With March comes the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, which is also called March Madness. March Madness is a single-elimination tournament that is played between 68 Division I college basketball teams over seven rounds, and teams can earn a bid to the tournament in two ways.
Thirty-two teams will receive a bid from Division I conferences and the rest receive at-large bid invitations.
According to the NCAA, “Regardless of how a team performed during the regular season, if they are eligible for postseason play and win their conference tournament, they receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. These teams are known as automatic qualifiers. There are 31 of these in the 2021 season because the Ivy League did not conduct a winter season.”
This year’s March Madness will be held in Indiana. The NCAA also states, “Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Only one game at a time will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Teams will practice at the Indiana Convention Center with multiple courts set up inside the venue.”
Concerns over unequal treatments of the men’s and women’s basketball team’s accommodations have been made. Stanford Sports Performance Coach and Duke Soccer Alumnus, Ali Kershner, posted to Instagram saying, “@ncaawbb @ncaa @marchmadness this needs to be addressed. These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities. Not only that – 3 weeks in a bubble and no access to DBs above 30’s until the sweet 16? In a year defined by a fight for equality this is a chance to have a conversation and get better.”
March Madness games will be broadcasted on TNT, CBS, TBS and TruTV.
History of March Madness
The first NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament was held in March 1939, with the Oregon Ducks taking the first national title after beating Ohio State 46-33. This first tournament featured only eight teams, but expanded to 16 in 1951, and then to 64 teams by the mid-1980s. This tournament was not called March Madness until CBS sports broadcaster Brent Musburger used the term during the 1982 tournament’s coverage. David Barrett’s “One Shining Moment” became the anthem of March Madness in 1987.
Last year was the only year not to have a March Madness champion as the 2019 March Madness and season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
March Madness 2021 Schedule
First Four: Starts March 18 at 4 p.m.
First round: Starts March 19 at 12 p.m. and March 20 at 12 p.m.
Second round: Starts March 21 at 12 p.m. and March 22 at 12 p.m.
Sweet 16: Starts March 27 at 2 p.m. and March 28 at 1 p.m.
Elite Eight: Starts March 29 at 7 p.m. and March 30 at 6 p.m.
Final Four: Starts April 3 at 5 p.m.
NCAA championship game: April 5 at 9 p.m.
A full game schedule can be found at https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-march-madness-schedule, as well as brackets and other information related to March Madness.
