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
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.
