March Madness bracket tracker: Updated list of automatic bids to 2021 NCAA Tournament

Bill Bender

March Madness bracket tracker: Updated list of automatic bids to 2021 NCAA Tournament image

Conference tournaments are underway in college basketball in advance of March Madness.

A total of 31 automatic bids will be awarded for the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2021 with the Ivy League on pause. It's the only conference that does not have a tournament this year. (Normally the Field of 68 consists of 32 automatic qualifiers and 36 at-large bids.)

Here's a look at the full conference tournament schedule (in alphabetical order). The list below will be updated as teams punch their tickets to March Madness. Sporting News will track all the automatic bids to March Madness below as the bracket fills out. The rest of the automatic bids will be decided on Selection Sunday, which is March 14.

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March Madness bracket automatic bids 2021

ConferenceWinner/Tournament Dates
America EastHartford (15-8)
AACHouston (24-3)
ACCGeorgia Tech (17-8)
Atlantic 10St. Bonaventure (15-4)
Atlantic SunLiberty (23-5)
Big EastGeorgetown (12-12)
Big SkyEastern Washington (16-7)
Big SouthWinthrop (23-1)
Big TenIllinois (23-6)
Big 12Texas (19-7)
Big WestUC Santa Barbara (22-4)
ColonialDrexel (12-7)
Conference USANorth Texas (17-9)
Horizon LeagueCleveland State (19-7)
Ivy LeagueNo tournament
MAACIona (12-5)
Mid-AmericanOhio (16-7)
MEACNorfolk State (16-7)
Missouri ValleyLoyola-Chicago (24-4)
Mountain WestSan Diego State (22-4)
NortheastMount St. Mary's (12-10)
Ohio ValleyMorehead State (23-7)
Pac-12Oregon State (17-12)
PatriotColgate (14-1)
SECAlabama (24-6)
SouthernUNC-Greensboro (21-8)
SouthlandAbilene Christian (23-4)
SummitOral Roberts (16-10)
Sun BeltAppalachian State (17-11)
SWACTexas Southern (16-8)
WACGrand Canyon (17-6)
West CoastGonzaga (26-0)

After Selection Sunday, the First Four games will tip off March Madness in Bloomington and West Lafayette, Ind., on March 18. The real first round begins after that, on March 19-20. The second round follows from March 21-22.

Until the final bracket is released, follow SN's expert predictions in our Field of 68 projections released every week leading into Selection Sunday.

NCAA Tournament bracket predictions

Here are Sporting News' latest March Madness bracket predictions, according to Bill Bender as of March 10:

No. 1 seeds

  • Gonzaga
  • Baylor
  • Michigan
  • Illinois

Last four in

  • Drake
  • Utah State
  • Colorado State
  • Syracuse

First four out

  • Ole Miss
  • Xavier
  • St. Louis
  • Boise State

Read the rest of our Field of 68 projections here.

Bill Bender

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.