2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

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
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«2016	2018»

The 2017 NCAA Men's Division I 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 used to crown its regular season champion with an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, will host a postseason tournament to determine an automatic winner. 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. But as of 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.

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 will also seed the entire field from 1 to 68.

2017 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

Dayton

Buffalo

Milwaukee

Orlando

Salt Lake City

Greenville

Indianapolis

Tulsa

Sacramento

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2017 First Four (orange) and First and Second rounds (green)
Note:Greensboro (red), originally was awarded First and Second round games, but the games have been relocated due to NCAA objections over HB2

Kansas City

San Jose

Memphis

New York City

Glendale

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2017 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2017 tournament^[2]

First Four

March 14 and 15
- University of Dayton 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)
- BMO Harris 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 (Hosts: Southern Conference and Furman University) Note: Greensboro originally was awarded First and Second round games, but the games have been relocated due to NCAA objections over HB2
- 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
- University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

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

Notables

Qualifying and selection procedure

Out of 344 eligible Division I teams, 68 participate in the tournament. Seven Division I teams are ineligible due to failing to meet APR requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division.^[1]

All 32 automatic bids are all conference tournaments winners. The remaining 36 bids will be granted on an "at-large" basis, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee to the teams it deems to be the best 36 teams at-large that do not receive automatic bids.

Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—play in the First Four (the successor to what had been popularly known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advance to the round of 64.

The Selection Committee also seeds the entire field from 1 to 68.

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams are automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.

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.^[3]

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

Radio

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.

Notes

1.^ The 7 teams that are ineligible, and the reasons for ineligibility:
Academic Progress Rate^[4]: Alcorn State; Savannah State
Other NCAA infractions: Hawaii^[5]
Self-imposed bans

Reclassification^[6]: Abilene Christian; Grand Canyon; Incarnate Word; UMass Lowell

References

^ http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14942702/ivy-league-adds-four-team-conference-tournament-2017-automatic-ncaa-tournament-bid
^ http://www.ncaa.com/MBBPrelims
^ "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement" (Press release). National Collegiate Athletic Association. April 22, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ "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.
^ "Multidivision and Reclassifying for 2015–16" (PDF). Retrieved February 27, 2016.

External links

[3] 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

[1] ttp://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14942702/ivy-league-adds-four-team-conference-tournament-2017-automatic-ncaa-tournament-bid

[2] ttp://www.ncaa.com/MBBPrelims

[4] "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement" (Press release). National Collegiate Athletic Association. April 22, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

[5] "Division I student-athletes still making gains in APR". April 20, 2016.

[6] "Former Hawaii head men's basketball coach violated NCAA ethical conduct rules". December 22, 2015.

[7] "Multidivision and Reclassifying for 2015–16" (PDF). Retrieved February 27, 2016.

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds First Four Elite Eight Final four
Champions & awards	List of champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Blue bloods Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four Cutting down the nets March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	Team records Bids by school Consecutive appearances Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Overall records Upsets Team appearances by seed
See also: Division I Women's Tournament, Division II Tournament, Division III Tournament

v t e 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC America East American ASUN Atlantic 10 Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA Conference USA Horizon Ivy MAAC MEAC Mid-American Missouri Valley Mountain West Northeast Ohio Valley Pac-12 Patriot SEC Southern Southland Summit Sun Belt SWAC WAC West Coast
Postseason	NCAA NIT CBI CIT