It’s that time of year again. Millions of basketball fans across the United States are gearing up for weeks of frantic competition to crown the next men’s college basketball champions.
Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which administers college athletics in the United States, the annual tournament – known as March Madness – officially begins later this week.
It is one of the most anticipated sporting events in the United States, and more than 18 million people tuned in to watch last year’s finals, which saw the Kansas Jayhawks defeat the North Carolina Tarheels.
Here’s what you need to know before the matches.
How are the teams selected?
Winners of postseason tournaments in each of the 32 Division 1 basketball conferences receive what’s called an automatic bid to the March Madness National Tournament.
The NCAA Selection Committee then invites 36 teams that are not automatically qualified to join.
How many teams are participating?
Sixty-eight teams will participate in the knockout tournament. But before the start of the first round, four teams are cut in what is called the “First Four”: a play-in competition that officially kicks off the tournament, starting on Tuesday.
“The top four consist of eight teams — the four lowest-ranked automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-ranked overall teams,” the NCAA said. explain on its website. These rankings are determined by the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, which numbers teams 1-68.
Once the top four are completed, 64 teams advance to the first round of the tournament, starting on Thursday. Matches are scheduled in several US states, including Florida, California and New York.
What is a parenthesis?
After ranking the teams, the NCAA Selection Committee sets up what is called the Tournament Bracket.
The medium is basically the March Madness schedule: it features round one matches based on rank and geographic location. (The tournament is divided into four regions: South, Midwest, East, and West.)
These matchups, in turn, determine the path each team will have to take to reach the championship game.
In 2022, more than 36 million people said they intended to fill in a bracket, with predictions for which teams they hoped to enter the tournament, according to data firm Statista.
There are two days left for a suit for this year’s tournament.
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— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023
Why is the tournament called March Madness?
According to the NCAA, the nickname was first used in 1939 – the same year as the first Division 1 men’s basketball tournament – by an Illinois high school official named Henry V Porter.
“But the term didn’t find its way to the NCAA tournament until CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger (who was a sportscaster in Chicago) used it while covering the 1982 tournament,” said association. said.
“The term has since been synonymous with the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.”
Who are the teams to beat this year?
Four teams are currently ranked first in their respective regional divisions: Kansas, Alabama, Houston and Purdue.
Bettors agree with the NCAA Selection Committee that the No. 1 seeds are the favorites – Houston at plus-500, Alabama at plus-800, Kansas at plus-1,000 and Purdue at plus-1,200.
According CBS Sports“a No. 1 seed has won NCAA Tournament bracket in six of the last seven years”.
Are there any surprises planned?
Part of the fun of March Madness is the unexpected showings and David vs. Goliath moments the tournament produces each year. And most experts are betting that 2023 will be no exception.
“We know there will be upheaval,” ESPN’s John Gasaway and Matt Eisenberg recently wrote as they unveiled their “Giant Killers” model, which examines potential upsets in games where teams are separated by at least five starting points.
By their calculations, the No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams have the highest odds of being upset, with a 43% chance of beating the No. 5 Saint Mary Gaels in the first round.
“A classic 12 out of 5 surprise. Or would it be?” The pattern gives VCU something close to a coin toss chance against Saint Mary’s,” Gasaway and Eisenberg said.
CBS Sports also predicted that the 10th-seeded University of Southern California Trojans would defeat No. 7 Michigan State in the Eastern Region first round.
When are the men’s semi-finals and championship matches?
The last four teams standing will face off in the semi-finals – known as the Final Four – on April 1 in Houston, Texas. If they win, they earn a spot in the title match on April 3.
Does the NCAA also organize a women’s tournament?
Absolutely. On the women’s side, the top four seeds in this year’s competition are South Carolina, Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford.
The South Carolina Gamecocks are a heavy favorite to become the first repeat winner of the women’s tournament since 2016, when the University of Connecticut clinched their fourth straight national championship.
How can I watch?
Every match in the women’s tournament will be available on ESPN’s networks or for streaming, with fans encouraged to navigate to the “Watch” tab on ESPN’s sites.
Each game of the men’s tournament will be broadcast on American television, either on CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV and their digital platforms. CBS will air the Final Four semifinals and the national title game this year.
March Madness is also available on other channels and streaming services internationally, including TSN in Canada and Kayo Sports and Foxtel in Australia.
