Automatic bid

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An automatic bid is a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking (see: at-large bid). [1] It is used in the United States in all professional sports, in which all playoff bids are automatic and determined by objective formulae; in college sports, all divisions (except the highest division of college football) use a mix of automatic bids and subjective selections to seed the postseason tournaments.

In Men's and Women's Division I college basketball, the teams that win their conference tournament are granted automatic berths to the main tournament. The Ivy League was the last Division I conference to institute a conference tournament, not doing so until the 2016–17 season; before then, the team with the best record in conference games advanced via automatic berth. Schools not in conferences, called "independents," have no conference tournament and can only advance to the NCAA Tournament via an at-large bid, which rarely happens unless the team performs well. As of the 2022-23 season, two Division I teams are competing as independents: the Chicago State Cougars and the Hartford Hawks, the latter of whom will be dropping to NCAA Division III after the season ends.

Similar automatic bid processes are used in other NCAA sports with a post-season tournament. This allows a team with a losing record to qualify for the NCAA tournament based on winning the automatic bid via tournament.

Another post-season college basketball tournament, the NIT, includes the best teams that were left out of the NCAA Tournament. Since the 2005 purchase of the NIT by the NCAA, automatic bids are now awarded to all regular season conference champions who did not win their conference tournament and did not get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Invitation Tournament</span> Collegiate basketball tournament

The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament is played at regional sites with its Final Four traditionally played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York City each March and April. It was founded in 1938. The NIT was once considered the most prestigious post-season showcase for college basketball.

The selection process for college basketball's NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments determine which teams will enter the tournaments and their seedings and matchups in the knockout bracket. Currently, thirty-two (32) teams gain automatic entry through winning their conference's championship. The remaining teams rely on the selection committee to award them an at-large bid in the tournament. The selection process primarily takes place on Selection Sunday and the days leading up to it. Selection Sunday is also when the men's brackets and seeds are released to the public. Beginning in 2022, the women's championship brackets and seeds are also announced on Sunday. Prior to the expansion of the bracket from 64 to 68 teams the women's championship brackets and seeds were announced one day later, on Selection Monday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's National Invitation Tournament</span> Postseason womens college basketball tournament

The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NIT Season Tip-Off. Unlike the NIT, the women's tournament is not run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but is an independent tournament. Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in the promotion of amateur sporting events, created the WNIT in 1994 as a preseason counterpart to the then-current National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). After the NWIT folded in 1996, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the postseason version in 1998 under the NWIT name, but changed the following season to the current name.

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The 2011 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA tournament. The 74th annual tournament began March 15 on campus sites ended on March 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Wichita State defeated Alabama, 66–57, to win its first NIT title.

This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which did not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 37 teams were granted at-large bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68. For the first time ever, the Selection Committee disclosed each team's seed within the entire field following the announcement of the entire bracket.

The 2013 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2013 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 19 on campus sites and ended on April 4 at Madison Square Garden. Baylor defeated Iowa, 74–54, to capture the Bears its first NIT title in school history.

The 2014 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament started on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final 4 and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 18 and ended on Thursday, April 3. Minnesota won this tournament after being the third Big Ten team in a row to make the NIT Finals.

The 2015 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2015 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament is being played on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final Four and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 17 and ended on Thursday, April 2. On February 6, the NCAA announced the 2015 NIT will use a 30-second shot clock and a 4-foot (1.2 m) restricted-area arc as experimental rules for the 2015 tournament. On March 4, the NCAA announced teams that are marked as the first four teams left out of the 2015 NCAA tournament field will be the top-seeded teams in the 2015 NIT.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–16 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2015–16 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by fifth year head coach Bryce Drew, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center and were members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 30–7, 16–2 in Horizon League play to win the regular season championship. They lost in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament to Green Bay. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA tournament, they received a #1 seed in the NIT where they defeated Texas Southern, Florida State, Saint Mary's, and BYU to advance to the championship game where they lost to George Washington.

The 2016 Women's National Invitation Tournament is a single-elimination tournament of 64 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2016 Women's NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 2, with the championship game televised on CBS Sports Network. All games will be played on the campus sites of participating schools.

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This is a list of qualifying teams in the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. A total of 68 teams are entered into the tournament. Thirty-two of the teams qualified via automatic bids, usually earned by winning their conference tournaments, while the remaining 36 teams were selected via "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. Teams are seeded from 1 to 16 within each of the four regionals, while the Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

This is a list of qualifying teams in the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which did not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted at-large bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams were seeded within their assigned region from 1 to 16, which was disclosed, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65, which was not disclosed.

The 2023 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams not selected to participate in the 2023 NCAA tournament. The tournament began on March 14 and ended on March 30. The first three rounds were played on campuses, with the semifinal and championship final played at Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas Valley.

This is a list of qualifying teams in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. A total of 68 teams are entered into the tournament. Thirty-two of the teams qualified via automatic bids, usually earned by winning their conference tournaments, while the remaining 36 teams were via "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. Teams are seeded from 1 to 16 within each of the four regionals, while the Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

References

  1. Kahane, Leo H.; Shmanske, Stephen (2012-03-16). The Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics: Volume 1: The Economics of Sports. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-987477-4.

See also