How many NCAA basketball teams typically receive at-large bids in the tournament?

In the NCAA basketball tournament, the number of at-large bids can vary slightly from year to year, but it typically hovers around 36. At-large bids are extended to teams that do not win their conference tournaments but have strong overall resumes, including their win-loss records, strength of schedule, and quality wins. This is particularly important as the tournament field attempts to include the most competitive teams regardless of their conference affiliation.

Usually, there are 68 teams that participate in the NCAA tournament, and this includes a combination of automatic bids—earned by conference champions—and at-large bids, which are selected by the tournament committee based on various criteria. The remaining teams, after the automatic qualifiers (typically 32), comprise the at-large selections, which are generally around 36, rounding out a competitive field.

The option indicating 36 at-large bids reflects a common structure of the tournament selection process and is widely accepted as the correct number for this context.