The Latest: league tourney upsets could alter field strength

The Latest on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

There were plenty of regular-season champions that stumbled in their conference tournaments and saw someone else claim that league’s automatic tournament bid.

That could have an impact on the strength of the bracket and which bubble teams make it into the field of 68.

Teams like VCU in the Atlantic 10, South Dakota State in the Summit League and Sam Houston State in the Southland Conference lost as top seeds in their tournaments. That opened the door for St. Louis (No. 103 in NET rankings), North Dakota State (No. 222) and Abilene Christian (No. 154) to earn bids, respectively.

In other leagues, upsets led to surprising teams earning bids behind the NCAA locks in those conferences — which reduced the number of slots for bubble teams like Indiana, North Carolina State and TCU.