This season, the players are aiming for the conference title and the automatic bid that goes with it.

The other 8 positions in the field of 12 were filled by automatic bids.

The automatic bids were increased from 23 in 1993 to 32 this year.

In seven cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference.

The conference has not announced a plan to maintain its automatic bid.

She said yes, but he had seemed more ecstatic about the automatic bid.

Seven conferences received automatic bids to the tournament for its top team.

The victory included an automatic bid into the 12-team tournament.

In 1951, the field expanded from 8 to 16 teams, but the more important change involved the addition of automatic bids.

His 1996 team finished 12-0 and won the league title, but there was no automatic bid then.