The second wave of automatic bids to the 2026 NCAA Tournament has already been punched on Sunday. No. 6 seed Northern Iowa defeated No. 5 seed UIC 84-69 in the Missouri Valley Conference title game to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. Northern Iowa will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016.
In Northern Iowa’s last showing at the NCAA Tournament a decade ago, the Panthers stunned Texas in the first round after Paul Jesperson drilled a half-court shot at the buzzer to give his team a dramatic victory. This will be Northern Iowa’s third tournament appearance since 2010. Northern Iowa has won at least one game in the Big Dance in all three appearances.
The second automatic bid went to to High Point, the No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament . The Panthers defeated No. 2 seed Winthrop 91-76 in the title game to advance to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament. Last year, High Point lost to Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Two more bids will be handed out later in the day in the ASUN and the Summit League. Queens is facing Central Arkansas in the ASUN Championship, while North Dakota is facing in-state foe North Dakota State in the Summit League Championship.
The winners of those games will join Long Island University and Tennessee State as teams that have clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Bracketology: Top storylines, questions, seeding scenarios with a week until NCAA Tournament selection show
David Cobb
On Saturday. No. 2 seed Long Island University defeated No. 7 seed Wagner 64-56 in the NEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday to advance to Tuesday’s conference title game. However, because No. 3 seed Mercyhurst is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to being in the transition period, LIU will receive the automatic bid from the Northeast, even if it loses in the conference title game.
Mercyhurst defeated Stonehill to advance to the conference title game. Mercyhurst isn’t eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the four-year Division I transition period is over, which means the soonest it could go to the NCAA or the NIT would be during the 2028-29 season.
LIU finished with the best record (15-3) in conference play and earned the No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament. This will be LIU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, when it lost to Radford in the First Four. LIU has never won an NCAA Tournament game.
The other automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that was handed out on Saturday was in the Ohio Valley Conference. No. 1 seed Tennessee State defeated No. 2 seed Morehead State 93-67 to clinch a spot in the Big Dance for the first time since 1994. Tennessee State is coached by former Duke star Nolan Smith.
When conference tournament results roll in, we’ll be keeping track of them here as teams begin to claim automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Sunday’s conference tournament schedule, scores
| ASUN |
Jacksonville, Fla. |
Final |
Scoreboard |
| Big Sky |
Boise, Idaho |
Quarterfinals |
Scoreboard |
| Big South |
Johnson City, Tenn. |
Final |
Scoreboard |
| CAA |
Washington, D.C. |
Quarterfinals |
Scoreboard |
| Horizon League |
Indianapolis |
Third round |
Scoreboard |
| MAAC |
Atlantic City, N.J. |
Semifinals |
Scoreboard |
| Missouri Valley |
St. Louis |
Final |
Scoreboard |
| Patriot League |
Higher seed hosts |
Semifinals |
Scoreboard |
| SoCon |
Asheville, N.C. |
Semifinals |
Scoreboard |
| Southland |
Lake Charles, La. |
First round |
Scoreboard |
| Summit League |
Sioux Falls, S.D. |
Final |
Scoreboard |
| Sun Belt |
Pensacola, Fla. |
Semifinals |
Scoreboard |
| West Coast |
Las Vegas |
Fourth round |
Scoreboard |
2025-26 conference tournament champions
| CONFERENCE |
DATES |
LOCATION |
CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION |
| America East |
March 7, 10, 14 |
Higher seed hosts |
March 14, 11 a.m. ESPN2 |
| American |
March 11-15 |
Birmingham, Ala. |
March 15, 3:15 p.m. ESPN |
| Atlantic 10 |
March 11-15 |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
March 15, 1 p.m. CBS |
| ACC |
March 10-14 |
Charlotte, N.C. |
March 14, 8:30 p.m. ESPN |
| ASUN |
March 4,6-8 |
Jacksonville, Fla. |
March 8, 2 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big 12 |
March 10-14 |
Kansas City, Mo. |
March 14, 6 p.m. ESPN |
| Big East |
March 11-14 |
New York City |
March 14, 6:30 p.m. Fox |
| Big Sky |
March 7-11 |
Boise, Idaho |
March 11, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big South |
March 4, 6-8 |
Johnson City, Tenn. |
High Point (30-4) |
| Big Ten |
March 10-15 |
Chicago |
March 15, 3:30 p.m. CBS |
| Big West |
March 11-14 |
Henderson, Nev. |
March 14, 10 p.m. ESPN2 |
| CAA |
March 6-10 |
Washington, D.C. |
March 10, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Conference USA |
March 10-14 |
Huntsville, Ala. |
March 14, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Horizon League |
March 2,4,8-10 |
Indianapolis |
March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Ivy League |
March 14-15 |
Ithaca, N.Y. |
March 15, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAAC |
March 5-10 |
Atlantic City, N.J. |
March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAC |
March 12-14 |
Cleveland |
March 14, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MEAC |
March 11-14 |
Norfolk, Va. |
March 14, 1 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley |
March 5-8 |
St. Louis |
Northern Iowa (23-12) |
| Mountain West |
March 11-14 |
Las Vegas |
March 14, 6 p.m. CBS |
| Northeast |
March 4,7,10 |
Higher seed hosts |
March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN2
Long Island (23-10) awarded AQ |
| Ohio Valley |
March 4-7 |
Evansville, Ind. |
Tennessee State (23-9) |
| Patriot League |
March 3,5,8,11 |
Higher seed hosts |
March 11, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| SEC |
March 11-15 |
Nashville, Tenn. |
March 15, 1 p.m. ESPN |
| SoCon |
March 6-9 |
Asheville, N.C. |
March 9, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Southland |
March 8-11 |
Lake Charles, La. |
March 11, 5 p.m. ESPN2 |
| SWAC |
March 9-14 |
Atlanta |
March 14, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU |
| Summit League |
March 4-8 |
Sioux Falls, S.D. |
March 8, 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Sun Belt |
March 3-9 |
Pensacola, Fla. |
March 9, 6 p.m. ESPN2 |
| West Coast |
March 5-10 |
Las Vegas |
March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN |
| WAC |
March 11-14 |
Las Vegas |
March 14, 12 a.m. ESPN2 |
