When it comes to the NCAA Tournament field, the discussion will often revolve around numbers. Pundits and bracketologists will talk about total records, quality wins, and bad losses. But, at the end of the day, there is really only one number that actually matters for the NCAA Tournament.
That number is 68.
A total of 68 teams will be invited to play in the NCAA Tournament. A total of 31 of those 68 teams will get automatic bids based on winning their conference tournament. This is down one from most years, as the Ivy League decided not to play in 2020-21.