Two more automatic bids to the 2026 NCAA Tournament will be handed out on Monday as the Sun Belt and SoCon tournaments wrap-up. In the Sun Belt’s “ladder-format” Georgia Southern is on the verge of completing one of the most unlikely conference championship runs in recent memory and will face No. 1 seed Troy for the title.
The Eagles, the No. 10 seed in the Sun Belt, have won five games in five days to reach the title game. Georgia Southern is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992, while Troy could go dancing for the second consecutive year with a win over the Cinderella of the Sun Belt.
The other automatic bid that will be handed out will be in the SoCon Tournament when Furman faces East Tennessee State. Furman made the NCAA Tournament in 2023, when it pulled off a dramatic upset win over Virginia on a last-second shot. East Tennessee State last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
The conference tournaments in the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, and the SEC) will begin later this week. The ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten tournaments all start on Tuesday.
Bracketology True or False: Will Auburn or Indiana get in? Is Kansas a No. 5 seed? Will the ACC get nine bids?
David Cobb
Northern Iowa wins Arch Madness
Six automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament have already been punched. The second wave of automatic bids to tournament began on Sunday when 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.
High Point dancing in back-to-back seasons
The second automatic bid went 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 Big Dance.
Queens clinches first-ever NCAA Tournament bid
The third automatic bid of the day went to Queens. The Royals defeated Central Arkansas in overtime in the ASUN title game to clinch their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
BU’s buzzer-beater shocks and upsets Navy in Patriot League semis
Perhaps one of the most shocking results of the day came in the Patriot League, when Boston University upset No. 1 seed Navy. After Navy took a brief lead with less than four seconds remaining, Chance Gladden drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send his team to the conference title game.
Boston University will face Lehigh in the Patriot League title game on Wednesday.
FINS UP! LIU earns auto-bid before NEC championship game
No. 2 seed Long Island University defeated No. 7 seed Wagner 64-56 in the Northeast Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday to advance to Tuesday’s conference title game. Mercyhurst defeated Stonehill to advance to the conference title game, but 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.
Therefore, LIU will receive the automatic bid from the NEC, even if it loses in the conference title game. The Blackbirds 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.
Former Duke star Nolan Smith leads Tennessee State to Big Dance in Year 1
The other automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament 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.
Monday’s conference tournament schedule, scores
2025-26 conference tournament champions
| CONFERENCE | DATES | LOCATION | CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION |
| America East | March 7, 10, 14 | Higher seed hosts | Saturday, 11 a.m. ESPN2 |
| American | March 11-15 | Birmingham, Ala. | Sunday, 3:15 p.m. ESPN |
| Atlantic 10 | March 11-15 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Sunday, 1 p.m. CBS |
| ACC | March 10-14 | Charlotte, N.C. | Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ESPN |
| ASUN | March 4,6-8 | Jacksonville, Fla. | Queens Royals (21-13) |
| Big 12 | March 10-14 | Kansas City, Mo. | Saturday, 6 p.m. ESPN |
| Big East | March 11-14 | New York City | Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Fox |
| Big Sky | March 7-11 | Boise, Idaho | Wednesday, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big South | March 4, 6-8 | Johnson City, Tenn. | High Point Panthers (30-4) |
| Big Ten | March 10-15 | Chicago | Sunday, 3:30 p.m. CBS |
| Big West | March 11-14 | Henderson, Nev. | Saturday, 10 p.m. ESPN2 |
| CAA | March 6-10 | Washington, D.C. | Tuesday, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Conference USA | March 10-14 | Huntsville, Ala. | Saturday, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Horizon League | March 2,4,8-10 | Indianapolis | Tuesday, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Ivy League | March 14-15 | Ithaca, N.Y. | Sunday, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAAC | March 5-10 | Atlantic City, N.J. | Tuesday, 9 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAC | March 12-14 | Cleveland | Saturday, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MEAC | March 11-14 | Norfolk, Va. | Saturday, 1 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | March 5-8 | St. Louis | Northern Iowa Panthers (23-12) |
| Mountain West | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | Saturday, 6 p.m. CBS |
| Northeast | March 4,7,10 | Higher seed hosts | Tuesday, 7 p.m. ESPN2 Long Island Sharks (23-10) awarded AQ |
| Ohio Valley | March 4-7 | Evansville, Ind. | Tennessee State Tigers (23-9) |
| Patriot League | March 3,5,8,11 | Higher seed hosts | Wednesday, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| SEC | March 11-15 | Nashville, Tenn. | Sunday, 1 p.m. ESPN |
| SoCon | March 6-9 | Asheville, N.C. | Monday, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Southland | March 8-11 | Lake Charles, La. | Wednesday, 5 p.m. ESPN2 |
| SWAC | March 9-14 | Atlanta | Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU |
| Summit League | March 4-8 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | North Dakota State Bison (27-7) |
| Sun Belt | March 3-9 | Pensacola, Fla. | Monday, 6 p.m. ESPN2 |
| West Coast | March 5-10 | Las Vegas | Tuesday, 9 p.m. ESPN |
| WAC | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | Saturday, 12 a.m. ESPN2 |
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