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NCAA Women’s Tournament Automatic Bid Tracker: High Point Is March Madness Bound for Second Straight Year

The High Point Panthers won their second straight Big South title, punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament in the process.
Chelsea Banbury's High Point Panthers are going to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
Chelsea Banbury's High Point Panthers are going to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. | Scott Wachter/NCAA Photos/Getty Images

Spring is in the air and that can only mean one thing.

March Madness is around the corner. But before the madness commences, teams need to be invited to the Big Dance. That’s where the conference tournaments come into play, where a total of 31 automatic bids to the NCAA tournament are up for grabs in both women’s and men’s college basketball. The action tipped off in the women’s tournaments with the Horizon League, and will take place all the way up to Selection Sunday on March 15. Here’s a look at the full schedule for the women’s conference tournaments.

A complete list of the 31 auto bids for the men’s tournament can be found here. As for the women’s conference tournament, every team that secures an auto bid will be tracked below.

The High Point women's basketball team is going dancing. For just the third time in program history—and for the second straight year—the Panthers are March Madness-bound after the program defeated Radford in the final of the Big South tournament. Chelsea Banbury's Panthers squad was powered by 21 points from senior guard Aaliyah Collins and another 18 points from her backcourt mate Anna Hager.

Check back here throughout conference tournament week to check in on the rest of the tickets booked.


NCAA women’s tournament automatic bids tracker

Conference

Winner

First tournament appearance since …

Big South

High Point

2025

Big 12

West Virginia

2025

Summit

South Dakota State

2025

A-10

Rhode Island

1996

SEC

Texas

2025

Big Ten

UCLA

2025

ACC

Duke

2025

SoCon

Samford

2012*

Ohio Valley

Western Illinois

2017

Editor’s note: Samford won the SoCon tournament in 2020 and secured an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


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Published | Modified
Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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