Top seeds beware: Maryland-Baltimore County is back in the NCAA Tournament.
UMBC is headed to the Big Dance for the first time since 2018, when the Retrievers beat Virginia to become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in the history of the men's tournament. UMBC beat Vermont 74-59 to win the America East Tournament on Saturday.
Ten other automatic bids were at also stake for the men's tournament Saturday, including some in top conferences. St. John's won the Big East Tournament with a 20-point victory over UConn, and Arizona held off Houston for the title in the Big 12. Florida lost in the SEC semifinals but may hold on to a No. 1 seed thanks to the losses by UConn and Houston.
Duke made its bid for the No. 1 overall seed with a four-point win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament final.
One possible bid thief is still out there — Dayton in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers beat Saint Louis, which is expected to receive an at-large slot, and now Dayton takes on Virginia Commonwealth in the conference tournament final. Bubble teams will hope that VCU wins — or that a loss to Dayton becomes enough to knock the Rams out of the NCAA field.
Two other potential bid thieves went by the wayside when Arkansas beat Mississippi in overtime in the SEC semifinals and Utah State beat San Diego State to win the Mountain West Tournament.
Last four in according to ...
ESPN: Missouri, Miami (Ohio), SMU, Texas.
The Athletic: VCU, Miami (Ohio), Texas, Auburn.
Fox Sports: Missouri, VCU, SMU, Texas.
First four out according to ...
ESPN: Oklahoma, Auburn, San Diego State, New Mexico.
The Athletic: SMU, San Diego State, New Mexico, Oklahoma.
Fox Sports: San Diego State, Auburn, Oklahoma, New Mexico.
Here's who has claimed an automatic bid to this year's men's NCAA Tournament: Long Island University (NEC), Tennessee State (OVC), Northern Iowa (MVC), High Point (Big South), Queens (ASUN), North Dakota State (Summit), Troy (Sun Belt), Furman (SoCon), Wright State (Horizon), Hofstra (CAA), Siena (MAAC), Gonzaga (WCC), McNeese (Southland), Lehigh (Patriot), Idaho (Big Sky), UMBC (America East), Howard (MEAC), Utah State (Mountain West), Arizona (Big 12), St. John's (Big East), Prairie View A&M (SWAC), Akron (MAC), Kennesaw State (Conference USA), Duke (ACC).
Shammah Scott's 3-pointer for Akron with 6 seconds left gave the Zips a 79-76 win over Toledo, denying the Rockets their first NCAA appearance since 1980.
The following automatic bids are still to come Saturday:
Big West (UC Irvine vs. Hawaii)
Western Athletic (Utah Valley vs. Cal Baptist)
Then five more will be contested Sunday:
Ivy (Yale vs. Penn)
SEC (Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt)
Atlantic 10 (VCU vs. Dayton)
American Athletic (South Florida vs. Wichita State)
Big Ten (Michigan vs. Purdue)
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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