NCAA Tournament: Automatic Bids

When the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee convenes on Selection Sunday, their work is nearly half-done. Of the 65 spots in your bracket, 31 are automatically assigned to conference champions -- leaving 34 spots for "at large" teams to be selected on their relative merits.

The following conferences will all receive automatic bids to the 2008 NCAA Tournament. All but the Ivy League will hold tournaments in early March to crown champions; the Ivy League's bid goes to the team with the best regular season record.

We'll add each league champion as they're crowned -- congratulations to the Big Red of Cornell, 2008 Ivy League Champions, for winning the first berth.

1. America East Conference -- UMBC
2. Atlantic 10 Conference -- Temple
3. Atlantic Coast Conference -- North Carolina
4. Atlantic Sun Conference -- Belmont
5. Big 12 Conference -- Kansas
6. Big East Conference -- Pittsburgh
7. Big Sky Conference -- Portland State
8. Big South Conference -- Winthrop
9. Big Ten Conference -- Wisconsin
10. Big West Conference -- Cal State Fullerton
11. Colonial Athletic Association -- George Mason
12. Conference USA -- Memphis
13. Horizon League -- Butler
14. Ivy League -- Cornell
15. Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference -- Siena
16. Mid-American Conference -- Kent State
17. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference -- Coppin State
18. Missouri Valley Conference -- Drake
19. Mountain West Conference -- UNLV
20. Northeast Conference -- Mount St. Mary's
21. Ohio Valley Conference -- Austin Peay
22. Pac-10 Conference -- UCLA
23. Patriot League -- American University
24. Southeastern Conference -- Georgia
25. Southern Conference -- Davidson
26. Southland Conference -- UT Arlington
27. Southwestern Athletic Conference - Mississippi Valley State
28. Summit League* -- Oral Roberts
29. Sun Belt Conference -- Western Kentucky
30. West Coast Conference -- San Diego
31. Western Athletic Conference -- Boise State

* The Summit League was known as the Mid-Continent Conference in last year's tournament. The league changed names in June, 2007.