The second round of NCAA Tournament auto-bids were handed out on Sunday, as Northern Iowa, UNC-Asheville, and Florida Gulf Coast all punched their ticket for March Madness with wins in their conference tournaments.
First up was Northern Iowa, who topped Evansville on a buzzer-beating jumper in the MVC title game. The Panthers, who beat Wichita State in the semifinals, are making their second-straight appearance in the Big Dance. A year ago, they took care of business against Wyoming in the first round before losing to Louisville. While they certainly should count on getting a No. 5 seed again, UNI has shown an ability to knock off anyone they play, with wins over North Carolina, WSU, and Iowa State proving so.
UNC-Asheville finished just one game behind Winthrop in the Big South standings, but knocked them off in the conference title game, 77-68. Trailing by nine at halftime, the Bulldogs used a huge second half–they scored 53 points–to win the conference’s NCAA Tournament auto-bid.
In the Atlantic Sun, it was FGCU who held off Stetson in overtime, keeping the conference from naming North Florida as its auto-bid winner. The Ospreys won the regular season title, which would mean they earned the nod should Stetson, who is banned from the NCAA Tournament this season, beat the Eagles. It wasn’t so, as FGCU overcame a five point halftime deficit.
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