The selection process for College Basketball's NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship determines which 65 teams will enter the tournament, known as March Madness, and where they will be seeded and placed in the bracket. It is done by a special selection committee appointed by the NCAA. Thirty teams have automatic bids by winning their conference tournament; the Ivy League regular-season champion receives an automatic bid because the Ivy League has no conference tournament . Therefore, only 34 teams (the at-large bids) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot 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 procedure is virtually identical for the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship except that there is no play-in game. There are 33 at-large bids in the women's tournament, for a total of 64 teams, and selections are announced the following day, or Selection Monday.
