2022 March Madness, conference tournament brackets, automatic bids: Georgia State, Chattanooga punch tickets
Mon, Mar 7, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)
The tally of automatic bids clinched to the NCAA Tournament rose to five on Monday night, when Chattanooga and Georgia State punched their tickets by winning the SoCon and Sun Belt tournament titles, respectively. The No. 1 seed Mocs railed from a 26-16 halftime deficit and beat No. 2 seed Furman 64-63 on an overtime buzzer-beater from sixth-year senior David Jean-Baptiste to secure the program's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2016.
In the Sun Belt, the No. 3 seed Panthers withstood a persistent No. 8 seed Louisiana to win 80-71 and reach the program's first NCAA Tournament since 2019. While both Chattanooga and Georgia State have gone dancing in recent years, it's the first NCAA Tournament appearance for both under their current coaches.
Fifth-year Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris took over for the 2017-18 season after Matt McCall left for UMass. He had to rebuild the program's roster but has had Jean-Baptiste along for the whole ride. Persistence paid off for both on Monday.
As for Georgia State, this marks the first NCAA Tournament appearance under third-year coach Rob Lanier, who was an assistant at Tennessee before taking over following the departure of Ron Hunter for Tulane in 2019. The Panthers reached the Sun Belt title game last year but lost to Appalachian State. On Monday, they got 29 points from Corey Allen, who hit 12 of 12 free throws in the second half against the upset-minded Ragin' Cajuns.
Reservations for the 2022 NCAA Tournament are beginning to fill up and as conference tournament season rolls on, automatic bids are starting to fly out. We're tracking the action here as Selection Sunday on AP draws closer.
Monday's conference tournaments in action
- Colonial: Semifinals
- Horizon League: Semifinals
- SoCon: Championship(1) Chattanooga 64, (2) Furman 63 (OT)
- Summit: Semifinals
- Sun Belt: Championship(3) Georgia State 80, (8) Louisiana 71
- WCC: Semifinals
2022 conference tournament schedules
| Conference | Tournament site | Dates (Final TV) | 2022 Champion |
| AAC | Fort Worth, Texas | March 10-13 (ESPN) | |
| ACC | Brooklyn, N.Y. | March 8-12 (ESPN) | |
| America East | Campus sites | March 6, 9 & 12 (ESPN2) | |
| Atlantic 10 | Washington D.C. | March 9-13 (APSN) | |
| ASUN | Campus sites | March 1, 3, 5 & 8 (ESPN) | |
| Big East | New York | March 9-12 (Fox) | |
| Big Sky | Boise, Idaho | March 9-12 (ESPNU) | |
| Big South | Charlotte, N.C. | March 2, 4-6 (ESPN2) | Longwood (26-6) |
| Big Ten | Indianapolis | March 9-13 (AP) | |
| Big 12 | Kansas City | March 9-12 (ESPN) | |
| Big West | Henderson, Nev. | March 8, 10-12 (ESPN2) | |
| Colonial | Washington D.C. | March 5-8 (APSN) | |
| Conference USA | Frisco, Texas | March 8-12 (APSN) | |
| Horizon League | Indianapolis | March 1, 3, 7 & 8 (ESPN) | |
| Ivy League | Cambridge, Mass. | March 12-13 (ESPN2) | |
| MAAC | Atlantic City, N.J. | March 8-12 (ESPNU) | |
| MAC | Cleveland, Ohio | March 10-12 (ESPN2) | |
| MEAC | Norfolk, Va. | March 9-12 (ESPN2) | |
| Missouri Valley | St. Louis | March 3-6 (AP) | Loyola-Chicago (25-7) |
| Mountain West | Las Vegas | March 9-12 (AP) | |
| Northeast | Campus sites | Feb. 28, March 2, 5 & 8 (ESPN) | |
| Ohio Valley | Evansville, Ind. | March 2-5 (ESPN2) | Murray State (30-2) |
| Pac-12 | Las Vegas | March 9-12 (Fox) | |
| Patriot | Campus sites | March 1, 3, 6 & 9 (APSN) | |
| SEC | Tampa | March 9-13 (ESPN) | |
| Southern | Asheville, N.C | March 4-7 (ESPN) | Chattanooga (27-7) |
| Southland | Katy, Texas | March 9-12 (ESPN2) | |
| Summit | Sioux Falls, S.D. | March 5-8 (ESPN2) | |
| Sun Belt | Pensacola, Fla. | March 3, 5-7 (ESPN2) | Georgia State (18-10) |
| SWAC | Birmingham, Ala. | March 9-12 (ESPNU) | |
| WAC | Las Vegas | March 8-12 (ESPNU) | |
| West Coast | Las Vegas | March 3-5 & 7-8 (ESPN) | |