The men's and women's Division III NCAA Tournament fields will each have one more at-large bid and the men's tournament field size increases from 60 to 61 teams this season as the NCAA released the field breakdown for the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
&&f-boxr&&The women's tournament is already at its feasible maximum of 64 teams, having expanded last year. The men's tournament increases from 60 to 61 teams, as more programs become eligible for the NCAA Tournament. There is one spot in the NCAA Tournament set aside for every 6.5 schools that sponsor the sport.
In the men's tournament, 40 conferences receive automatic bids, with the Landmark Conference having completed its two-year waiting period. Two bids, known as Pool B bids, are set aside for teams that are not in one of those 40 conferences, such as independents, or members of the Great South, New England Collegiate and Upper Midwest Athletic Conferences. The remaining 19 bids are true at-large selections, known as Pool C bids. That's an increase of one spot from last year.
There are 41 conferences that receive automatic bids (sometimes known as automatic qualifiers, or AQs) to the women's tournament. The Great South Athletic Conference has more than the required seven women's programs and receives an automatic bid. There are two Pool B bids and 21 Pool C bids, again an increase of one over the 2009 tournament field.