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 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament is played at regional sites with its Final Four played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) in New York City up until 2022. Starting in 2023, the NIT Final Four began following the format of the NCAA Tournament by having its Final Four at different venues each season. First held in 1938, the NIT was once considered the most prestigious post-season showcase for college basketball before its status was superseded in the mid-1950s by the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Jerold Taylor "Jay" Wright Jr. is a former American college basketball coach. He served as the head coach of Villanova University from 2001 until 2022. Wright led the Villanova Wildcats to six Big East Conference championships and 16 NCAA tournament appearances in 21 seasons as head coach. Under Wright, Villanova reached four Final Fours and won two national championships in 2016 and 2018.
The 1991 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 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 63 games were played.
The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NIT Season Tip-Off. Unlike the NIT, the women's tournament is not run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but is an independent tournament. Triple Crown Sports, a company based in Fort Collins, Colorado that specializes in the promotion of amateur sporting events, created the WNIT in 1994 as a preseason counterpart to the then-current National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT). After the NWIT folded in 1996, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the postseason version in 1998 under the NWIT name, but changed the following season to the current name.
The Empire Classic is an annual college basketball event played in November at the beginning of the season and televised by ESPN. Originally known as the Atlantic City Shootout and produced by the Gazelle Group, Inc., the event was first played in 1995. The following year, it became the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic as a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. In 2012, the tournament beneficiary became Wounded Warrior Project, resulting in the tournament being renamed the 2K Sports Classic. In 2019, the 2K Sports Classic was renamed the 2K Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, commonly referred to as the "Empire Classic".
The Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team represents Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I college basketball. The Aggies compete in the Southeastern Conference. Since 1998, the teams has played its home games at Reed Arena, a 12,989-capacity arena in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M has appeared in the NCAA tournament 16 times, most recently in 2024. The Aggies are currently coached by Buzz Williams who was hired on April 3, 2019, prior to the start of the 2019–2020 season.
The DirecTV Classic was an eight-team college basketball tournament held during Thanksgiving week at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The tournament began in 2007, and was owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television. Games were televised on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Until 2012, it was known as the "76 Classic"; ConocoPhillips's 76 chain owned the naming rights to the tournament. DirecTV sponsored the 2012 tournament. In 2013, the event merged with the Wooden Classic to form a new event, the Wooden Legacy.
The Siena Saints men's basketball team represents Siena College in Loudonville, New York, United States. The NCAA Division I program competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the annual Franciscan Cup. The Saints are currently coached by Gerry McNamara. He replaced Carmen Maciariello who was fired on March 20, 2024 after 5 seasons.
The 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2007 ended with the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 7, 2008, in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2005, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments and concluded with the 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on April 3, 2006, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Florida Gators won their first NCAA national championship with a 73–56 victory over the UCLA Bruins. This was the last Final Four site at the RCA Dome. The Final Four will return to the city of Indianapolis, but will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The 2010–11 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season began with practices on October 18, 2010 and ended with the 2011 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball tournament from March 9–11, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The regular season began on the weekend of November 12, with the conference schedule starting on December 30. The conference dedicated the season to legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, who died in June 2010 at age 99.
The Saint Peter's Peacocks men's basketball team is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program that represents Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, New Jersey. The school's team competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and plays their home games in Run Baby Run Arena. They are currently led by third-year head coach Bashir Mason, who was hired on April 12, 2022. The Peacocks have appeared in the NCAA tournament five times.
The Battle 4 Atlantis is an early-season college basketball tournament. It takes place at Atlantis Paradise Island on Paradise Island in The Bahamas, on the week of the US holiday of Thanksgiving. For sponsorship purposes, the tournament is officially named Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. The games are played in the Imperial Arena, a grand ballroom which is turned into a basketball venue. The tournament is known for being the richest Division I men's early-season college basketball tournament. Schools are awarded $2 million in exchange for their participation in the men's event.
The Legends Classic is an annual, early-season, college basketball tournament which started in 2007 and takes place at the beginning of the college basketball season in November. Four teams compete in the Legends Classic. The tournament has been held at various venues in the New York metropolitan area, primarily the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The 2013–14 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Sean Miller and played home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 33–5, 15–3 in Pac-12 play and won their first Pac-12 regular season championship since 2011. They advanced to the championship game of the Pac-12 tournament where they lost to UCLA. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Weber State, Gonzaga, and San Diego State to advance to the Elite Eight where they lost to Wisconsin.
The 2014 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament started on campus sites for the first three rounds, with the Final 4 and championship game being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The tournament began on Tuesday, March 18 and ended on Thursday, April 3. Minnesota won this tournament after being the third Big Ten team in a row to make the NIT Finals.
The 2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2000-01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on April 2, 2001, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota and featured the East Regional Champion, #1-seeded Duke versus the Midwest Regional Champion, #2-seeded Arizona.
The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose Final Four was played in Glendale, Arizona, on April 1, 2017, followed by the national championship game on April 3. Practices officially began on September 30, 2016.
The 2017–18 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Jay Wright in his 17th year, the Wildcats played their home games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as members of the Big East Conference.
