The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Played mostly during March, the tournament consists of 68 teams and was first conducted in 1939. Known for its upsets of favored teams, it has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in the US.
The 68-team format was adopted in 2011; it had remained largely unchanged since 1985 when it expanded to 64 teams. Before then, the tournament sized varied from as little as 8 to as many as 53. The field was restricted to conference champions until at-large bids were extended in 1975 and teams were not fully seeded until 1979. In 2020, the tournament was cancelled for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in the subsequent season, the tournament was contested completely in the state of Indiana as a precaution.
All tournament games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the program name NCAA March Madness. With a contract through 2032, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery pay $891 million annually for the broadcast rights. The NCAA distributes revenue to participating teams based on how far they advance, which provides significant funding for college athletics. The tournament has become part of American popular culture through bracket contests that award money and other prizes for correctly predicting the outcomes of the most games. In 2023, Sports Illustrated reported that an estimated 60 to 100 million brackets are filled out each year.
From 1939 to 1950, the NCAA tournament consisted of eight teams, with each selected from a geographical district. Multiple conferences were considered part of each district, such as the Missouri Valley and the Big Seven conferences in one district and the Southern and Southeastern conferences in another, which often led to top-ranked teams being left out of the tournament. The issue came to a head in 1950, when the NCAA suggested that third-ranked Kentucky and fifth-ranked North Carolina State compete in a playoff game for a bid, but Kentucky refused, believing they should be given the bid as the higher-ranked team. In response, the NCAA doubled the field to 16 in 1951, adding two additional districts and six spots for at-large teams. Conferences could still only have one team in the tournament, but multiple conferences from the same geographic district could now be included through at-large bids. This development helped the NCAA compete with the National Invitation Tournament for prestige.[2]
In the eight team format, the tournament was split into the East and West Regions, with champions meeting in the national championship game. The first two rounds for each region were conducted at the same site and the national championship and, from 1946, consolation game occurred a week later. Some years, the site of the national championship was the same site as a regional championship and in other years a new site. With the expansion to 16 teams, the tournament retained the original format of the national semifinals being the regional finals in 1951. For the 1952 tournament, there were four regions named East-1, East-2, West-1, West-2, all played at separate sites. The regional champions met for the national semifinals and championship at a separate location a week later, establishing the format with two final rounds of the tournament (although the name "Final Four" would not be used in branding until the 1980s).
The 1953 tournament expanded to include 22 teams and added a fifth round, with ten teams receiving a bye to the regional semifinals. The number of teams would fluctuate from 22 to 25 teams over the next two decades, but the number of rounds remained the same. The double region naming was kept until 1956, when the regions were named the East, Midwest, West, and Far West. In 1957, the regions were named East, Mideast, Midwest, and West, which remained until 1985. Regions were paired in the national semifinals based on their geographic locations, with the two eastern regions meeting in one semifinal and two western regions meeting in the other semifinal.
Beginning in 1946, a national third-place game was held before the championship game. Regional third-place games were played in the West from 1939 and the East from 1941. Despite expansion in 1951, there were still only two regions, each with a third-place game. The 1952 tournament had four regions each with a third-place game.
This era of the tournament was characterized by competition with the National Invitation Tournament. Founded by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association one year before the NCAA tournament, the NIT was held entirely in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Because New York was the center of the press in the United States, the NIT often received more coverage than the NCAA tournament in early years. Additionally, good teams were often excluded from the NCAA tournament because each conference could only have one bid and conference champions were even excluded because of the 8-district system before 1950. Teams often competed in both tournaments during the first decade, with City College of New York winning both the NIT and NCAA tournament in 1950. Soon after, the NCAA banned teams from participating in both tournaments.
Pre-modern era (1971–1984)
Two major changes over the course of the early 1970s led to the NCAA becoming the preeminent post-season tournament for college basketball. First, the NCAA added a rule in 1971 that banned teams who declined an invitation to the NCAA tournament from participating in other post-season tournaments. This was in response to eighth-ranked Marquette declining its invitation in 1970 and instead participating in and winning the NIT after coach Al McGuire complained about their regional placement. Since then, the NCAA tournament has clearly been the major one, with conference champions and the majority of the top-ranked teams participating.[3] Second, the NCAA allowed multiple teams per conference starting in 1975. This was in response to several highly ranked teams being denied bids during the early 1970s. These included South Carolina in 1970, which was undefeated in conference play but lost in the ACC tournament; second-ranked USC in 1971, which was left out because their conference was represented by top-ranked UCLA; and Maryland in 1974, which was ranked #3 but lost the ACC tournament championship game to eventual national champion North Carolina State.[citation needed]
To accommodate at-large bids, the tournament expanded in 1975 to include 32 teams, allowing a second team to represent a conference in addition to the conference champion,[4] and eliminated byes. In 1979, the tournament expanded to 40 teams and added a sixth round; 24 teams received byes to the second round. Eight more teams were added in 1980 with only 16 teams receiving byes, and the restriction on the number of at-large bids from a conference was removed.[4] In 1983, a seventh round with four play-in games was added; an additional play-in game was added in 1984. Beginning in 1973, the regional pairings for the national semifinals were rotated on a yearly basis instead of the two eastern and two western regions always playing.
Seeding also began during this era, adding drama and ensuring better teams had better paths to the Final Four. In 1978, teams were seeded in two separate pools based on their qualification method. Each region had four teams which automatically qualified ranked Q1–Q4 and four teams which received an at-large bid ranked L1–L4. In 1979, all teams in each region were seeded 1 through 10, without regards for their qualification method.
The national semifinals were moved to Saturday and the championship was moved to Monday evening in 1973, where they have remained since. Before the championship had been played on Saturday and the semifinals two days before.
The third-place games were eliminated during this era, with the last regional third-place games played in 1975 and the last national third-place game played in 1981.
Modern era (1985–present)
In 1985, the tournament expanded to 64 teams, eliminating all byes and play-ins. For the first time, all teams had to win six games to win the tournament. This expansion led to increased media coverage and popularity in American culture. Until 2001, the First and Second Rounds occurred at two sites in each region.[citation needed]
In 1985, the Mideast Region was renamed the Southeast Region. In 1997, the Southeast Region became the South Region. From 2004 to 2006, the regions were named after their host cities, e.g. the Phoenix regional in 2004, the Chicago regional in 2005, and the Minneapolis regional in 2006, but reverted to the traditional geographic designations beginning in 2007. For the 2011 tournament, the South Region was the Southeast Region and the Midwest Region the Southwest Region; both returned to their previous names in 2012.[citation needed]
The 1996 Final Four was the last to take place in a venue built specifically for basketball. Since then, the Final Four has exclusively been played in large indoor football stadiums.
Beginning in 2001, the field was expanded from 64 to 65 teams, adding to the tournament what was informally known as the "play-in game". This was in response to the creation of the Mountain West Conference during 1999. Originally, the winner of the Mountain West's tournament did not receive an automatic bid, as doing so would have eliminated one of the at-large bids. As an alternative to eliminating an at-large bid, the NCAA expanded the tournament to 65 teams. The #64 and #65 seeds were seeded in a regional bracket as 16 seeds, and then played the opening round game on the Tuesday preceding the first weekend of the tournament. This game was always played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Starting in 2004, the selection committee revealed the overall rankings among the #1 seeds. Based on these rankings, the regions were paired so that the #1 overall seed would play the #4 overall seed in a national semifinal if both teams made the Final Four. This was to prevent the top two teams from meeting before the finals, as was largely considered the case in 1996 when Kentucky played Massachusetts in the Final Four. Previously, regional pairings rotated yearly.
In 2010, there was speculation about increasing the tournament size to as many as 128 teams. On April 1, 2010, the NCAA announced that it was looking at expanding to 96 teams for 2011. However, three weeks later the NCAA announced a new television contract with CBS/Turner that expanded the field to 68 teams, instead of 96, starting in 2011. The First Four was created by the addition of three play-in games.[5] Two of the First Four games pit 16 seeds against each other. The two other games, however, pit the last at-large bids against each other. The seeding for the at-large teams will be determined by the selection committee and fluctuates based on the true seed ranking of the teams. Explaining the reasoning for this format, selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero said, "We felt if we were going to expand the field it would create better drama for the tournament if the First Four was much more exciting. They could all be on the 10 line or the 12 line or the 11 line."[5] As part of this expansion, the round of 64 was renamed the Second Round and the round of 32 was renamed the Third Round, with the First Four being officially the First Round.[5] In 2016, the rounds of 64 and 32 returned to their previous names of the First Round and the Second Round and the First Four became the official name of the opening round.[6]
In 2016, the NCAA introduced a new "NCAA March Madness" logo for tournament-wide branding, including fully-branded courts at each of the tournament venues. Previously, the NCAA had used the existing court or a generic NCAA court.
Beginning in 2017, the #1 overall seed picks the sites for their first and second round games and their potential regional games. Additionally, the selection committee began releasing the top 16 seeds three weeks before Selection Sunday as a bracket preview.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA cancelled the 2020 tournament. Initially, the NCAA discussed holding a shortened version with only 16 teams in the Final Four host city of Atlanta. Once the vast scale of the pandemic was understood, the NCAA cancelled the tournament, making it the first edition not to be held, and decided against releasing the brackets that the Selection Committee had been working on.
In 2021, the tournament was held entirely in the state of Indiana to reduce travel. This was to date the only time the tournament was conducted in one state. As a COVID-19 precaution, all participating teams were required to stay in NCAA-provided accommodations until they lost. The schedule was adjusted to provided extended time for COVID-19 evaluation before the tournament began, with the First Four occurring entirely on Thursday, the First and Second Rounds pushed one day back to a Friday-Monday window, and the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight pushed to a Friday-Monday window as well. Teams ranked 69–72 by the Selection Committee were put on "standby" to replace any team that withdrew from the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols during the 48 hours after the brackets were announced. Only one game was declared a no contest due to COVID-19, with Oregon advancing to the second round because VCU could not participate due to COVID-19 protocols. VCU was not replaced by one of the first four teams out because the COVID-19 infections started more than two days after the brackets were announced. The tournament returned to its regular format in 2022.
In response to protests from players in the 2021 women's tournament about the differing facility quality and branding, both the men's and women's tournaments were branded as "NCAA March Madness" starting in 2022 with variations of the same tournament-wide logo used by the men's tournament. Additionally, the Final Four for the men's tournament was branded as the "Men's Final Four" beginning in 2022, reflecting the "Women's Final Four" branding in use for that tournament since 1987.
National semifinals are regional finals until 1952; West Region third-place game begins in 1939; teams selected from geographic districts with each district limited to one team
1941–45
9
East Region third-place game begins in 1941
1946–50
10
National third-place game begins
1951
10
6
16
4
18
Tournament expands to 16 teams; ten teams selected from geographic districts and six teams selected at-large; limit of one team per conference
1952
20
East 1
East 2
West 1
West 2
National semifinals move to site of national championship; all regions have third-place game
1953
14
8
22
10
5
26
First round added before regional semifinals
1954–55
15
9
24
8
28
1956
17
8
25
7
29
East
Midwest
West
Far West
1957
16
7
23
9
27
Mideast
Midwest
West
1958
8
24
8
28
1959
7
23
9
27
1960
14
11
25
7
29
1961
15
9
24
8
28
1962–64
10
25
7
29
1965
8
23
9
27
1966
14
22
10
26
1967–68
15
23
9
27
1969–70
10
25
7
29
1971
NCAA bans teams who decline bid from participating in other tournaments in 1971
1972–74
16
9
1975
20
12
32
0
36
Multiple teams from the same conference allowed; last regional third-place games played
1976–77
21
11
32
1978
Teams seeded in separate at-large and automatic qualifier pools in 1978
1979
23
17
40
24
6
40
Full seeding begins, second round added before regional semifinals
1980
25
48
16
48
1981
22
26
Last national third-place game played in 1981
1982
28
20
47
1983
24
52
16
7
4
51
Four play-in games added for the final seed in each region, 16 teams get bye to round of 32
1984
29
53
5
52
Fifth play-in game added for the eleventh seed in the East Region
1985
35
64
0
6
0
63
Southeast
Mideast Region renamed Southeast Region in 1985
1986
30
34
1987
29
35
1988-90
30
34
1991
29
35
1992–94
30
34
1995
29
35
1996–97
30
34
1998–2000
South
Southeast Region renamed the South Region in 1998
2001
31
65
7
1
64
Opening Round added with a play-in game for the final 16 seed
2002–03
Pod system for First and Second Rounds begins in 2002 to reduce travel
2004
East Rutherford
Atlanta
St. Louis
Phoenix
Ranking among #1 Seeds announced and used to determine region pairings in Final Four
2005
Syracuse
Austin
Chicago
Albuquerque
2006
Washington, D.C.
Atlanta
Minneapolis
Oakland
2007–10
East
South
Midwest
West
2011
37
68
4
67
Southeast
Southwest
First Four added, true seed list released, and rounds of 64 and 32 renamed Second and Third Rounds
2012–2013
South
Midwest
2014–15
32
36
2016
Rounds of 64 and 32 renamed First and Second Rounds and "First Four" becomes official name of the opening round
2017–19
Overall #1 seed picks assignment for First and Second Round and Regional; Selection Committee releases bracket preview of top 16 seeds three weeks before Selection Sunday
2020
Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2021
31
37
68
0
7
4
66
East
South
Midwest
West
All games played in Indiana due to COVID-19 precautions
A ticket from the 1988 tournament held in Kansas City, Missouri
The tournament consists of 68 teams competing in seven rounds of a single-elimination bracket. Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament, played during the two weeks before the tournament, and thirty-six teams qualify by receiving an at-large bid based on their performance during the season.[8] The Selection Committee determines the at-large bids, ranks all the teams 1 to 68, and places the teams in the bracket, all of which is revealed publicly on the Sunday before the tournament, dubbed Selection Sunday by the media and fans. There is no reseeding during the tournament and matchups in each subsequent round are predetermined by the bracket.[citation needed]
The tournament is divided into four regions, with each region having sixteen to eighteen teams. Regions are named after the U.S. geographic area of the city hosting each regional semifinal and regional final (the tournament's third and 4th round overall). Host cities for all regions vary from year to year.
The tournament is played over three weekends, with two rounds occurring each weekend. Before the first weekend, eight teams compete in the First Four to advance to the first round. Two games pair the lowest-ranked conference champions and two games pair the lowest-ranked at-large qualifiers. The first and second rounds are played during the first weekend, the regional semifinals and regional finals during the second weekend, and the national semifinals and championship game during the third weekend. Regional rounds are branded as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight and the third weekend is branded as the Final Four, all named after the number of teams remaining at the beginning of the round. All games, including the First Four, are scheduled so that teams will have one rest day between each game. This format has been in use since 2011, with minor changes to the schedule in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]
The Selection Committee, which includes conference commissioners and university athletic directors appointed by the NCAA, determines the bracket during the week before the tournament. Since the results of several conference tournaments occurring during the same week can significantly impact the bracket, the Committee often makes several brackets for different results.
To make the bracket, the Committee ranks the whole field from 1 to 68; these are referred to as the true seed. The committee then divides the teams amongst the four regions, giving each a seed between No. 1 and No. 16. The same four seeds in all the regions are referred to as the seed line (i.e. the No. 6 seed line). Eight teams are doubled up and compete in the First Four. Two of the paired teams compete for No. 16 seeds, and the other two paired teams are the last at-large teams awarded bids to the tournament and compete for a seed line in the No. 10 to No. 14 range, which varies year to year based on the true seeds of the teams overall.[9]
The top four overall seeds are placed as No. 1 seeds in each region. The regions are paired so that if all the No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four true seed No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3. The No. 2 teams are preferably placed so that the No. 5 true seed will not be paired with the No. 1 true seed. The committee ensures competitive balance among the top four seeds in each region by adding the true seed values up and comparing the values among the regions. If there is significant deviation, some teams will be moved among the regions to balance the true seed distribution.[9]
If a conference has two to four teams in the top four seeds, they will be placed in different regions. Otherwise, teams from the same conference are placed to avoid a rematch before the regional finals if they have played three or more times in the season, the regional semifinals if they have played twice, or the second round if they have played once. Additionally, the committee is advised to avoid rematches from the regular season and the previous years' tournament in the First Four. Finally, the committee will attempt to ensure that a team is not moved out of their preferred geographical region an inordinate number of times based on their placement in the previous two tournaments. To follow these rules and preferences, the committee may move a team off of their expected seed line. Thus, for example, the 40th overall ranked team, originally slated to be a No. 10 seed within a particular region, may instead be moved up to a No. 9 seed or moved down to a No. 11 seed.[9]
Since 2012, the committee has released the No. 1 to 68 true seed list after announcing the bracket.[9] Since 2017, the Selection Committee has released a list of the top 16 teams three weeks before Selection Sunday. This list does not guarantee any team a bid, as the Committee re-ranks all teams when starting the final selection process.[10]
The University of Dayton Arena, which has hosted all First Four games since the round's inception in 2011 (except 2021), as well as its precursor, the single "play-in" game held from 2001 to 2010. As of 2019, the arena has hosted 123 tournament games, the most of any venue.
The seed line of the four at-large teams competing in the First Four has varied each year, depending on the overall ranking of the at-large teams in the field.[9]
In the men's tournament, all sites are nominally neutral; teams are prohibited from playing tournament games on their home courts during the first, second, and regional rounds. Under NCAA rules, any court on which a team hosts more than three regular-season games (not including preseason or conference tournament games) is considered a "home court".[9] For the First Four and the Final Four, the home court prohibition does not apply because only one venue hosts these rounds. The First Four is regularly hosted by the Dayton Flyers; as such, the team competed on their home court in 2015.[11] Because the Final Four is hosted at indoor football stadiums, it is unlikely that a team will play on their home court in the future. The last time this was possible was the 1996 when the Continental Airlines Arena, home court of Seton Hall, hosted.
For the first and second rounds, eight venues host games, four on each day of the round. Each venue hosts two sets of four teams, referred to as "pods." To limit travel, teams are placed in pods closer to their home unless seeding rules would prevent it. Because each pod includes a top 4 seed, the highest ranked teams normally get the closest sites.
The following is a list of all schools that have won at least one NCAA men's basketball tournament, along with the year(s) in which they won their championship(s).
A total of 333 teams have appeared in the NCAA tournament since 1939. Because the NCAA did not split into divisions until 1957, some schools that have appeared in the tournament are no longer in Division I. Among Division I schools, 46 have never made the tournament, including 11 that are ineligible because they are transitioning to Division I.
Results by Year
Key
CH National Champion
RU National Runner-up
F4 Final Four
E8 Elite Eight
16 Sweet Sixteen (Began in 1951.)
32 Round of 32 (Began in 1975.)
22232425 Round of 22-25 (Between 1953 and 1974, between 22 and 25 teams were invited to the tournament.)
• Round of 64 (Began in 1979. Fewer than 64 teams invited before 1985.)
ƒ Play-In Round (1983–1984 and 2001–2010), First Four (2011–present)
N Team won the NIT that season.
N Team played in the NIT that season. If a team has never appeared in the NCAA Tournament, their NIT appearances are not on this chart.
CHRUF4E81632•ƒN The team achieved the placement shown, but the participation was later vacated. These vacated appearances are not included in the total columns.
For each season starting in 1979, the 4 teams seeded No. 1 are shown with double underline, and 12 teams seeded between No. 2 and No. 4 are shown with dotted underline.
As a tournament ritual, the winning team cuts down the nets at the end of regional championship games as well as the national championship game. Starting with the seniors, and moving down by classes, players each cut a single strand off each net; the head coach cuts the last strand connecting the net to the hoop, claiming the net itself.[12] An exception to the head coach cutting the last strand came in 2013, when Louisville head coach Rick Pitino gave that honor to Kevin Ware, who had suffered a catastrophic leg injury during the tournament.[13] This tradition is credited to Everett Case, the coach of North Carolina State, who stood on his players' shoulders to accomplish the feat after the Wolfpack won the Southern Conference tournament in 1947.[14] CBS, since 1987 and yearly to 2015, in the odd-numbered years since 2017, and TBS, since 2016, the even-numbered years, close out the tournament with "One Shining Moment", performed by Luther Vandross.
Team awards
Just as the Olympics awards gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third place, respectively, the NCAA awards the national champions a gold-plated wooden NCAA national championship trophy. The loser of the championship game receives a silver-plated national runner-up trophy for second place. Since 2006, all four Final Four teams receive a bronze plated NCAA regional championship trophy; prior to 2006, only the teams who did not make the title game received bronze plated trophies for being a semifinalist.
The champions also receive a commemorative gold championship ring, and the other three Final Four teams receive Final Four rings.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches also presents a more elaborate marble/crystal trophy to the winning team. Ostensibly, this award is given for taking the top position in the NABC's end-of-season poll, but this is invariably the same as the NCAA championship game winner. In 2005, Siemens AG acquired naming rights to the NABC trophy, which is now called the Siemens Trophy. Formerly, the NABC trophy was presented right after the standard NCAA championship trophy, but this caused some confusion.[15] Since 2006, the Siemens/NABC trophy has been presented separately at a press conference the day after the game.[16]
Most Outstanding Player
After the championship trophy is awarded, one player is selected and then awarded the Most Outstanding Player award (which almost always comes from the championship team). It is not intended to be the same as a Most Valuable Player award although it is sometimes informally referred to as such.
Influence on the NBA draft
Because the NBA draft takes place just three months after the NCAA tournament, NBA executives have to decide how players' performances in a maximum of seven games, from the First Four to the championship game, should affect their draft decisions. A 2012 study for the National Bureau of Economic Research explores how the March tournament affects the way that professional teams behave in the June draft. The study is based on data from 1997 to 2010 that looks at how college tournament standouts performed at the NBA level.[17][18]
The researchers determined that a player who outperforms his regular season averages or who is on a team that wins more games than its seed would indicate will be drafted higher than he otherwise would have been. At the same time, the study indicated that professional teams do not take college tournament performance into consideration as much as they should, as success in the tournament correlates with elite professional accomplishment, particularly top-level success. "If anything, NBA teams undervalue the signal provided by unexpected performance in the NCAA March Madness tournament as a predictor of future NBA success."[17][18]
Since 2011, the NCAA has had a joint contract with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery. The coverage of the tournament is split between CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV.[19]
The most recent transaction in 2016 renews the contract through 2032 and provides for the nationwide broadcast each year of all games of the tournament. All First Four games air on truTV. A featured first- or second-round game in each time "window" is broadcast on CBS, while all other games are shown either on TBS, TNT or truTV. The regional semifinals, better known as the Sweet Sixteen, are split between CBS and TBS. CBS had the exclusive rights to the regional finals, also known as the Elite Eight, through 2014. That exclusivity extended to the entire Final Four as well, but after the 2013 tournament Turner Sports elected to exercise a contractual option for 2014 and 2015 giving TBS broadcast rights to the national semifinal matchups.[20] CBS kept its national championship game rights.[20]
Since 2015, CBS and TBS split coverage of the Elite Eight. Since 2016 CBS and TBS alternate coverage of the Final Four and national championship game, with TBS getting the final two rounds in even-numbered years, and CBS getting the games in odd-numbered years. March Madness On Demand would remain unchanged, although Turner was allowed to develop their own service.[21]
The CBS broadcast provides the NCAA with over $500 million annually, and makes up over 90% of the NCAA's annual revenue.[22] The revenues from the multibillion-dollar television contract are divided among the Division I basketball playing schools and conferences as follows:[23]
1/6 of the money goes directly to the schools based on how many sports they play (one "share" for each sport starting with 14, which is the minimum needed for Division I membership).
1/3 of the money goes directly to the schools based on how many scholarships they give out (one share for each of the first 50, two for each of the next 50, ten for each of the next 50, and 20 for each scholarship above 150).
1/2 of the money goes to the conferences based on how well they did in the six previous men's basketball tournaments (counting each year separately, one share for each team getting in, and one share for each win except in the Final Four and, prior to the 2008 tournament, the Play-in game). In 2007, based on the 2001 through 2006 tournaments, the Big East received over $14.85 million, while the eight conferences that did not win a first-round game in those six years received slightly more than $1 million each. Most conferences distribute most of the revenue evenly to its member institutions, regardless of performance.[24] By 2021, the value of the shares or "units" to a conference was worth US$337,141.[25][26]
History of television coverage
CBS has been the major partner of the NCAA in televising the tournament since 1982, but there have been many changes in coverage since the tournament was first broadcast in 1969.
Early broadcast coverage
From 1969 to 1981, the NCAA tournament aired on NBC, but not all games were televised. The early rounds, in particular, were not always seen on TV.
In 1982, CBS obtained broadcast television rights to the NCAA tournament.
ESPN & CBS share coverage
In 1980, ESPN began showing the opening rounds of the tournament. This was the network's first contract signed with the NCAA for a major sport, and helped to establish ESPN's following among college basketball fans. ESPN showed six first-round games on Thursday and again on Friday, with CBS, from 1982 to 1990, then picking up a seventh game at 11:30 pm ET. Thus, 14 of 32 first-round games were televised. ESPN also re-ran games overnight. At the time, there was only one ESPN network, with no ability to split its signal regionally, so ESPN showed only the most competitive games. During the 1980s, the tournament's popularity on television soared.[citation needed]
CBS takes over
However, ESPN became a victim of its own success, as CBS was awarded the rights to cover all games of the NCAA tournament, starting in 1991. Only with the introduction of the so-called "play-in" game (between the 64 seed and the 65 seed) in the 2000s, did ESPN get back in the game (and actually, the first time this "play-in" game was played in 2001, the game was aired on The Nashville Network, using CBS graphics and announcers, as both CBS and TNN were both owned by Viacom at the time.[27]
Through 2010, CBS broadcast the remaining 63 games of the NCAA tournament proper. Most areas saw only eight of 32 first-round games, seven of 16 second-round games, and four of eight regional semifinal games (out of the possible 56 games during these rounds; there would be some exceptions to this rule in the 2000s). Coverage preempted regular programming on the network, except during a 2-hour window from about 5 ET until 7 ET when the local affiliates could show programming. The CBS format resulted in far fewer hours of first-round coverage than under the old ESPN format but allowed the games to reach a much larger audience than ESPN was able to reach.[citation needed]
During this period of near-exclusivity by CBS, the network provided to its local affiliates three types of feeds from each venue: constant feed, swing feed, and flex feed. Constant feeds remained primarily on a given game, and were used primarily by stations with a clear local interest in a particular game. Despite its name, a constant feed occasionally veered away to other games for brief updates (as is typical in most American sports coverage), but coverage generally remained with the initial game. A swing feed tended to stay on games believed to be of natural interest to the locality, such as teams from local conferences, but may leave that game to go to other games that during their progress become close matches. On a flex feed, coverage bounced around from one venue to another, depending on action at the various games in progress. If one game was a blowout, coverage could switch to a more competitive game. A flex feed was provided when there were no games with a significant natural local interest for the stations carrying them, which allowed the flex game to be the best game in progress. Station feeds were planned in advance and stations had the option of requesting either constant or flex feed for various games.[citation needed]
Viewing options emerge
In 1999, DirecTV began broadcasting all games otherwise not shown on local television with its Mega March Madness premium package. The DirecTV system used the subscriber's ZIP code to black out games which could be seen on broadcast television. Prior to that, all games were available on C-Band satellite and were picked up by sports bars.
In 2003, CBS struck a deal with Yahoo! to offer live streaming of the first three rounds of games under its Yahoo! Platinum service, for $16.95 a month.[28] In 2004, CBS began selling viewers access to March Madness On Demand, which provided games not otherwise shown on broadcast television; the service was free for AOL subscribers. In 2006, March Madness On Demand was made free, and continued to be so to online users through the 2011 tournament. For 2012, it once again became a pay service, with a single payment of $3.99 providing access to all 67 tournament games. In 2013, the service, now renamed March Madness Live, was again made free, but uses Turner's rights and infrastructure for TV Everywhere, which requires sign-in though the password of a customer's cable or satellite provider to watch games, both via PC/Mac and mobile devices. Those that do not have a cable or satellite service or one not participating in Turner's TV Everywhere are restricted to games carried on the CBS national feed and three hours (originally four) of other games without sign-in, or coverage via Westwood One's radio coverage. Effective with the 2018 tournament, the national semifinals and final are under TV Everywhere restrictions if they are aired by Turner networks; before then, those particular games were not subject to said restrictions.
In addition, CBS Sports Network (formerly CBS College Sports Network) had broadcast two "late early" games that would not otherwise be broadcast nationally. These were the second games in the daytime session in the Pacific Time Zone, to avoid starting games before 10 AM. These games are also available via March Madness Live and on CBS affiliates in the market areas of the team playing. In other markets, newscasts, local programming or preempted CBS morning programming are aired. CBSSN is scheduled to continue broadcasting the official pregame and postgame shows and press conferences from the teams involved, along with overnight replays.[29]
HDTV coverage
The Final Four has been broadcast in HDTV since 1999. From 2000 to 2004, only one first/second round site and one regional site were designated as HDTV sites. In 2005, all regional games were broadcast in HDTV, and four first and second round sites were designated for HDTV coverage. Local stations broadcasting in both digital and analog had the option of airing separate games on their HD and SD channels, to take advantage of the available high definition coverage. Beginning in 2007, all games in the tournament (including all first and second-round games) were available in high definition, and local stations were required to air the same game on both their analog and digital channels. However, due to satellite limitations, first round "constant" feeds were only available in standard definition.[30] Moreover, some digital television stations, such as WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, choose not to participate in HDTV broadcasts of the first and second rounds and the regional semifinals, and used their available bandwidth to split their signal into digital subchannels to show all games going on simultaneously.[31] By 2008, upgrades at the CBS broadcast center allowed all feeds, flex and constant, to be in HD for the tournament.
As of 2011, ESPN International holds international broadcast rights to the tournament, distributing coverage to its co-owned networks and other broadcasters. ESPN produces the world feed for broadcasts of the Final Four and championship game, produced using ESPN College Basketball staff and commentators.[32][33][34][35]
Since 1979, the NCAA has seeded each region. Beginning in 2004, the Selection Committee announced the rankings among the 1 seeds, designating an overall #1 seed and pairing the regions so that the overall #1 seed would meet the #4 overall seed in the Final Four if both advanced. The overall rankings are denoted with the numbers in parentheses. The following teams received the top ranking in each region:
↑ The Midwest region was designated the Southwest region in 2011.
↑ The South region was designated the Mideast region from 1979–1984 and the Southeast region from 1985–1999 and in 2011.
↑ Regions were named after host cities: East Rutherford Regional (East), St. Louis Regional (Midwest), Atlanta Regional (South), and Phoenix Regional (West).
↑ Regions were named after host cities: Syracuse Regional (East), Chicago Regional (Midwest), Austin Regional (South), and Albuquerque Regional (West).
↑ Regions were named after host cities: Washington, D.C., Regional (East); Minneapolis Regional (Midwest); Atlanta Regional (South); and Oakland Regional (West).
↑ All games were played in Indiana as a COVID-19 precaution.
Since 1985, there have been 4 instances of three No. 1 seeds reaching the Final Four; 13 instances of two No. 1 seeds making it; and 14 instances of just one No. 1 seed reaching the Final Four. 2023 was the first Final Four without a 1, 2, or 3 seed.
No. 1 seeds in the championship game
There have been ten occasions (nine times since the field expanded to 64) that the championship game has been played between two No. 1 seeds:
Since 1985 there have been 18 instances of one No. 1 seed reaching the Championship Game (No. 1 seeds are 13–5 against other seeds in the title game) and 8 instances where no No. 1 seed made it to the title game.
Additional No. 1 seed stats
In 1997, Arizona became the only team to beat three No. 1 seeds in a single tournament. Arizona (No. 4 seed) beat Kansas in its own southeast region, then beat North Carolina in the Final Four and finally Kentucky in the championship game. The most No. 1 seeds any team can face in the tournament is three (provided that the team itself is not a No. 1 seed, in which case it can only face two No. 1 seeds in the tournament).
In 2011, the highest seed to advance to the Final Four was No. 3 seed Connecticut, making the 2011 tournament the first time that neither a No. 1 seed nor a No. 2 seed advanced into the final weekend of play. In the same tournament, Butler made history as the first program to make consecutive Final Fours while not being seeded No. 1 or No. 2 in either season.
There have been 16 teams that have entered the tournament unbeaten. Four of those teams were from UCLA, and all those Bruin teams won each of those tournaments. However, of the other 12 teams entering the tournament unbeaten, just three went on to win the tournament. For details, see table below.
In 1980, 1981, and 1982, when the tournament was 48 teams, DePaul was seeded No. 1 but was defeated in the first round.
Theoretically, a No. 1 seed's most difficult six-game path to win the tournament is to defeat a No. 16, a No. 8, a No. 4, a No. 2, a No. 1, and a No. 1 – the highest possible opposing seeds in successive rounds. No No. 1 seed has ever won all six such games, though two teams have won the first five.
In the 2002 tournament, Maryland reached the final after defeating teams seeded 16/8/4/2/1; they won the tournament after defeating No. 5 Indiana in the final.
In the 2015 tournament, Wisconsin reached the final after defeating teams seeded 16/8/4/2/1. In the final, they faced No. 1 Duke with a chance to complete the full six-game path. However, Wisconsin lost the final.
In 2023, no No. 1 seeds advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time ever. Purdue lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round; Kansas lost to Arkansas in the second round, and both Alabama and Houston lost in the Sweet Sixteen, respectively to San Diego State and Miami.
Teams No. 1 in national polls
Teams that entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in at least one of the AP, UPI, or USA Today polls and won the tournament:[36]
1949: Kentucky (AP)
1951: Kentucky (AP/UPI)
1953: Indiana (AP/UPI)
1955: San Francisco (AP/UPI)
1956: San Francisco (AP/UPI)
1957: North Carolina (AP/UPI)
1964: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1967: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1969: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1971: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1972: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1973: UCLA (AP/UPI)
1974: NC State (AP/UPI)
1976: Indiana (AP/UPI)
1978: Kentucky (AP/UPI)
1982: North Carolina (AP/UPI)
1992: Duke (AP/UPI)
1994: Arkansas (USA Today)
1995: UCLA (AP/USA Today)
2001: Duke (AP/USA Today)
2012: Kentucky (AP/USA Today)
2024: UConn (AP/USA Today)
Undefeated teams in the tournament
The record here refers to the record before the first game of the NCAA tournament.
The NCAA tournament has dramatically expanded since 1975, and since the expansion to 48 teams in 1980, no unbeaten team has failed to qualify. Since by definition, a team would have to win its conference tournament, and thus secure an automatic bid to the tournament, to be undefeated in a season, the only way a team could finish undefeated and not reach the tournament is if the team is banned from postseason play. As of 2021, no team banned from postseason play has finished undefeated since 1980. Other possibilities for an undefeated team to fail to qualify: the team is independent; the conference does not have an automatic bid; or the team is transitioning from a lower NCAA division or the NAIA, during which time it is barred from NCAA-sponsored postseason play in the NCAA tournament or NIT. No men's team from a transitional D-I member has been unbeaten after its conference tournament, but one such women's team has been—California Baptist in 2021. (CBU was able to play in the women's NIT, which has never been operated by the NCAA.)
Before 1980, there were occasions on which a team achieved perfection in the regular season, yet did not appear in the NCAA tournament.
During 1939, Long Island University finished the regular season 20–0 but decided to accept instead an invitation to the second NIT (which they won) instead of the first and only NABC tournament (later called the NCAA tournament), as the NIT was more prestigious at the time. It was not until the mid-1950s that the NCAA required that its tournament would have "first choice" in determining teams for their field. Before then, many of the more successful teams during the regular season chose to play in the NIT instead of the NCAA tournament.
During 1940, Seton Hall finished the regular season 19–0, but their record had been built largely against weak teams and thus did not earn them an invitation to the postseason tournament.
During 1941, Milwaukee State finished the regular season 16–0, but their record had been built largely against weak teams and thus did not earn them an invitation to the postseason tournament.
During 1944, Army finished the regular season 15–0 but owing to World War II, the Cadets did not accept an invitation to postseason play.
During 1954, Kentucky finished 25–0 and were invited to the tournament, but declined the invitation, due their star players being ineligible due to already graduating.
During 1973, NC State finished the regular season 27–0 and ranked #2 (behind undefeated and eventual tournament champion UCLA) but were barred from participating in the NCAA tournament while on probation for recruiting violations.
During 1979, Alcorn State finished the regular season 27–0, but did not receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament. The Braves accepted a bid to the NIT, where they lost in the second round to eventual NIT champion Indiana.[37]
Repeat champions
Eight programs have repeated as national championships. UCLA is the only program to win more than 2 in a row, winning 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. These programs are:
Both 1979 championMichigan State (12–15) and 1979 runner up Indiana State (16–11) failed to qualify for the 1980 NCAA Tournament. Furthermore, neither was invited to the National Invitation Tournament, and Michigan State is the only team to finish the subsequent season with a losing record. Following the 1979 NCAA Tournament, Indiana State lost Larry Bird to graduation, and Magic Johnson left Michigan State after his sophomore season to enter the NBA draft.
Both 2007 championFlorida (24–12) and 2007 runner-up Ohio State (24–13) failed to qualify for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Both accepted invitations to the National Invitation Tournament. Florida lost to Massachusetts in the semifinals, and Ohio State subsequently beat Massachusetts in the championship game to win the tournament.
The last time, as of 2024, a mid-major team won the National Championship was 1990 when UNLV won with a 103–73 win over Duke, since UNLV was then a member of the Big West and since 1999 has been a member of the MW; the Big West was not then considered a power conference, nor is the MW today. However, during the tenure of UNLV's coach at the time, Jerry Tarkanian, the Runnin' Rebels were widely viewed as a major program despite their conference affiliation (a situation similar to that of Gonzaga since the first years of the 21st century). Additionally, the Big West received three bids in the 1990 tournament. The last time, as of 2024, an independent mid-major team won the national championship was 1977 when Marquette won 67–59 over North Carolina. However, Marquette was not considered a "mid-major" program at that time. The very term "mid-major" was not coined until 1977 and did not see wide use until the 1990s. More significantly, Marquette was one of several traditional basketball powers that were still NCAA Division I independents in the late 1970s. Also, Marquette has been a member of widely acknowledged "major" basketball conferences since 1991, and is currently in the undeniably major Big East Conference. The last time, as of 2024, a mid-major team from a small media market (defined as a market that is outside of the top 25 television markets in the United States in 2024) won the National Championship was arguably 1962 when Cincinnati, then in the MVC, won 71–59 over Ohio State of the Big Ten, since Cincinnati's TV market is listed 35th in the nation as of 2024. However, the MVC was generally seen in that day as a major basketball conference.
The last time the Final Four was composed, as of 2024, of at least 75% mid-major teams (3/4), i.e. excluding all present-day major conferences or their predecessors, was 1979, where Indiana State, then as now of the Missouri Valley Conference (which had lost several of its most prominent programs, among them Cincinnati, earlier in the decade); Penn, then as now in the Ivy League; and DePaul, then an independent, participated in the Final Four, only to see Indiana State lose to Michigan State. The last time, as of 2024, the Final Four has been composed of at least 50% mid-major teams (2/4) was 2023, when Florida Atlantic, of Conference USA, and San Diego State, of the Mountain West Conference, participated in the Final Four, only to see San Diego State lose to UConn. To date, as of 2024, no Final Four has been composed of 100% mid-major teams (4/4), therefore guaranteeing a mid-major team winning the national championship.
Arguably the tournament with the most mid-major success was the 1970 tournament, which had 63% representation of mid-major teams in the Sweet 16 (10/16), 75% representation in the Elite 8 (6/8), 75% representation in the Final 4 (3/4), and 50% representation in the national championship game (1/2). Jacksonville lost to UCLA in the National Championship, with New Mexico State defeating St. Bonaventure for third place.
This table shows the performance of mid-major teams from the Sweet Sixteen round to the national championship game from 1939—the tournament's first year—to 2024.
Notes
The first column is a list of every mid-major conference. For the conferences that have predecessor names, a footnote (below the table) lists those names and years. Opposite each conference's name are the schools that have appeared in the tournament from the Sweet Sixteen onwards when the school was a member of the conference or a predecessor conference.
Some of the conferences that are considered mid-majors were regarded as major conferences in the past. For example:
The Missouri Valley Conference was considered a major basketball conference until many of its most prominent members left in the mid-1970s (before Indiana State's 1979 run to the title game).
Conference USA was considered a major conference at its formation in 1995. It arguably became a mid-major in 2005, when several of its more prominent teams left for the Big East Conference, and unquestionably became a mid-major during the early-2010s realignment cycle.
The WAC was considered a major conference until 1999, when 8 of its 16 members left to form the Mountain West Conference.
The MW was considered a major basketball conference until 2011, when two of its most prominent basketball programs (BYU and Utah) left for other conferences (West Coast Conference and Pac-12, respectively).
Certain programs that were members of "mid-major" conferences during deep tournament runs are nonetheless widely viewed as having been major programs at that time. The same applies to many programs that were independent before the 1980s. Examples include (but are not limited to) San Francisco in the 1950s, Marquette in the 1970s, UNLV in the last part of the 20th century, and Gonzaga since the mid-2010s.[41]
↑ Known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-North from 1979 to 1988 and the North Atlantic Conference from 1988 to 1996.
↑ Known as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) from 1978 to 2001 and as the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2001 to 2016. It returned to the "Atlantic Sun" branding in 2023, but still uses "ASUN" as its official abbreviation.
↑ Known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) from 1969 to 1988.
↑ Known as the Eastern College Athletic Conference-South from 1979 to 1985. The "C", currently standing for "Coastal", stood for "Colonial" from 1985–2023.
↑ Vacated due to academic ineligibility and impermissible benefits given to Derrick Rose
↑ Known as the Midwestern City Conference from 1979 to 1985 and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference from 1985 to 2001.
↑ Known as the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Metro from 1979 to 1988.
↑ Known as the Colonial League from 1986 to 1990, a period in which it was a football-only conference.
↑ Known as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities from 1982 to 1989 and the Mid-Continent Conference (MCC) until 2007.
↑ Known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC) from 1956 to 1989.
Defunct conferences and independents
This table shows teams that saw success in the tournament from later defunct conferences, or were independents.
One conference listed, the Southwest Conference, was universally considered a major conference throughout its history. Of its final eight members, five moved to conferences typically considered "major" in basketball—three in the Big 12, one in the SEC, and one in The American. Another member that left during the SWC's last decade also moved to the SEC. The Metro Conference, which operated from 1975 to 1995, is not listed because it was considered a major basketball conference throughout its history. The, Louisville, which was a member for the league's entire existence, won both of its NCAA-recognized titles (1980, 1986) while in the Metro. It was one of the two leagues that merged to form the Conference USA. The other league involved in the merger, the Great Midwest Conference, was arguably a major conference; it was formed in 1990, with play starting in 1991, when several of the Metro's strongest basketball programs left that league.
↑ Established in 1946 by former members of the New England Conference, which was founded in 1938 but never placed a team in the NCAA tournament; became a football-only conference in 1976 and dissolved in 1997.
Eight times the championship game has been tied at the end of regulation. On one of those occasions (1957) the game went into double and then triple overtime.
Until 1952, the national championship was played at a separate site from the national semifinal games, which were considered regional finals. Forty-one different venues have hosted the final rounds, and several have hosted more than five times:
Among cities, Kansas City has hosted the Final Four a total of ten times, with Kemper Arena hosting in 1988 in addition to Municipal Auditorium. New York and Indianapolis have both hosted seven times, with the latter doing so at three venues: Market Square Arena in 1980, four times in the RCA Dome between 1991 and 2006, and three times in Lucas Oil Stadium, between 2010 and 2021. The state of Texas has hosted the Final Four eleven times in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Arlington between 1971 and 2023.
For most of the tournament's history, the national championship game and national semifinal games have been played in basketball arenas. The first instance of a domed stadium being used for the Final Four was the Houston Astrodome in 1971, but the Final Four would not return to a dome until 1982 when the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans hosted the event for the first time. The last on-campus venue to host the Final Four was University Arena in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1983. The last venue primarily built for a college basketball team to host the Final Four was Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1985. The last NBA arena to host the Final Four was the Meadowlands Arena, then known as Continental Airlines Arena, in 1996. From 1997 to 2013, the NCAA required that the Final Four be played in domed stadiums with a minimum capacity of 40,000. As of 2009,[clarify] the minimum was increased to 70,000, by adding additional seating on the floor of the dome, and raising the court on a platform three feet above the dome's floor.
In September 2012, the NCAA began preliminary discussions on the possibility of returning occasional Final Fours to basketball-specific arenas in major metropolitan areas. According to ESPN.com writer Andy Katz, when Mark Lewis was hired as NCAA executive vice president for championships during 2012, "he took out a United States map and saw that both coasts are largely left off from hosting the Final Four."[43] Lewis added in an interview with Katz,
I don't know where this will lead, if anywhere, but the right thing is to sit down and have these conversations and see if we want our championship in more than eight cities or do we like playing exclusively in domes. None of the cities where we play our championship is named New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago or Miami. We don't play on a campus. We play in professional football arenas.[43]
Under then-current criteria, only eleven stadiums could be considered as Final Four locations.[43] On June 12, 2013, Katz reported that the NCAA had changed its policy. In July 2013, the NCAA had a portal available on its website for venues to make Final Four proposals in the 2017–2020 period, and there were no restrictions on proposals based on venue size. Also, the NCAA decided that future regionals will no longer be held in domes. In Katz' report, Lewis indicated that the use of domes for regionals was intended as a dry run for future Final Four venues, but this particular policy was no longer necessary because all of the Final Four sites from 2014 to 2016 had already hosted regionals.[44] The policy was changed to only be used if a new venue would be hosting the subsequent tournament's Final Four.[45][46] Under the current policy, the 2030 regionals could be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which opened in 2017 that will be hosting its first Final Four in 2031.
Home court advantage
On several occasions NCAA tournament teams played their games in their home arena. In 1959, Louisville played at its regular home of Freedom Hall; however, the Cardinals lost to West Virginia in the semifinals. In 1984, Kentucky defeated Illinois, 54–51 in the Elite Eight on its home court of Rupp Arena. Also in 1984, #6 seeded Memphis played the first 2 rounds on its home court, defeating Oral Roberts and Purdue. In 1985, Dayton played its first-round game against Villanova (it lost 51–49) on its home floor. In 1986 (beating Brown before losing to Navy) and '87 (beating Georgia Southern and Western Kentucky), Syracuse played the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament in the Carrier Dome. Also in 1986, LSU played in Baton Rouge on its home floor for the first 2 rounds despite being an 11th seed (beating Purdue and Memphis State). In 1987, Arizona lost to UTEP on its home floor in the first round. In 2015, Dayton played at its regular home of UD Arena, and the Flyers beat Boise State in the First Four.
Since the inception of the modern Final Four in 1952, only once has a team played a Final Four on its actual home court—Louisville in 1959. But through the 2015 tournament, three other teams have played the Final Four in their home cities, one other team has played in its metropolitan area, and six additional teams have played the Final Four in their home states through the 2015 tournament. Kentucky (1958 in Louisville), UCLA (1968 and 1972 in Los Angeles, 1975 in San Diego), and North Carolina State (1974 in Greensboro) won the national title; Louisville (1959 at its home arena, Freedom Hall); Purdue (1980 in Indianapolis) lost in the Final Four; and California (1960 in the San Francisco Bay Area), Duke (1994 in Charlotte), Michigan State (2009 in Detroit), and Butler (2010 in Indianapolis) lost in the final.
In 1960, Cal had nearly as large an edge as Louisville had the previous year, only having to cross the San Francisco Bay to play in the Final Four at the Cow Palace in Daly City; the Golden Bears lost in the championship game to Ohio State. UCLA had a similar advantage in 1968 and 1972 when it advanced to the Final Four at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, not many miles from the Bruins' homecourt of Pauley Pavilion (also UCLA's home arena before the latter venue opened in 1965, and again during the 2011–12 season while Pauley was closed for renovations); unlike Louisville and Cal, the Bruins won the national title on both occasions. Butler lost the 2010 title 6 miles (9.7km) from its Indianapolis campus.
Before the Final Four was established, the east and west regionals were held at separate sites, with the winners advancing to the title game. During that era, three New York City teams, all from Manhattan, played in the east regional at Madison Square Garden—frequently used as a "big-game" venue by each team—and advanced at least to the national semifinals. NYU won the east regional in 1945 but lost in the title game, also held at the Garden, to Oklahoma A&M. CCNY played in the east regional in both 1947 and 1950; the Beavers lost in the 1947 east final to eventual champion Holy Cross but won the 1950 east regional and national titles at the Garden.
In 1974, North Carolina State won the NCAA tournament without leaving its home state of North Carolina. The team was put in the east region, and played its regional games at its home arena Reynolds Coliseum. NC State played the Final Four and national championship games at nearby Greensboro Coliseum.
While not its home state, Kansas has played in the championship game in Kansas City, Missouri, only 45 minutes from the campus in Lawrence, Kansas, on four different occasions. In 1940, 1953, and 1957 the Jayhawks lost the championship game each time at Municipal Auditorium. In 1988, playing at Kansas City's Kemper Arena, Kansas won the championship, over Big Eight–rival Oklahoma. Similarly, in 2005, Illinois played in St. Louis, Missouri, where it enjoyed a noticeable home court advantage, yet still lost in the championship game to North Carolina.
In 2002, Texas was paired with Mississippi State in Dallas despite being the lower seed. The #6 seeded Longhorns defeated the #3 seeded Bulldogs 68–64 in front of a predominately Texas crowd.
Previously banned venues
South Carolina
The NCAA had banned the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, originally known as Bi-Lo Center, and Colonial Life Arena, originally Colonial Center, in South Carolina from hosting tournament games, despite their sizes (16,000 and 18,000 seats, respectively) because of an NAACP protest at the Bi-Lo Center during the 2002 first and second round tournament games over that state's refusal to completely remove the Confederate Battle Flag from the state capitol grounds, although it had already been relocated from atop the capitol dome to a less prominent place in 2000. Following requests by the NAACP and Black Coaches Association, the Bi-Lo Center, and the newly built Colonial Center, which was built for purposes of hosting the tournament, were banned from hosting any future tournament events.[47] As a result of the removal of the battle flag from the South Carolina State Capitol, the NCAA lifted its ban on South Carolina hosting games in 2015, and it was able to host in 2017 due to North Carolina House Bill 2 (see next section).[48]
North Carolina
On September 12, 2016, the NCAA stripped the state of North Carolina of hosting rights for seven upcoming college sports tournaments and championships held by the association, including early round games of the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament scheduled for the Greensboro Coliseum. The NCAA argued that House Bill 2 made it "challenging to guarantee that host communities can help deliver [an inclusive atmosphere]".[49][50] Bon Secours Wellness Arena was able to secure the bid to be the replacement site.[51]
75th Anniversary
Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the tournament, on December 11, 2012, the NCAA announced the 75 best players, the 25 best teams, and the 35 best moments in tournament history. The NCAA started with a group of more than 100 nominees and then analyzed the tournament statistics for each player to select the 75 finalists from which the public would select the top 15 via an online poll in January 2013.[52]
The results of the public vote were revealed at the 2013 NCAA Final Four.[53][54] Among the 15 players, ten had won a championship, 11 were declared the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament at least once, and all made the Final Four at least once. Abdul-Jabbar, Laettner, Lucas, Olajuwon, and Walton all reached the Final Four in every season they played college basketball, and an additional five players went to multiple Final Fours. Hill, Laettner, Russell, and Walton all won two championships, and Abdul-Jabbar won three championships. Lucas and Walton repeated as Most Outstanding Players, and Abdul-Jabbar was declared the MOP all three seasons he played. Bradley, Lucas, Olajuwon, and West were all declared MOP without winning the championship. Twelve players competed in the tournament every year they played college basketball.
UCLA and Duke are the only team with multiple honorees. Christian Laettner and Grant Hill are the only teammates, they played together for Duke and won two championships in 1991 and 1992. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson competed against each other in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game, and Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan competed against each other in the 1982 NCAA Championship Game as freshmen. Oscar Robertson and Jerry West competed during the same seasons, but never met in the tournament.
Eleven of the players have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame as players. Michael Jordan and Olajuwon have only been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial as players, and Christian Laettner and Danny Manning have only been inducted into the CBHOF as players. Bill Russell has also been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial as a coach.
Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) and Danny Manning (Tulsa and Wake Forest) have appeared in the tournament as head coaches. Manning has also recorded six appearances, two Final Fours, one runner-up, and one championship as an assistant for Kansas.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Before 1972, Freshmen were not allowed to play on the Varsity team and instead played on the Freshmen team. They were therefore ineligible for the NCAA tournament and were not considered contributors to any accomplishments of the Varsity team during their Freshman season.
1 2 3 4 Player left for the NBA before his senior season
↑ Cincinnati received a bye to the regional semifinals, which they lost. They subsequently won the regional third place game.
↑ West Virginia competed in the first round, which had a total of 18 teams competing. Seven teams received a bye to the Sweet Sixteen (regional semifinals).
Popular culture
The NCAA tournament and the Super Bowl are the two American sports events that draw both fans and non-fans.[55][56] Many people are connected to a school in the tournament, having been an alumnus of one of the participants, knowing someone from the college, or living close to the school.[56]
There are pools or private gambling-related contests in which participants predict the outcome of each tournament game, filling out a complete tournament bracket in the process. The popularity of this practice grew around 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 games, forming four symmetrical regions with 15 games apiece to decide the Final Four.[57] In 2023, Sports Illustrated reported that an estimated 60 to 100 million brackets are filled out each year.[58] Filling out a tournament bracket with predictions is called the practice of "bracketology;" sports programming during the tournament often features commentators comparing the accuracy of their predictions. On The Dan Patrick Show, a wide variety of celebrities from various fields (such as Darius Rucker, Charlie Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, Ellen DeGeneres, Dave Grohl, and Brooklyn Decker) have posted full brackets with predictions. Former U.S. president Barack Obama began releasing his bracket annually in 2009, his first year in office.[59] While in office, he filled out the men's and women's brackets on ESPN with reporter Andy Katz,[60] and they were also posted on the White House website.[61] He continued releasing his picks after leaving office.[62]
There are many tournament prediction scoring systems. Most award points for correctly picking the winning team in a particular match up, with increasingly more points being given for correctly predicting later round winners. Some provide bonus points for correctly predicting upsets, the amount of the bonus varying based on the degree of upset. Some just provide points for wins by correctly picked teams in the brackets.
There are 2^63 or about 9.22 quintillion unique combinations of winners in a 64-team NCAA bracket, meaning that without considering seed number, the odds of picking a perfect bracket are about 9.22 quintillion to 1.[58] Including the First Four, the number of unique combinations increases to 2^67 or about 147.57 quintillion.
There are numerous awards and prizes given by companies for anyone who can make the perfect bracket. One of the largest was done by a partnership between Quicken Loans and Berkshire Hathaway, which was backed by Warren Buffett, with a $1 billion prize to any person(s) who could correctly predict the outcome of the 2014 tournament. No one was able to complete the challenge and win the $1 billion prize.[63]
Workplace productivity
During the tournament, American workers take extended lunch breaks at sports bars to follow the game. They also use company computer and internet access to view games, scores, and bracket results. Some workplaces block access to sports and entertainment sites, but the rise of mobile devices and live-streamed games bypassed those restrictions, and even workers not normally in front of computers then had access.[55] Workers spend an estimated average of six hours on the tournament each year,[64] and U.S. employers are projected to lose around $13 billion due to lost productivity during the tournament.[65][66]
Tournament-associated terms
As indicated below, none of these phrases are exclusively used in regard to the NCAA tournament. Nonetheless, they are associated widely with the tournament, sometimes for legal reasons, sometimes as part of the American sports vernacular.
March Madness
March Madness is a popular term for season-ending basketball tournaments played in March. March Madness is also a registered trademark currently owned exclusively by the NCAA.
H. V. Porter, an official with the Illinois High School Association (and later a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame), was the first person to use March Madness to describe a basketball tournament. Porter published an essay named March Madness during 1939, and during 1942, he used the phrase in a poem, Basketball Ides of March. Through the years the use of March Madness increased, especially in Illinois, Indiana, and other parts of the Midwest. During this period the term was used almost exclusively in reference to state high school tournaments. During 1977, Jim Enright published a book about the Illinois tournament entitled March Madness.[67]
Fans began associating the term with the NCAA tournament during the early 1980s. Evidence suggests that CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger, who had worked for many years in Chicago before joining CBS, popularized the term during the annual tournament broadcasts. The NCAA has credited Bob Walsh of the Seattle Organizing Committee for starting the March Madness celebration in 1984.[68]
Only during the 1990s did either the IHSA or the NCAA think about trademarking the term, and by that time a small television production company named Intersport had already trademarked it. IHSA eventually bought the trademark rights from Intersport, and then went to court to establish its primacy. IHSA sued GTE Vantage, an NCAA licensee that used the name March Madness for a computer game based on the college tournament. During 1996, in a historic ruling, Illinois High School Association v. GTE Vantage, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit created the concept of a "dual-use trademark", granting both the IHSA and NCAA the right to trademark the term for their own purposes.
After the ruling, the NCAA and IHSA joined forces and created the March Madness Athletic Association to coordinate the licensing of the trademark and investigate possible trademark infringement. One such case involved a company that had obtained the internet domain namemarchmadness.com and was using it to post information about the NCAA tournament. During 2003, by March Madness Athletic Association v. Netfire, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided that March Madness was not a generic term, and ordered Netfire to relinquish the domain name to the NCAA.[69]
Later during the 2000s, the IHSA relinquished its ownership share in the trademark, although it retained the right to use the term in association with high school championships. During October 2010, the NCAA reached a settlement with Intersport, paying $17.2 million for the latter company's license to use the trademark.[70]
Sweet Sixteen
This is a popular term for the regional semifinal round of the tournament, consisting of the final 16 teams. As in the case of "March Madness", this was first used by a high school federation—in this case, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA), which has used the term for decades to describe its own season-ending tournaments. It officially registered the trademark in 1988. Unlike the situation with "March Madness", the KHSAA has retained sole ownership of the "Sweet Sixteen" trademark; it licenses the term to the NCAA for use in collegiate tournaments.[71]
Elite Eight
The Elite Eight is a popular term to describe the two teams in each of the four regional championship games. The NCAA officially uses the term for the eight-team final phase of the Division IImen's and women's basketball tournaments. The winners of these games in the D-I tournament advance to the Final Four (the NCAA does not use the term "Final Four" in D-II). The NCAA trademarked this phrase in 1997. Like "March Madness," the phrase "Elite Eight" originally referred to the Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship, the single-elimination high school basketball tournament run by the Illinois High School Association. In 1956, when the IHSA finals were reduced from sixteen to eight teams, a new nickname for Sweet Sixteen was needed, and Elite Eight won the vote. The IHSA trademarked the term in 1995; the trademark rights are now held by the March Madness Athletic Association, a joint venture between the NCAA and IHSA formed after a 1996 court case allowed both organizations to use "March Madness" for their own tournaments.
Final Four
The term Final Four refers to the last four teams remaining in the playoff tournament. These are the champions of the tournament's four regional brackets, and are the only teams remaining on the tournament's final weekend. (While the term "Final Four" was not used during the early decades of the tournament, the term has been applied retroactively to include the last four teams in tournaments from earlier years, even when only two brackets existed.)
Some claim that the phrase Final Four was first used to describe the final games of Indiana's annual high school basketball tournament. But the NCAA, which has a trademark on the term, says Final Four was originated by a Plain Dealer sportswriter, Ed Chay, in a 1975 article that appeared in the Official Collegiate Basketball Guide.[72] The article stated that Marquette University "was one of the final four" of the 1974 tournament. The NCAA started capitalizing the term during 1978 and converting it to a trademark several years later.
During recent years, the term Final Four has been used for other sports besides basketball. Tournaments which use Final Four include the EuroLeague in basketball, national basketball competitions in several European countries, and the now-defunct European Hockey League. Together with the name Final Four, these tournaments have adopted an NCAA-style format in which the four surviving teams compete in a single-elimination tournament held in one place, typically, during one weekend. The derivative term "Frozen Four" is used by the NCAA to refer to the final rounds of the Division I men's and women's ice hockey tournaments. Until 1999, it was just a popular nickname for the last two rounds of the hockey tournament; officially, it was also known as the Final Four.
Cinderella team
A Cinderella team, both in NCAA basketball and other sports, is one that achieves far greater success than would reasonably have been best expected.[73][74] In the NCAA tournament, teams may earn the Cinderella title after multiple wins in a single tournament against higher seeded teams. The term first came into widespread usage in 1950, when the City College of New York unexpectedly won the tournament in the same month that a film adaptation of Cinderella was released in the United States.
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.
The First Four is a play-in round of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. It consists of two games contested between the four lowest-ranked teams in the field, and two games contested between the four lowest-seeded "at-large" teams in the field, which determine the last four teams to qualify for the 64-team bracket that plays the first round.
The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2006-07 season. The 69th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2007, with the opening round game and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2007-08 season. The 70th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2008, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The 1986 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 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas. A total of 63 games were played.
The 2011 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 basketball national champion for the 2010-11 season. The 73rd edition of the NCAA tournament began on March 15, 2011, and concluded with the championship game on April 4, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. This tournament marked the introduction of the "First Four" round and an expansion of the field of participants from 65 teams to 68. Due to the geographical location of New Orleans and San Antonio, the "South" and "Midwest" regional games were replaced by the monikers "Southeast" and "Southwest" for this tournament, respectively.
The 2012 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 basketball national champion for the 2011-12 season. The 74th edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2012, and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
The 2013 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 basketball national champion for the 2012-13 season. The 75th annual edition of the tournament began on March 19, 2013, and concluded with the championship game on April 8, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The 2014 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 basketball national champion for the 2013-14 season. The 76th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2014, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The 2015 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 basketball national champion for the 2014–15 season. The 77th edition of the tournament began on March 17, 2015, and concluded with the championship game on April 6, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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. This was the first NCAA tournament to adopt the NCAA March Madness branding, including fully-branded courts at each of the tournament venues.
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 the Western United States since the 1995 tournament when Seattle was the host of the Final Four.
The 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The 80th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2018, and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16, 2018, and concluded with the national championship game on Sunday, April 1. The Final Four was played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. This is the third time that the women's Final Four was played in Ohio after previously being held in Cincinnati in 1997 and Cleveland in 2007 and the first time that the women's Final Four was played in Columbus. For only the fourth time in the tournament’s 37-year history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.
The 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 38th annual edition of the tournament began on March 22, and concluded with the championship game on April 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, with the University of South Florida serving as host. The tournament field was announced on March 18.
The 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2018–19 season. The 81st annual edition of the tournament began on March 19, 2019, and concluded with the championship game on April 8, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Virginia Cavaliers, with Virginia winning 85–77 in overtime.
The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2020–21 season. The 82nd edition of the tournament began play on March 18, 2021, in sites around the state of Indiana, and concluded with the championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 5, with the Baylor Bears defeating the previously undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs 86–70 to earn the team's first ever title.
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, overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit, to claim the school's fourth national title.
The 2023 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 basketball national champion for the 2022–23 season. The 84th annual edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2023, and concluded with the UConn Huskies defeating the San Diego State Aztecs, 76–59 in the championship game on April 3 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 41st edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2023, and concluded on April 2 with the championship game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
↑ O'Neil, Dana (April 9, 2013). "Louisville's song finishes in glory". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 9, 2013. And at one end of the court, there was Kevin Ware on his crutches, the net lowered to accommodate him and his crutches, making the final snip on the only nets Louisville has cut all season.
1 2 Ichniowski, Casey; Preston, Anne E. (2012). "Does March Madness Lead to Irrational Exuberance in the NBA Draft? High-Value Employee Selection Decisions and Decision-Making Bias". National Bureau of Economic Research.
↑ Caron, Emily - March Madness Daily: How Much is an NCAA Tournament Win Worth?. Sportico, via Yahoo Sports, March 19, 2021 "This year's units carry a $337,141 annual value, according to the NCAA. That number changes each year, typically increasing by about 3% annually.
↑ Dowbiggin, Bruce (February 24, 2011). "TSN catches March Madness". Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on March 3, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
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