The first automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament has been punched. No. 2 seed Long Island University defeated No. 7 seed Wagner 64-56 in the NEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s conference title game. However, because No. 3 seed Mercyhurst is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to being in the transition period, LIU will receive the automatic bid from the Northeast, even if it loses in the conference title game.
Mercyhurst defeated Stonehill earlier in the day to advance to the conference title game. Mercyhurst isn’t eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the four-year Division I transition period is over, which means the soonest it could go to the NCAA or the NIT would be during the 2028-29 season.
LIU finished with the best record (15-3) in conference play and earned the No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament this week. This will be LIU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, when it lost to Radford in the First Four. LIU has never won an NCAA Tournament game.
The other automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that was handed out on Saturday was in the Ohio Valley Conference. No. 1 seed Tennessee State defeated No. 2 seed Morehead State 93-67 to clinch a spot in the Big Dance for the first time since 1994. Tennessee State is coached by former Duke star Nolan Smith.
On Sunday, No. 1 seed Navy will face Boston University in the Patriot League semifinals on CBS Sports Network. On the other side of the bracket, Colgate will face No. 2 seed Lehigh. Another automatic bid will be handed on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference when No. 5 seed UIC faces No. 6 seed Northern Iowa on CBS.
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When conference tournament results roll in, we’ll be keeping track of them here as teams begin to claim automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. The first tickets to the NCAA Tournament will be punched this weekend.
Saturday’s conference tournament scores
2025-26 conference tournament champions
| CONFERENCE | DATES | LOCATION | CHAMPIONSHIP (TV) / CHAMPION |
| America East | March 7, 10, 14 | Higher seed hosts | March 14, 11 a.m. ESPN2 |
| American | March 11-15 | Birmingham, Ala. | March 15, 3:15 p.m. ESPN |
| Atlantic 10 | March 11-15 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | March 15, 1 p.m. CBS |
| ACC | March 10-14 | Charlotte, N.C. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. ESPN |
| ASUN | March 4,6-8 | Jacksonville, Fla. | March 8, 2 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big 12 | March 10-14 | Kansas City, Mo. | March 14, 6 p.m. ESPN |
| Big East | March 11-14 | New York City | March 14, 6:30 p.m. Fox |
| Big Sky | March 7-11 | Boise, Idaho | March 11, 11:30 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big South | March 4, 6-8 | Johnson City, Tenn. | March 8, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Big Ten | March 10-15 | Chicago | March 15, 3:30 p.m. CBS |
| Big West | March 11-14 | Henderson, Nev. | March 14, 10 p.m. ESPN2 |
| CAA | March 6-10 | Washington, D.C. | March 10, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Conference USA | March 10-14 | Huntsville, Ala. | March 14, 8:30 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Horizon League | March 2,4,8-10 | Indianapolis | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Ivy League | March 14-15 | Ithaca, N.Y. | March 15, 12 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAAC | March 5-10 | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MAC | March 12-14 | Cleveland | March 14, 8 p.m. ESPN2 |
| MEAC | March 11-14 | Norfolk, Va. | March 14, 1 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Missouri Valley | March 5-8 | St. Louis | March 8, 12 p.m. CBS |
| Mountain West | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 6 p.m. CBS |
| Northeast | March 4,7,10 | Higher seed hosts | March 10, 7 p.m. ESPN2 |
| Ohio Valley | March 4-7 | Evansville, Ind. | Tennessee State (23-9) |
| Patriot League | March 3,5,8,11 | Higher seed hosts | March 11, 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| SEC | March 11-15 | Nashville, Tenn. | March 15, 1 p.m. ESPN |
| SoCon | March 6-9 | Asheville, N.C. | March 9, 7 p.m. ESPN |
| Southland | March 8-11 | Lake Charles, La. | March 11, 5 p.m. ESPN2 |
| SWAC | March 9-14 | Atlanta | March 14, 7:30 p.m. ESPNU |
| Summit League | March 4-8 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 8, 9 p.m. CBS Sports Network |
| Sun Belt | March 3-9 | Pensacola, Fla. | March 9, 6 p.m. ESPN2 |
| West Coast | March 5-10 | Las Vegas | March 10, 9 p.m. ESPN |
| WAC | March 11-14 | Las Vegas | March 14, 12 a.m. ESPN2 |
