Conference tournaments are under way 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, the only conference that does not have a tournament. (Normally the field of 68 consists of 32 auto-qualifiers and 36 at-large bids). Plans could change given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. But as of now, it’s all systems go.
Sporting News will track all of the automatic bids to March Madness below as the bracket starts to fill out. The rest of the automatic bids will be decided on Selection Sunday, which is March 14.
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.
MORE: March Madness COVID-19 replacement rules, explained
March Madness bracket automatic bids 2021
| CONFERENCE | TOURNAMENT DATES |
| America East | Feb. 27-18, March 6-13 |
| AAC | March 11-14 |
| ACC | March 9-13 |
| Atlantic 10 | March 3-14 |
| Atlantic Sun | March 3-7 |
| Big East | March 10-13 |
| Big Sky | March 10-13 |
| Big South | Feb. 27, March 1-7 |
| Big Ten | March 10-14 |
| Big 12 | March 10-13 |
| Big West | March 9-13 |
| Colonial | March 6-9 |
| Conference USA | March 9-13 |
| Horizon League | Feb. 25, March 2-9 |
| Ivy League | No tournament |
| MAAC | March 9-13 |
| Mid-American | March 11-13 |
| MEAC | March 10-13 |
| Missouri Valley | March 4-7 |
| Mountain West | March 10-13 |
| Northeast | March 6-9 |
| Ohio Valley | March 3-6 |
| Pac-12 | March 10-13 |
| Patriot | March 6-14 |
| SEC | March 10-14 |
| Southern | March 5-8 |
| Southland | March 10-13 |
| Summit | March 6-9 |
| Sun Belt | March 5-8 |
| SWAC | March 9, 12-13 |
| WAC | March 10-13 |
| West Coast | March 4-9 |
After Selection Sunday, the First Four games will tip March Madness off in Dayton, Ohio, 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 Ryan Fagan as of March 2:
No. 1 seeds
- Gonzaga
- Michigan
- Baylor
- Illinois
Last four in
- Drake
- Boise State
- Georgia Tech
- Saint Louis
First four out
- Michigan State
- Seton Hall
- Duke
- Indiana