They’re Dancing: Teams Secure Automatic Bids to March Madness

March Madness is on the horizon, and several teams that will make the Big Dance in both the men’s and women’s tournaments were determined over the weekend due to automatic qualifiers from winning conference championships.

There are 68 total schools that will qualify for each March Madness tournament, and 31 conference champions earn automatic bids. Five schools have already clinched tournament berths in the men’s side, while nine schools have already been determined in the women’s tournament—including from each of the Power Four conferences.

The rest of the qualifiers will be announced on March 16 during Selection Sunday. The men’s teams will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET on CBS, while the women’s teams will be announced at 8 p.m. on ESPN. 

Women: Nine Clinch Bids

Unlike the men, all Power Four conferences had their women’s conference championships decided Sunday. Duke won the ACC as the No. 4 seed, TCU reigned supreme in the Big 12, UCLA beat archrival USC in the Big Ten, and South Carolina took down No. 1 Texas to take the SEC crown for the third year in a row.

Here are the nine schools that have clinched a spot in the women’s March Madness tournament:

• Atlantic 10: George Mason
• ACC: Duke 
• Big 12: TCU 
• Big South: High Point 
• Big Ten: UCLA
• Ohio Valley: Tennessee Tech
• SEC: South Carolina
• Southern: UNC Greensboro 
• Summit League: South Dakota State

The UConn Huskies, led by Paige Bueckers, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft who will take Caitlin Clark’s place as the most famous player in this year’s tournament, will face the Creighton in the Big East title game Monday.

Five Men’s Teams Going Dancing

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was the first team to qualify for the men’s March Madness tournament after winning the Ohio Valley conference title Saturday—but they are expected to be one of the lowest-ranked teams in the tournament as both ESPN and CBS have the Cougars in the First Four of their bracket predictions.

Here are the five schools that have already clinched a spot in the tournament:

• Atlantic Sun: Lipscomb 
• Big South: High Point 
• Ohio Valley: SIU Edwardsville 
• Missouri Valley: Drake 
• Summit League: Omaha 

Omaha was a unique case, as it clinched a tournament berth even before the championship game as its opponent, St. Thomas, is ineligible for the tournament because it is just the school’s fourth year in NCAA Division I after transferring from Division III. The Tommies will be eligible by next year.

While there are some conferences with title games within the week, many of the men’s conference champions will be determined next weekend right before Selection Sunday, including for each of the Power Four conferences.