ESPN, which lost the rights to broadcast...

ESPN, which lost the rights to broadcast early round games in the NCAA basketball tournament, announced that it will televise a six-conference playoff that will determine three of the NCAA’s automatic berths.

Six conference champions--from the Big South, the Mid-Eastern Athletic, the Northeast, the Patriot League, the Southland and the Southwestern Athletic--will be paired off in three games and the winners will advance to the NCAA’s 64-team draw.