Selection Sunday, as college basketball teams find out their place in the March madness, includes two specials this Sunday – CBS broadcasts the men’s draw at 6:00 pm ET followed by the women’s draw at 8:00 pm on ESPN.
Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for the men’s tournament after winning their respective conference tournaments. The selection committee determines which other teams will receive one of 36 entries for the draw, for a total of 68 teams.
This year, 68 teams will take part in the women’s tournament for the first time. The selection process is identical to the men’s tournament with 32 automatic bets to win the conference tournament and the rest are free.
The Baylor Bears (men) and Stanford Cardinal (women) are the reigning champions – both will return to compete for the coveted replay.
Game Schedule
Men’s Tournament
- First four: March 15-16
- First round: March 17-18
- Second round: March 19-20
- Sweet 16: March 24-25
- Elite 8: March 26-27
- Final Four: April 2
- NCAA Championship Game: April 4
Tournament games this year will be broadcast on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV.
Women’s Tournament
- First four: March 16-17
- First round: March 18-19
- Second round: March 20-21
- Sweet 16/Elite Eight: March 25-28
- Final Four: April 1st.
- NCAA Championship Game: April 3
All games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
Bracket completion
Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason in how to successfully complete and create a “winning” March Madness grid.
If you’re a college basketball expert, great. If not, picking winners based on school names or mascots is fine too.
The excitement lies in how many games were correctly predicted before your group “busted”.
Five names to watch out for
Mike Krzyzewski
Also known as “Coach K,” Duke’s head coach is a five-time national champion who also led the Blue Devils to the Final Four 12 times.
Coach K, 75, is stepping down at the conclusion of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
You can bet there will be tears when the best coach of all time in men’s college basketball Division I walks off the court for the last time.
Oscar Chibwe
Chiebwe, who moved to the US from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015, moved to play for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats of West Virginia in January 2021.
Chiebwe has firmly established himself in the rankings of the best men’s college basketball players, averaging 17.3 points and a national best in 15.3 rebounds per game.
Like Chibwe, notable players who won the SEC Player of the Year (AP or Coach) award under Calipari in Kentucky included John Wall and Anthony Davis.
Sister Jean
Born Jean Dolores Schmidt, Jean’s sister became a viral sensation after the University of Chicago Loyola Cinderella men’s basketball team advanced to the 2018 Final Four.
A wonderful, world famous nun, who is 102 years old, is going to dance again.
On Sunday, the Ramblers defeated Drake University in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championship game and received an automatic entry into the Big Dance.
Alia Boston
The junior forward from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Boston, appears to be the favorite for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the best female college basketball player of the year.
Boston has consistently dominated the opposition this season. She averaged nearly 17 points and 12 rebounds per game. The junior qualified for the playoffs after recording her 24th consecutive double-double (21 points and 11 rebounds) in the last game of the regular season against Kentucky.
With just two losses in the season, Boston and South Carolina have led the polls as the No. 1 team in the nation since the end of the season.
Caitlin Clark
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was shortlisted for the top women’s college basketball players with Boston. This year, Clarke led the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten Conference championship with tasteless tournament records — averaging 26 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Clarke and the 2022 Hawkeyes are the only team in program history to win both a regular season Big Ten title and a conference tournament.
As a true sophomore, Clarke led the nation in scoring with 27.4 points per game.