The selection process for college basketball’s NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships determines which teams (68 men’s, 64 women’s) will enter the tournaments (the centerpieces of the basketball championship frenzy known as “March Madness”) and their seedings and matchups in the knockout bracket. Thirty-two teams gain automatic entry through winning their conference’s championship (commonly through winning a conference tournament or, in the sole case of the Ivy League, the regular season title). The remaining teams (36 men’s, 32 women’s) rely on the selection committee to award them an at-large bid in the tournament. The selection process primarily takes place on Selection Sunday and the days leading up to it; Selection Sunday is also when the brackets and seeds are released to the public. (The women’s championship brackets and seeds are announced one day later, on Selection Monday.)
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