MARCH MADNESS
March Madness is a term used to describe the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament that has been running in March since 1939. It is one of the most viewed sporting events in the USA and is highly anticipated each year.
Below, the NCAA have broken down the tournament so you can better understand what it really is about.
What is March Madness?
The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams that compete in seven rounds for the national championship. The penultimate round is known as the Final Four, when (you guessed it) only four teams are left.
What (and when) is Selection Sunday?
Selection Sunday is the day when the Selection Committee reveals the full NCAA tournament bracket, including all teams and all seeds.
When is this year's March Madness men's tournament?
Here is the full schedule for this season's NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 12
First Four: March 14-15
First round: March 16-17
Second round: March 18-19
Sweet 16: March 23-24
Elite Eight: March 25-26
Final Four: April 1
NCAA championship game: April 3
Where did the term “March Madness” come from?
March Madness was first used to refer to basketball by an Illinois high school official, Henry V. Porter, in 1939, but the term didn’t find its way to the NCAA tournament until CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger (who used to be a sportswriter in Chicago) used it during coverage of the 1982 tournament. The term has been synonymous with the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament ever since.
How are the teams selected?
There are two ways that a team can earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. The 32 Division I conferences all receive an automatic bid, which they each award to the team that wins the postseason conference tournament. Regardless of how a team performed during the regular season, if they are eligible for postseason play and win their conference tournament, they receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. These teams are known as automatic qualifiers.
The second avenue for an invitation is an at-large bid. The selection committee (more on them in a second) convenes on Selection Sunday, after all regular season and conference tournament games are played, and decides which 36 teams that are not automatic qualifiers have the pedigree to earn an invitation to the tournament.
What is the March Madness selection committee?
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and bracketing the field for the NCAA Tournament. School and conference administrators are nominated by their conference, serve five-year terms and represent a cross-section of the Division I membership.
How to watch March Madness:
Every March Madness game will be broadcast on either TBS, TNT, TruTV or CBS. You can also stream every game on March Madness Live.
