The first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament came a little bit early. Long Island University claimed the Northeast Conference's berth by beating Wagner in the semifinals of that league tournament Saturday. The Sharks will play in the NEC men's title game Tuesday night, but their opponent (Mercyhurst) is ineligible for the NCAAs because it is still a reclassifying Division I institution. When Mercyhurst topped Stonehill to advance to the championship game, that meant the other semifinal between LIU and Wagner -- Brooklyn vs. Staten Island -- would determine who reached the NCAA field of 68. Later Saturday, the Ohio Valley Conference awarded its automatic bid when Tennessee State won the OVC Tournament with a 93-67 rout of Morehead State. LIU will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. Tennessee State, the alma mater of Oprah Winfrey, hasn't been in since 1994. Neither program has won a game in the Big Dance. Elsewhere on Saturday, Texas A&M and Texas Christian helped their at-large chances on a day when plenty of other bubble teams lost. It wasn't a pretty day, with Indiana losing to Ohio State, Auburn falling to Alabama and Virginia Tech coming up short...
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