Men’s NCAA Automatic Bids

By The Associated Press
March 15, 2026 | 5:32 PM

LIU, Northeast

Tennessee St., Ohio Valley

High Point, Big South

N. Iowa, Missouri Valley

Queens (NC), Atlantic Sun

North Dakota St., Summit

Troy, Sun Belt

Furman, Southern

Wright St., Horizon League

Hofstra, Coastal Athletic

Siena, Metro Atlantic Athletic

Gonzaga, West Coast

McNeese, Southland

Lehigh, Patriot League

Idaho, Big Sky

UMBC, America East

Howard, Mid-Eastern Athletic

Utah St., Mountain West

Arizona, Big 12

St. John’s, Big East

Prairie View, Southwestern Athletic

Akron, Mid-American

Kennesaw St., Conference USA

Duke, Atlantic Coast

Hawaii, Big West

Cal Baptist, Western Athletic

Arkansas, Southeastern

Purdue, Big Ten

Kickoff approaches for LSU but answers on eligibility chaos remain elusive

By The Associated Press
September 4, 2026 | 7:19 PM

As the season's opening kickoff drew ever closer Friday, attorneys at LSU and the Southeastern Conference studied next moves in a spiraling eligibility crisis that boils down to a question that once seemed simple but isn't anymore: Should players who have been on pro rosters be able to play college sports? On one side of this increasingly Kafkaesque battle is LSU, which has been practicing with two players — Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright — who spent time in NFL training camps this summer. The school needs to decide whether to place them on their official roster by Friday night's deadline ahead of its season opener against Clemson scheduled for Saturday night. On the other is the SEC, which along with all the major football conferences and the NCAA, has forbidden former pros from returning to college in what they say is a basic principle that defines college sports. But the SEC and NCAA have lost a battle in a Louisiana court that ruled the players can play. They are waiting for word from a federal court in Alabama, which had not made any rulings as of Friday evening in the lawsuit the SEC filed a day earlier against LSU.

Related Stories