The NCAA Tournament has 68 teams, but only 36 "at-large" bids are given to the best teams. The other 32 spots? They go to conference tournament champions—regardless of their season record.
What's an Auto-Bid?
Each of the 32 Division I conferences holds a tournament at the end of their regular season. Win that tournament, and you're in the Big Dance. Period. It doesn't matter if you were the worst team in your conference all year—if you get hot at the right time, you're dancing.
The Bracket Buster Effect
Auto-bids create two types of dangerous teams:
- Mid-Major Monsters - Teams from smaller conferences who dominated all year AND won their tournament. They're underseeded because the committee doesn't respect their conference.
- Hot Underdogs - Teams that weren't even expected to make their conference tournament finals, but caught fire at the perfect time.
How We Handle Auto-Bids
Our ranking system flags conference tournament champions with a special indicator. But here's the key insight: we don't give them bonus points just for winning the tournament.
Why? Because the Selection Committee already rewards them with a guaranteed bid. What matters for bracket success is the underlying strength of the team—not the trophy they picked up in a 3-day tournament.
So when you see a conference champion ranked lower than their seed, that's a red flag. They got in on reputation, not resume.
Track Auto-Bids Live
Our Bracket Projection updates in real-time during conference tournament week. Watch as auto-bids lock in and the at-large picture clarifies.