The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, also known and branded as NCAA March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship. The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in the United States.
Roy Allen Williams is an American retired college basketball coach who served as the men's head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels for 18 seasons and the Kansas Jayhawks for 15 seasons. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Alfred James McGuire was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also well known as a longtime national television basketball broadcaster and for his colorful personality.
The 1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with the championship game on Monday, March 28 in Atlanta. A total of 32 games were played, including a national third place game. This was the final tournament in which teams were not seeded.
The 1992 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis. A total of 63 games were played.
The 1999 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. A total of 63 games were played. This year's Final Four was the first—and so far, only—to be held in a baseball-specific facility, as Tropicana Field is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in the semi-final round play another single-elimination game whose winner is the tournament champion. In some tournaments, the two teams that lose in the semi-final round compete for third place in a consolation game.
The Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team represents Marquette University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference. The team plays its home games at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee.
College Basketball on NBC Sports is the de facto branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I men's college basketball games produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States. The NBC network broadcast college basketball games in some shape or form between 1969 and 1998. From 1969 to 1981, NBC covered the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. It became the first major network to broadcast the championship game, at a cost of more than US$500,000 in 1969.
The 1976–77 Marquette Warriors men's basketball team represented Marquette University in the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Warriors played their home games at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a Division I Independent. They were led by head coach Al McGuire in his 13th and final year at Marquette. The Warriors finished the season 25–7. They received a bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Cincinnati, Kansas State, and Wake Forest to advance to the Final Four. At the Final Four, they defeated UNC Charlotte to advance to the National Championship game where they defeated North Carolina to win the National Championship.
The 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 2014, and concluded with the UConn Huskies winning the championship game on April 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2015–16 season. The 78th edition of the Tournament began on March 15, 2016, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2016–17 season. The 79th edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2017, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game was the first to be contested in a Western state since 1995 when Seattle was the host of the Final Four.
The 1982 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game took place on Monday, March 29, between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Georgetown Hoyas at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The match-up was the final one of the forty-fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to crown a national champion for men's basketball at the Division I level.
The 1977 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held February 27–March 11 at a combination of on-campus gymnasiums and the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the first edition of the tournament.
The 1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game took place on March 26, 1946 between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Oklahoma A&M Aggies at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The match-up was the final one of the eighth consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship single-elimination tournament — commonly referred to as the NCAA Tournament — organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is used to crown a national champion for men's basketball at the Division I level.
The 1968 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game took place on March 23, 1968 between the North Carolina Tar Heels and UCLA Bruins at Sports Arena in Los Angeles. The matchup was the final one of the thirtieth edition of the single-elimination tournament now known as the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament — commonly referred to as the NCAA Tournament — organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was used to crown a national champion for men's basketball in the NCAA's University Division, the predecessor to what has been known since 1973 as NCAA Division I.
The 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game took place on March 30, 1981 between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Indiana Hoosiers at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The matchup was the final one of the forty-third consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship single-elimination tournament — commonly referred to as the NCAA Tournament — organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is used to crown a national champion for men's basketball at the Division I level.
The 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2021–22 season. The 83rd annual edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2022, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the Kansas Jayhawks defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels, 72–69, to claim the school’s fourth national title.
