  We investigate the preconformal region of the phase diagram of SU(3) theories
with fundamental flavors. We have simulated SU(3) theories with six and eight
fundamental flavors at volumes 32^3 x 64. We use the generated configurations
to measure the string tension \sigma and the w0 scale setting quantity
extracted from the gradient flow. We show preliminary results on the ratios
Tc/\sqrt{\sigma} and Tc w0. We compare them to the behavior obtained at smaller
Nf and discuss the implications of our results.
