What is a conference tournament?

A conference tournament is each league's own playoff. Every league holds one after the season. Its winner earns an automatic bid.

Thirty-two leagues hold one

Division I holds 32 conferences.

Each conference runs its own tournament.

It starts after the regular season ends.

One team leaves with the trophy.

That team also leaves with a bid.

The rest must wait and hope.

The prize is automatic

Win the tournament, and you are in.

No committee vote is needed.

Your season record cannot block it.

Even a losing season can end here.

NCAA.com calls these teams automatic qualifiers.

Read what an automatic bid means.

Why the last week feels wild

Some finals land on Selection Sunday itself.

A surprise winner is called a bid stealer.

Meet the bid stealer up close.

Its win takes one at-large spot.

Bubble teams watch these games nervously.

Their fate sits in other gyms.

Then the committee takes over

The committee meets after these games end.

It picks the at-large teams next.

Then it seeds the whole field.

Everything is revealed on Selection Sunday.

See when Selection Sunday 2027 falls.