Automatic bid is a term generally used to describe a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking (see: At-large bid). It is most commonly used in the United States in the Men's and Women's NCAA College Basketball Tournament, usually Division I. Each year the NCAA Committee selects at-large berths. ...

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. In the case of the Ivy League only, the team with the best record advances via automatic berth. All conferences in D-1 basketball hold a conference tournament besides the Ivy League. All D-1 schools are in a conference, besides Independents. In the case of independents, no conference tournament is held and teams can only advance to the NCAA Tournament via at-large bid, which is extremely rare these days. The NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship is held each spring featuring 65 of the top college basketball teams in the United States. ... The NCAA Womens Division I Championship is an annual basketball tournament for women. ... College basketball refers to the American basketball league organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History The game of basketball was devised by James Naismith in 1892. ... The Ivy League is an athletic conference, founded in 1954, of eight institutions of higher education located in the eastern United States. ...

Teams that win their conference tournaments must then worry about what seed they will get and where they will be placed in the bracket, while many teams that didn't have to worry about making the tournament at all.

There is also the NIT Tournament which is now for the best teams that were left out of the NCAA Tournament. It is done, completely, with at-large selections. The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is a college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. ...

See Also

• NCAA basketball tournament selection process
• Selection Sunday