Get Ready For College Basketball’s Annual Thrillfest
Over the next few weeks, the excitement will start to build, as college basketball teams across the nation gear up for what everyone now affectionately refers to as “March Madness.” On Sunday, March 17, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Selection Committee will name 68 schools whose players will participate in a single-elimination tournament to crown a national champion. Nearly half of the teams that make the tournament will qualify as division or conference champions (32), and the remaining teams will be selected by the committee for “at-large” entry.
The Tournament Schedule
Before the tourney begins, the teams will be divided into four regions and the top 15 teams in each region will be ranked, or seeded, by the selection committee. The eight remaining teams will compete in what is now known as “the First Four,” with the winner of each game receiving the final spot in each region. In the first round, the highest ranked team will play the lowest ranked team, the second-highest ranked team will play the second-lowest ranked team, and so forth. The first and second rounds will be completed by Sunday, March 24, leaving a field of 16 teams. Those teams will meet the following weekend for two additional rounds, which will produce a champion from each region. The regional champs will play a semifinal on Saturday, April 6, with the winners vying for a national title on Monday, April 6.
Some Fun Facts about the NCAA Championships
Here are some things you may or may not know about the college basketball championships:
- The UCLA Bruins claim the most titles with 11, including 7 in a row (from 1967-1973). Three of those championships came during an 88-game winning streak, the longest in the history of college basketball. Kentucky is second with 8 titles and the Tarheels of North Carolina have won 6 crowns.
- North Carolina has made it to the Final Four a record 20 times and has never had a 10-year absence from the Final Four
- In the long history of the championships, there’s only been one final contested by teams from the same state, when Cincinnati claimed the title with a victory of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
- The 1979 championship game, which pitted Larry Bird and Indiana State against Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans, still holds the record for largest TV audience
- Brigham Young holds the record (30) for appearances in the Big Dance without ever advancing to the Final Four
