2025 March Madness, conference tournament scores, automatic bids: Gonzaga, UNCW punch tickets to Big Dance

Four automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament were secured Tuesday, as championship week in college basketball continued to ramp up. Among those the teams to punch tickets was Saint Francis, which will be going to the Big Dance for the first time since 1991.

The No. 3 seed Red Flash upset No. 1 seed Central Connecticut State in the NEC Tournament title game 46-43. In the process, they snapped CCSU’s nation-best 14-game winning streak. It wasn’t all bad for No. 1 seeds on Wednesday, however. Robert Morris, the top seed in the Horizon League, beat No. 4 seed Youngstown State 89-78 to secure the program’s first NCAA Tournament trip since 2015.

In the CAA title game, No. 2 seed UNCW ended No. 12 seed Delaware’s remarkable tournament run. The Blue Hens won four games in four days but couldn’t win a fifth as they fell 76-72 in a thriller. UNCW will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

After losing both regular season matchups against Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga delivered one of its most impressive performances of the season with a wire-to-wire 58-51 win in the West Coast Conference title game. After Saint Mary’s tied the game at 33-33 in the opening seconds of the second half, Gonzaga outscored the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament 25-18. Forward Braden Huff scored a team-high 18 points and Khalif Battle finished with 14. Battle threw down an alley-oop dunk with 36 seconds left to stretch the lead to nine. The Bulldogs have won 11 of the last 13 WCC title games and will enter the tournament with some positive momentum.

Three more conferences will determine their NCAA Tournament representatives on Wednesday, as the march to Selection Sunday continues with championship games in the Big Sky, Patriot League and Southland Conference.  

For the first time since 2018, a Patriot League team other than Colgate will make it to the Big Dance. No. 1 seed American knocked out No. 3 seed Colgate in the semifinals and will take on No. 5 seed Navy in the title game at 7 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network.

Wednesday also marks a ramp-up day on the high-major front as the Big East, Big Ten and SEC join the fray with opening round games. All told, it’s one of the busiest days of the year in college basketball as postseason play hits full throttle.

SportsLine conference tournament odds, picks: Proven experts share best bets for every tourney 

Tuesday’s conference tournament scores

2025 conference tournaments/champions