NCAA tournament: Tracking automatic bids for 2026 men’s March Madness

March is upon us.

Selection Sunday is fast approaching, but before bubble teams start sweating out the announcement of the brackets, they have one last chance to clinch a spot in the field.

Conference tournaments are underway, and 31 automatic bids to the NCAA tournament field are up for grabs. For those 31 teams, they can rest assured on Selection Sunday that they will hear their school called as the brackets are unveiled.

For the rest of the teams, they will be left to sweat it out as the other 36 teams are announced.

First Four games take place on March 17 and 18 in Dayton, Ohio. The First Round of the men’s NCAA tournament begins on March 19.

For a look at teams with some work to do in their respective conference tournaments, we have you covered here. We also have this great piece on why we need March Madness more than ever.

Now, here are the teams that have secured an automatic bid to the men’s NCAA tournament. This will be updated as teams clinch spots in the field. Long Island University clinched the first automatic bid on Saturday, when they advanced to the NEC Championship Game against Mercyhurst. While that title game will not take place until Monday, Mercyhurst is ineligible for the NCAA tournament, as they are still transitioning from Division II status to Division I status. The Lakers cannot receive the automatic bid even if they defeat LIU in the NEC Championship Game.

Auto bids for the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament

Here are the teams that have clinched spots in the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament: