1.   And if the WAC members left behind form a new conference, they almost certainly would lose their automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

2.   And Lutz feels as certain as a coach without an automatic NCAA bid can be about reaching the Tournament.

3.   And none of the other Ivy coaches is conceding the league title and the automatic bid to the tournament that goes with it to Penn just yet.

4.   As the host country, the U.S. received an automatic bid into the medal round.

5.   As tyrannical rulers of the old Yankee Conference for more than a decade and a half, UConn could count on an NCAA automatic bid most every year.

6.   Big East Champion Syracuse has an automatic bid to one of the three Bowl Alliance games.

7.   Both are gone, with San Diego State and Nevada-Las Vegas playing Saturday night for the conference tournament championship and automatic bid.

8.   Both failed to win automatic bids.

9.   A win would have meant an automatic NCAA bid.

10.   But there was no automatic bid this time.