2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
 2017 Final Four logo | |||||
| Season | 1998–1999 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 68 | ||||
| Finals site | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona | ||||
| |||||
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament will involve 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It is scheduled to begin on March 14, 2017, and will conclude with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game will be the first contested in a Western state since 1995 when Seattle, Washington was the host of the Final Four for that year.
Tournament procedure
A total of 68 teams will enter the 2017 tournament, with all 32 conferences tournament winners receiving an automatic bid. The Ivy League, which previously granted its automatic tournament bid to its regular season champion, will host a postseason tournament to determine a conference champion. In previous years, had the Ivy League had two schools tied for first in the standings, a one-game playoff (or series as was the case in the 2002 season) determined the automatic bid. On March 10, 2016, the Ivy League's council of presidents approved a four-team tournament where the top four teams in the regular season would play on March 11 and 12 at Philadelphia's Palestra.[1]
The remaining 36 teams will receive "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. On January 24, 2016, the NCAA announced that the Selection Committee would, for the first time, unveil in-season rankings of the top four teams in each division on February 11, 2017.[2]
Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—will play in the First Four (the successor to what had been known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advance to the main draw of the tournament.
The Selection Committee also seeds the entire field from 1 to 68.[3]
2017 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
Note: Greensboro, North Carolina was originally awarded First and Second round games, but the games have been relocated to Greenville, South Carolina due to NCAA objections over HB2
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2017 tournament[4]
First Four
- March 14 and 15
- UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and Second Rounds
- March 16 and 18
- KeyBank Center,[s 1] Buffalo, New York (Host: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
- Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University)
- Amway Center, Orlando, Florida (Hosts: University of Central Florida and Stetson University)
- Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
- March 17 and 19
- Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina,[s 2] (Hosts: Southern Conference and Furman University)
- Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Horizon League and IUPUI)
- BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: University of Tulsa)
- Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California (Host: California State University, Sacramento)
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 23 and 25
- Midwest Regional, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 12 Conference)
- West Regional, SAP Center, San Jose, California (Host: Pac-12 Conference)
- March 24 and 26
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Hosts: St. John's University and Big East Conference)
- South Regional, FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
- April 1 and 3
- Notes
- ^ At the time of announcement, this venue was known as First Niagara Center. Following the 2016 purchase of First Niagara Financial Group by KeyCorp, the new venue name officially took effect with the start of the 2016–17 NHL season.
- ^ Greensboro, North Carolina originally was awarded First and Second Round games, but the games were relocated due to NCAA objections over North Carolina's passage of HB2.
Qualification and selection
Nine teams, out of 351 in Division I, are ineligible to participate in the 2017 tournament. due to failing to meet APR requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division.[n 1]
Automatic qualifiers
The following teams are automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.[10]
| Conference | Team | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | |||
| America East | |||
| Atlantic 10 | |||
| American | |||
| Atlantic Sun | |||
| Big 12 | |||
| Big East | |||
| Big Sky | |||
| Big South | |||
| Big Ten | |||
| Big West | |||
| CAA | |||
| C-USA | |||
| Horizon | |||
| Ivy League^ | |||
| MAAC | |||
| MAC | |||
| MEAC | |||
| Missouri Valley | |||
| Mountain West | |||
| NEC | |||
| Ohio Valley | |||
| Pac-12 | |||
| Patriot | |||
| SEC | |||
| Southern | |||
| Southland | |||
| SWAC | |||
| Summit League | |||
| Sun Belt | |||
| WCC | |||
| WAC |
^ First Time of having a conference tournament in league history.
Media coverage
Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament.[11][12]
- First Four – truTV
- First and Second rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV
- Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) – CBS and TBS
- National Semifinals (Final Four) – CBS
- National Championship – CBS
Studio hosts
- Greg Gumbel (New York and Glendale)
- Ernie Johnson Jr. (New York, Atlanta, and Glendale)
- Casey Stern (Atlanta)
Studio analysts
- Charles Barkley (New York and Glendale)
- Seth Davis (Atlanta and Glendale)
- Brendan Haywood (Atlanta)
- Clark Kellogg (New York and Glendale)
- Kenny Smith (New York and Glendale)
- Wally Szczerbiak (New York)
Commentary teams
- Jim Nantz/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson
- Brian Anderson/Chris Webber/Lewis Johnson
- Brad Nessler/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce
- Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobson
- Ian Eagle/Steve Lavin/Evan Washburn
- Spero Dedes/Steve Smith/Len Elmore/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude
- Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Jamie Erdahl
- Carter Blackburn/Mike Gminski/Debbie Antonelli/Lisa Byington
Radio
Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the Final Four and championship game will be broadcast in Spanish.[13]
See also
- 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
- 2017 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament
- 2017 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament
- 2017 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
- 2017 National Invitation Tournament
- 2017 CollegeInsider.com Tournament
- 2017 College Basketball Invitational
- 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament
- 2017 Women's Basketball Invitational
Notes
- ^ These 9 teams are ineligible for the following reasons:
- Academic Progress Rate[5]
- Alcorn State
- Savannah State
- Other NCAA infractions
- Hawaii[6]
- Self-imposed bans
- Northern Colorado[7]
- Cal State Northridge[8]
- Reclassification[9]
- Abilene Christian
- Grand Canyon
- Incarnate Word
- UMass Lowell
References
- ^ "Ivy becomes last to add conference tournament".
- ^ "Midseason March Madness sneak preview should bring positive buzz". USA Today. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ "March Madness bracket: How the 68 teams are selected for the Division I Men's Basketball Tournament". NCAA. January 25, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ "2016-18 preliminary rounds". November 14, 2014.
- ^ "Division I student-athletes still making gains in APR". April 20, 2016.
- ^ "Former Hawaii head men's basketball coach violated NCAA ethical conduct rules". December 22, 2015.
- ^ Press, The Associated. "University of Northern Colorado imposed penalties on itself over NCAA violations". Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ Times, Los Angeles. "CSUN admits violations in men's basketball program, self-imposes postseason ban". latimes.com. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ "Multidivision and Reclassifying for 2015–16" (PDF). Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ^ "March Madness 2017: Conference tournament scores, schedule, NCAA tournament automatic qualifiers". NCAA. February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement" (Press release). National Collegiate Athletic Association. April 22, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ "March Madness: Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Casey Stern and Debbie Antonelli highlight March Madness Commentator Teams". NCAA. March 2, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ^ "Westwood One and the NCAA make history with first Spanish language audio call of NCAA Men's Final Four". NCAA. February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.