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NCAA Tournament: Automatic Bids

When these conferences crown their champs, 31 of 65 brackets will be occupied.

By , About.com Guide

Cornell's Big Red Celebration

Big Red Celebration: Cornell players and students celebrate the Ivy League title and NCAA tournament berth

Patrick Shanahan / Cornell Sports Info
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.

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