March Madness: Final college basketball Bracketology report

March Madness is just around the corner, with Selection Sunday now just hours away. Bracketology 101 is in session one final time before the NCAA tournament field is announced later today.

It’s hard to believe March Madness is already upon us, kicking off with the announcement of the field of 68 at 6 p.m EST/ 5 p.m CST this evening. The brackets are almost set, with four more Conference tournaments pending a final result.

The Selection Committee has a list of criteria for selecting every team, as well as seeding all of them. Evidently, there’s a new part of the formula added to the mix in 2018, if things weren’t complicated enough for them already.

For those not relying on the “grace” of the Selection committee, here’s how each NCAA College basketball tournament conference has gone down — ones who earned an automatic bid to March Madness already.

List of the 32 Automatic NCAA tournament bids (parenthesis indicates last NCAA tournament appearance)

• America East: (2) UMBC (24-10) — Defeated (1) Vermont 65-62. Second NCAA tournament bid (2008)
• American Athletic: (1) Cincinnati (29-4) vs. (3) Houston (26-6)
• Atlantic 10: (1) Rhode Island vs. (3) Davidson
• ACC: (1) Virginia (31-2) — Defeated (6) North Carolina 71-63. 22nd NCAA tournament bid (2017) 
• Atlantic Sun: (2) Lipscomb (23-9) — Defeated (1) FGCU 108-96. First NCAA tournament bid
• Big 12 (1): Kansas (27-7) — Defeated (3) West Virginia 81-70. 47th NCAA tournament bid (2017) 
• Big East: (1) Villanova (30-4) — Defeated (3) Providence (5) 86-76 (OT). 38th NCAA tournament bid (2017) 
• Big Sky: (1) Montana (26-7) — Defeated E. Washington (3) 82-65. 11th NCAA tournament bid (2013)
• Big South: (2) Radford (22-12) — Defeated (5) Liberty 55-52. Third NCAA tournament appearance (2009)
• Big Ten:(5) Michigan (28-7) — Defeated Purdue 75-66. 28th NCAA tournament appearance (2017)
• Big West:  (4) Cal State Fullerton — Defeated (2) UC Irvine 71-55. Third NCAA appearance (2008)
• Colonial: Charleston (26-7) — Defeated (2) Northeastern 83-76. Fifth NCAA tournament appearance (1999)
• Conference USA: (4) Marshall (24-10) — Defeated (3) Western Kentucky 67-66. Sixth NCAA tournament appearance (1985). 
• Horizon League:(2) Wright State (25-9) — Defeated (8) Cleveland State 74-57. Third NCAA tournament appearance (2007)
• Ivy League: (1) Penn vs. (2) Harvard
• Metro Atlantic Athletic: (4) Iona (20-13) — Defeated (6) Fairfield 83-71. 13th NCAA tournament appearance (2017)
• Mid-American (MAC): (1) Buffalo (26-8) — Defeated (2) Toledo 76-66. Third NCAA tournament appearance (2016)
• Mid-Eastern Athletic (MEAC): (6) NC Central (19-15) — Defeated (1) Hampton 71-63. Third NCAA tournament appearance (2017) 
• Missouri Valley: (1) Loyola (28-5) — Defeated (3) Illinois State 65-49. Sixth NCAA tournament bid (1985) 
• Mountain West: (4) San Diego State (22-10) — Defeated (3) New Mexico 82-75. 12th NCAA tournament appearance (2015)
• Northeast: (4) LIU Brooklyn (18-16) — Defeated (1) Wagner 71-61. Seventh NCAA tournament appearance ( 2013)
• Ohio Valley: (1) Murray State (26-5) — Defeated Belmont 68-51. 16th NCAA tournament appearance (2012)
• Pac-12:(1) Arizona (27-7) — Defeated USC 75-61. 35th NCAA tournament appearance (2017) 
• Patriot League: (1) Bucknell (25-9) — Defeated Colgate 83-54. Eight NCAA tournament appearance (2017)
• SEC: (1) Tennesee vs. Kentucky (4)
• Southern: (1) UNC Greensboro (27-7) — Defeated (2) E. Tennesee State 62-47. Third NCAA tournament appearance (2001)
• Southland: (3) Stephen F. Austin — Defeated (1) SE Louisiana 59-55. Fifth NCAA tournament appearance (2016) 
• Southwestern Athletic: (3) Texas Southern (15-19) — Defeated Arkansas- Pine Bluff 84-69. Eight NCAA tournament appearance.
• Summit League: (1) South Dakota State (28-6) — Defeated (2) South Dakota 97-87. Fifth NCAA tournament appearance (2017)
• Sun Belt: (2) Georgia State vs. (4) UT-Arlington
• West Coast:(1) Gonzaga (30-4) — Defeated (3) BYU 74-54. 21st NCAA tournament appearance (2017)
• WAC: (1) New Mexico State — Defeated (3) Grand Canyon 72-58. 24th NCAA tournament appearance (2017)