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The Gaels, Charleston, Wagner, South Dakota State and Oakland punched their tickets on Tuesday
Three more automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament will be secured Wednesday as Selection Sunday approaches with conference tournaments both ramping up and winding down across the country. The top six league tournaments will all be underway by night’s end, but the stakes are highest in the Big Sky, Patriot League and Southland Conference, all of which will crown a champion.
Saint Mary’s would have made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, but it snagged the WCC’s automatic bid for good measure by edging No. 2 seed Gonzaga 69-60 to win the season series 2-1. The No. 1 seed Gaels are projected as a No. 7 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology after defeating their conference rival.
South Dakota State clinched the Summit League’s automatic bid for the seventh time in the last 13 seasons by outlasting No. 7 seed Denver 76-68. The No. 1 seed Jackrabbits have won eight straight entering the Big Dance, where they are projected as a No. 15 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology.
No. 6 seed Wagner upset No. 2 seed Merrimack 54-47 in the NEC Tournament final to secure the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 2003. By leading his program to the Big Dance, second-year Seahawks coach Donald Copeland has now accomplished something even UConn coach Dan Hurley never did in his two-year stint Wagner stint from 2010-12.
No. 1 seed Charleston is going dancing for the second year in a row after besting No. 7 seed Stony Brook 82-79 in overtime for the CAA Tournament title. The Cougars have won 12 straight entering Selection Sunday and won’t be intimidated in any matchup after taking No. 5 seed and eventual Final Four team San Diego State down to the wire in last year’s first round.
Top-seeded Oakland secured its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011 and fourth overall under veteran coach Greg Kampe by winning the Horizon League final 83-76 over No. 6 seed Milwaukee. Trey Townsend led the way with a career-high 38 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies.
As automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament are secured, we’ll be noting each of them here.
Wednesday’s conference tournament scoreboard
Southland: Championship
(3) Nicholls State vs. (1) McNeese — 5 p.m. | ESPN2
Patriot League: Championship
(6) Lehigh vs. (1) Colgate — 7 p.m. | CBS Sports Network
Big Sky: Championship
(5) Montana State vs. (3) Montana — 11:30 p.m. | ESPN2
OTHER TOURNAMENTS IN ACTION
- AAC: First round
- ACC: Second round LIVE updates
- Atlantic 10: Second round
- Big East: First round LIVE updates
- Big West: First round
- Big 12: Second round LIVE updates
- Conference USA: Quarterfinals
- MAAC: Quarterfinals
- MEAC: Quarterfinals
- Mountain West: First round LIVE updates
- Pac-12: First round LIVE updates
- SEC: First round LIVE updates
- SWAC: Quarterfinals
- WAC: First round
2024 conference tournament schedules, champions
All times ET
| Conference | City | Dates | Final (TV) / Champion |
| ACC | Washington D.C. | March 12-16 | Saturday, March 16 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| America East | Campus Sites | March 9, 12, 16 | Saturday, March 16 11 a.m. (ESPN2) |
| American | Fort Worth, Texas | March 13-17 | Sunday, March 17 3:15 p.m. (ESPN) |
| ASUN | Campus Sites | March 4-5, 7, 10 | Stetson (22-12) |
| Atlantic 10 | Brooklyn | March 12-14, 16-17 | Sunday, March 17 1 p.m. (CBS) |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 12-16 | Saturday. March 16 6 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Big East | New York City | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 6:30 p.m. (Fox) |
| Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 9, 10-13 | Wednesday, March 13 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| Big South | High Point, North Carolina | March 6, 8-10 | Longwood (21-13) |
| Big Ten | Minneapolis | March 13-17 | Sunday, March 17 3:30 p.m. (CBS) |
| Big West | Henderson, Nevada | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| Coastal Athletic | Washington, D.C. | March 8-12 | Charleston (27-7) |
| Conference USA | Huntsville, Alabama | March 12-16 | Saturday, March 16 8:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) |
| Horizon League | Campus sites | Indianapolis | March 5, 7, 11-12 | Oakland (23-11) |
| Ivy | New York City | March 16-17 | Sunday, March 17 12 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, New Jersey | March 12-16 | Saturday, March 16 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) |
| MAC | Cleveland | March 14-16 | Saturday, March 16 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| MEAC | Norfolk, Virginia | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 1 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 7-10 | Drake (28-6) |
| Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 6 p.m. (CBS) |
| Northeast | Campus Sites | March 6, 9, 12 | Wagner (16-15) |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Indiana | March 6-9 | Morehead State (26-8) |
| Pac-12 | Las Vegas | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 9 p.m. (Fox) |
| Patriot | Campus Sites | March 5, 7, 10, 13 | Wednesday, March 13 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) |
| SEC | Nashville | March 13-17 | Sunday, March 17 1 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Southern | Asheville, North Carolina | March 8-11 | Samford (29-5) |
| Southland | Lake Charles, Louisiana | March 10-13 | Wednesday, March 13 5 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | March 8-12 | South Dakota State (22-12) |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Florida | March 5, 7, 9, 10-11 | James Madison (31-3) |
| SWAC | Birmingham, Alabama | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU) |
| WAC | Las Vegas | March 13-16 | Saturday, March 16 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2) |
| WCC | Las Vegas | March 7-9, 11-12 | Saint Mary’s (26-7) |
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