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West region
Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed, is the first team to enter the undefeated NCAA Men’s Tournament since Kentucky in 2014-15, and the Zags have a legitimate chance of becoming the first undefeated National Champion since Indiana finished 32-0 in the season 1975-76.
Gonzaga is 26-0 after beating Brigham Young to win the West Coast Conference Championship on Tuesday. The Zags have a smooth, fast attack, and they pass the right shot for the big shot. But while Gonzaga has won victories over Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa and Virginia, he hasn’t faced an opponent outside of the West Coast Conference since December.
Other teams to watch: No 2 Iowa, No 3 Kansas, No 4 Virginia, No 7 Oregon, No 12 UC Santa Barbara
Southern region
No. 1 Baylor had the best start in program history, with 18 straight wins, and won the regular season Big 12 title for the first time. The last time the Bears clinched a conference title was in 1950 as a co-champion and in 1948 as the all-time winner. Baylor’s skill – he’s led the league in 3-point shooting this season – could help reverse his struggles lately.
Other teams to watch: No 5 Villanova, No 7 Florida, No 8 North Carolina, No 10 Virginia Tech
Midwest region
No. 1 Illinois will play in his first NCAA tournament since 2013. His run in the Big Ten tournament, which he won with an overtime victory over Ohio State on Sunday night, was the work of a team that stood felt rejected: The Fighting Illini were enraged. the winning percentage model, approved months ago, that gave Michigan the Big Ten regular season title. Unfortunately for other conferences, Illinois may now be looking to eliminate some of the frustrations of its teams.
Other teams to watch: No.2 Houston, No.3 West Virginia, No.12 Oregon State
Eastern region
Michigan’s No.1 was 19-3 entering the Big Ten tournament despite 23 days between games when the college athletic department shut down all sports for three weeks due to coronavirus concerns. In his second season, coach Juwan Howard guided the Wolverines to their first No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament since 1993, when he played for a team that reached back-to-back NCAA Championship games. .
Other teams to watch: No 2 Alabama, No 5 Colorado, No 15 Iona
The women’s winners will be announced Monday on a selection show that airs at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN. The usual elite teams will be there – but others have a real chance of winning a championship this year.
Top notch programs once again dominated the season. Six of the top 10 teams in the Associated Press poll won at least one title; only two have never participated in a Final Four.
But the high ranking of perennial contenders like Stanford, Baylor, Louisville and, yes, UConn obscures the fact that there is a much more level playing field at the top of the game than there have been in years, as evidenced by the divided votes for the No. 1 place.
UConn is the only team in the top 25 with just one loss, but the Huskies have played a relatively easy schedule. Among their peers at the top, there is no clear favorite, which sets the stage for close Elite Eight clashes.
You don’t have to be a college basketball expert. But you have to read the pool rules carefully.
If this is an old school group awarding the same number of points, no matter which team you choose, you’re going to want to stick with the favorites. Don’t be smart with UC Santa Barbara or Liberty. There is no reason to; the reward is simply not worth the risk.
But if the pool is awarding bonus points for Upsets, you have to go in a completely different direction. Now you want to pick long shots in the early rounds; indeed, you have to do it to have any chance of winning.
The number of players in the pool can have a big effect. If the pool is just you and a handful of friends, go ahead and pick all of the favorites. But the best bet for a bigger pool is to mix up your choices a bit once you’re in the bottom eight. And when choosing your eventual winner, it may be to your advantage not to go with the team that everyone loves in your pool.
The men’s bracket may be absent, but it won’t freeze until 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday – a tolerance for the possibility of the virus derailing the hopes of one team while giving another a chance to play for a championship.
The rules vary depending on the home conference of an affected team.
If a team is playing in a league that has only one team in the tournament, the conference can choose its replacement. The new team will occupy the position in support of the team it replaced.
If a team is from a league that has won multiple tournament offers, four teams – Louisville, Colorado State, St. Louis, and Mississippi – will be waiting to replace it in the same location. Replacement teams that do not qualify for the NCAA Men’s Tournament may play in the National Invitational Tournament as No.1 seeds.
Once the deadline has passed on Tuesday, no new teams will be added to the brackets for either men’s or women’s tournaments. While the tournament is in progress, if a team does not have at least five eligible and healthy players to start a game, the game will be classified as a no-contest, moving the opponent to the next round.
Duke and Kentucky have combined to win three championships since 2010, but for the first time since 1976, when the field was only 32 teams, none will be on the field this year.
Kentucky’s season ended last Thursday when the Wildcats lost to Mississippi State in the SEC tournament. It came about two hours after Duke announced his season was over after a member of the program tested positive for the coronavirus.
Two other traditional blue bloods, Kansas and North Carolina, also had frustrating seasons but won tournament bids, Kansas as the No.3 seed in the West region and Carolina of the North as seeded No. 8 in the South.
Kansas and another high-profile team, Virginia, withdrew from their conference tournaments last week due to coronavirus cases, wondering if they would be able to compete in the NCAA tournament. Virginia is ranked # 4 in the Western region.
As in recent years, the men’s tournament matches will be broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The official way to stream the tournament is through the NCAA’s March Madness Live app, which requires connection through a TV provider. (The Paramount + app will also feature games broadcast on CBS.)
Matches of the women’s tournament will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPNU and can be streamed on the ESPN app.
Here is the turn-based program:
Men’s tournament
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Play-in games: Thursday March 18
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Round of 16: Friday March 19 and Saturday March 20
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Round of 16: Sunday March 21 and Monday March 22
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Round of 16: Saturday March 27 and Sunday March 28
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Round of 16: Monday March 29 and Tuesday March 30
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Final Four: Saturday April 3
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Championship game: Monday April 5
Women’s tournament
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Round of 16: Sunday March 21 and Monday March 22
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Round of 16: Tuesday March 23 and Wednesday March 24
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Round of 16: Saturday March 27 and Sunday March 28
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Round of 16: Monday March 29 and Tuesday March 30
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Final Four: Friday April 2
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Championship game: Sunday April 4
To reduce travel, most men’s tournaments will be played in Indianapolis, where the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Lucas Oil Stadium will host games. The teams will also play at Mackey Arena, the Purdue University campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Assembly Hall, which is located at Indiana University in Bloomington.
For the women’s tournament, teams will play at three venues in San Antonio: the Alamodome, Bill Greehey Arena at St. Mary’s University and the Convocation Center at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Texas State University will have first-round matches at the University Events Center in San Marcos, as will the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
More than 2,300 people in travel groups for the tournament’s 68 teams – players, coaches, coaches and others – are expected to descend to Indiana for the men’s tournament. But there will also be umpires, NCAA staff, security guards, cleaning crews, reporters, parents and fans to fill the venue up to 25% of their usual capacity.
In a typical year, Indianapolis’ largest tournament site, Lucas Oil Fieldhouse, could accommodate up to 70,000 fans for the regional finals and the Final Four.
Spectators will be largely excluded from the first and second rounds of the women’s tournament, which will be played in Texas. As of the round of 16 of this tournament, the Alamodome in San Antonio should not accommodate more than 11,000 spectators.
The best-guarded tournament participants, including players and coaches, will need to stay in what the NCAA has described as a “controlled environment.” Others, even those who may be near the court, will not face such limitations, although they will have to wear masks and attempt to stay six feet from people.
Several public health experts said they were baffled by the decision to welcome fans to the tournament.
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