavin. "It gives you a fresh start, a new beginning, a reprieve."

A look at the six top leagues over the last 10 years reveals that conference-tournament winners were more likely to get knocked out in the first weekend (22 teams) than advance to the Final Four (16 teams). The last two teams to win the Pac-10 Tournament (Colorado and Washington) were knocked out in the round of 32. The last three Big East winners (Louisville, Connecticut and West Virginia) made it to the Final Four.

Villanova lost in the second round of the Big East Tournament in 2009 before going on its Final Four run. Temple won three consecutive Atlantic 10 titles from 2008-10 and lost in the NCAA first round each time. In 2011, when the Owls came within a whisker of upsetting second-seeded San Diego State for a spot in the Sweet 16, they had lost in the A-10 semis.

The uncertainty extends to the mid-major conferences. Butler won the Horizon League the two years it reached the Final Four (2010, '11), but neither Virginia Commonwealth (2011) nor George Mason (2006) won the Colonial Athletic Association before surprising the college basketball world with Final Four runs.

"It gets you in a positive frame of mind," Pitino says. "You really have to focus to win it. You have to play great basketball against outstanding competition - sometimes better competition than you would face in the first couple of rounds (of the NCAAs)."

Plus, it's often great theater. Syracuse and Connecticut played six overtimes in 2009. The year before, a tornado forced Georgia to win two games in one day on its way to an unlikely NCAA bid.

Conference tournaments "can 'incentivize' a group," Lavin says. "As a coach, it keeps your players working hard and developing. It's like a little carrot out there. Get hot in championship week, some special things are possible. There's no greater example than UConn with that stretch of five wins that carried over into a national championship."

Were the Huskies the rule or the exception? Recent history says it's 50-50.