March Madness 2017 Bracket, Schedule, Dates: 3 More Teams Get Automatic Bids and More Details

By Janna Dela Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, March 07, 2017

With March Madness just around the corner, fans are preparing for another intense session of unadulterated college basketball experience in the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament. 

Several teams have already earned their ticket to the Big Dance prior to Selection Sunday. The Jacksonville State was the first to get their spot following a victory at the Ohio Valley Conference Championship.

Wichita State, Winthrop and Florida Gulf Coast quickly got theirs after their respective championships held March 5. Freshly inducted to the March Madness stage are Iona, UNCW and East Tennessee State.

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The Gaels fought it out against the Siena Saints winning 87–86 in overtime to earn their ticket to the Big Dance for the second consecutive year.

As for the UNCW, their win against Charleston not only sends them straight to March Madness, it also made them back-to-back Colonial Athletic champions.

The East Tennessee State dominates the Southern Conference after a 79–74 against UNC Greensboro, making them the seventh team to qualify in March Madness.

There will be 25 more automatic bids up for grabs ahead of the Big Dance. Four of these will soon be filled in today, March 7, by whoever wins the Horizon League, Summit League, Northeast Conference and West Coast Conference.

The complete schedule for the 2017 Division I Men's Basketball Conference Championships, which will run through March 11, can be viewed here.

There are already talks and projections on which 68 teams will make it to the March Madness by way of automatic bids and seeds.

The likes of North Carolina (ACC), Kansas (Big 12) and Villanova (Big East) are all projected to get into the Big Dance via No. 1 seeds along with Gonzaga (WCC).

Duke and UCLA are posited to take the No.3 and No.4 seeds, giving them a one-way ticket to the March Madness. Oregon is expected to win Pac-12 and Purdue for Big Ten, taking two more slots in the Big Dance.