Some teams will have to wait until Selection Sunday to learn their March Madness fates. Others, however, won’t have to sweat about being left out.
Nearly half of the 68-team fields in the 2025 men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments are made up of automatic bids. There are 31 conference tournaments in men’s and women’s college basketball, and the winners automatically qualify for March Madness (unless, of course, a school is ineligible).
Tickets to both Big Dances are already being punched. The men’s automatic bids awarded so far have included High Point, Omaha and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville securing their March Madness debuts. And on the women’s side, Arkansas State and George Mason earned NCAA Tournament berths for the first time.
So, which other squads are March Madness bound? And when will the other conference tournaments wrap up? Here’s what to know:
Here’s a look at the automatic bids for the men’s NCAA Tournament. For any conference tournament that hasn’t yet been decided, the date of its championship game is listed (this list will be updated as more teams qualify):
- America East: March 15
- American Athletic: March 16
- Atlantic 10: March 16
- ACC: March 15
- ASUN: Lipscomb
- Big 12: March 15
- Big East: March 15
- Big Sky: March 12
- Big South: High Point
- Big Ten: March 16
- Big West: March 15
- CAA: UNC Wilmington
- Conference USA: March 15
- Horizon League: Robert Morris
- Ivy League: March 16
- MAAC: March 15
- MAC: March 15
- MEAC: March 15
- Missouri Valley: Drake
- Mountain West: March 15
- Northeast: St. Francis
- Ohio Valley: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
- Patriot League: American University
- SEC: March 16
- Southern: Wofford
- Southland: McNeese
- SWAC: March 15
- Summit League: Omaha
- Sun Belt: Troy
- West Coast: Gonzaga
- WAC: March 15
And here are the automatic bids for the women’s Big Dance. Once again, if a date is listed, that’s when the conference tournament championship will be held (this list will be updated as more teams qualify):
- America East: March 14
- American Athletic: South Florida
- Atlantic 10: George Mason
- ACC: Duke
- ASUN: March 15
- Big 12: TCU
- Big East: UConn
- Big Sky: Montana State
- Big South: High Point
- Big Ten: UCLA
- Big West: March 15
- CAA: March 16
- Conference USA: March 15
- Horizon League: Green Bay
- Ivy League: March 15
- MAAC: March 15
- MAC: March 15
- MEAC: March 15
- Missouri Valley: March 16
- Mountain West: March 12
- Northeast: March 16
- Ohio Valley: Tennessee Tech
- Patriot League: March 16
- SEC: South Carolina
- Southern: UNC Greensboro
- Southland: March 13
- SWAC: March 15
- Summit League: South Dakota State
- Sun Belt: Arkansas State
- West Coast: Oregon State
- WAC: March 15
The March Madness brackets will be unveiled on Sunday, March 16, shortly after the final conference tournaments conclude.
The men’s bracket will be revealed first starting at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. Then, the women’s bracket will be released starting at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The men’s tournament kicks off with the First Four on Wednesday, March 19. The women’s First Four begins on Thursday, March 20.
The UConn Huskies repeated as men’s NCAA Tournament champions in 2024, while the South Carolina Gamecocks went undefeated en route to a national championship on the women’s side.
