Explained: What is March Madness - The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament

The men's college basketball regular season is nearing its end and the teams are ready to make one final push for the NCAA Division Itournament, also known as, March Madness. The tournament has a long and rich history but sometimes could be a bit too much to comprehend. Known as one of the most watched sports events, here's an explainer to answer all the queries about March Madness.

What is March Madness or NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball tournament?

The 68-team tournamentis a lose-a-game and go-home event where the teams compete in seven rounds to win the national championship. The seven rounds of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournamentare as follows:

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First Four: Played between four lowest-ranked teams and four lowest-seeded 'at large' teams after the Selection Sunday and four winners move to the next round.

First round: All 64 teams are divided in four regions and 32 winners advance to the next round.

Second round: 32 first-round winners compete against each other and 16 of them move ahead.

Sweet 16: Remaining 16 teams face each other and only eight move forward.

Elite Eight: As the name suggests, top eight teams of the country play in this roundwith only four making it to the next one.

Final Four: Dubbed as the semifinals, top four teams vie for a spot in the championship game.

NCAA championship game: One final game before the winner takes all.

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Why is it called March Madness?

Henry V. Porter, a high-school official in Illinois, used the terms for the first time in 1939. Later on, CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger, a former sportswriter in Chicago, used the term while covering the tournament in 1982 and it stayed thereafter.

When did the tournament start?

The inaugural NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament was played in 1939 and has been held every year since then except in 2020. The NCAA Tourney for 2019-20 season was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic.

How the tournament has changed over the years?

After starting out as an eight-team event in 1939, the tournament has seen many changes over the years. The first big change was in 1951 when the total teams were increased to 16. The 16-team format ran until 1985, the year when it was expanded to 64 teams.

In 2001, for the first time a game was played before the first round of the tournament after the Mountain West Conference joined Division I and received an automatic bid, increasing the total teams to 65. In 2011, the latest change, three more teams were added to get seeded on Selection Sunday and three more games were added before the first round.

The four games played before the first round of the tournament were called First Four.

What is Selection Sunday?

A Selection Committee convenes a meeting after the regular season and conference tournaments areover to give away 36 seeds to the deserving teams. The meeting is always on a Sunday hence called Selection Sunday.

What is tournament selection committee?

The committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and finalizing the NCAA Division Men's Basketball tournament bracket. It consists of school and conference administrators which are nominated by the respective conferences. The members serve fiver years each in the committee.

How do the teams earn a place in March Madness?

The teams are selected to be a part of the NCAA Tourney by the following two ways:

Automatic bid: 32 teams get a place automatically by winning their respective conference tournament, that is, one winner from each of the 32 conferences.

At-large bid: The selection committee gives away 36 seeds to the teams during the Selection Sunday after regular season and conference tournaments are over.

How does committee decide on at-largebids?

While there's no set formula, the Selection Committee takes teams' various stats and rankings throughout the current season to determine if a team should be a part of the NCAA Tourney or not.

What next after Selection Sunday?

Each team is assigned a seed or a rank between 1 to 68 and is placedin one of four regions. The First Four round of the tournament then takes place.

How are the matchups decided?

After the First Four round, 64 teams are divided in in four regions and get a seed between 1 to 16. The NCAA, to reward better teams, makes the top-ranked team of one region play against the last-ranked team of the same region.

For example, No. 1 ranked team in one particular region will play against No. 16, while No. 2 will play against No. 15 and so on.

Who has won the NCAA tournament most times?

Since 1939, there have been a total 37 different teams which have won a national championship. UCLA, however, has been the winner most times with 11 championships to their name. Out of those 11, 10 came during the 12-year period from 1964 to 1975.

What is a Cinderella team?

A Cinderella team is the one which has done better then expected. It is usually a low-seeded team which beats higher-ranked teams and travels far into the tournament against popular opinion.

How can audience participate in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament?

The NCAA, immediately after announcing the teams on Selection Sunday, opens up a window to fill out the bracket for the fans. The bracket essentially is form, filled online, with every individual predicting the winner of each match-up including the national championship game. The only condition to fill out the bracket is to do it before the deadline, which the before the beginning of the first game of the first round, that is, round of First Four.

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