On the latest opening night of the NBA, there was an average of 2.9 million viewers per game.
This just shows how many people watch basketball, but there are many more people who also watch college football in the NCAA as well.
So many people watch it that they make a game out of it. Are you interested in playing during March Madness this year? Keep reading to find out the basketball schedule and learn more about the game!
What is March Madness?
First, you’ll have to understand what March Madness is. This is a tournament of some of the top teams in college basketball. Sixty-four teams will play sixty-seven games. This leads to some games that are packed with action in only a short amount of time.
This is why it draws in so many people each year! Even people who are casual fans of basketball find the sport entertaining, and you don’t need to know a lot of the history behind the teams to understand it either.
However, if you want to play a bracket for the game, you’ll need to know a little bit more. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) is a non-profit organization that rules over college sports. The NCAA ranks each sport, and they ranked the basketball teams as Division I.
The first tournament started in 1939, and it originally only had eight teams. It grew from there to become what it’s been known as today. To learn more, check out this source!
What Teams Should You Watch?
When you start watching March Madness, there are a lot of teams that you can watch. However, there are some that should catch your eye for potentially putting on your bracket.
The Associated Press did a poll that they released in early November about who they think would be important for this season based on how preseason went. They think that Gonzaga is going to be the number one team, with Baylor coming in second.
In third place, there is Villanova. Virginia is in fourth.
From there, they also think you should watch these teams:
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Duke
- Houston
- Arizona State
- Rutgers
- Michigan
- Florida State
- Oregon
- Houston
Villanova has great players who helped them become national champs in 2018. They could be working up to win for the third time as well.
How Does the Tournament Work?
So now that you know what teams to watch for college basketball, you can learn how the tournaments work. This will help you figure out how to fill in your bracket.
For the first games, the First Four Teams will battle for a chance to even participate in March Madness proper. Whoever wins these games will go into the first round of the tournament.
In just a few days, sixty-four teams will then play against each other in thirty-two different games. Whoever wins those games will move on to the next round of games.
The Sweet 16 round will cut these sixteen teams down to eight. From there, those eight teams will go to the Elite Eight round and play against each other.
Whoever wins those games will make it to the Final Four Round. From there, two more teams will be eliminated. The two winning teams will proceed to the National Championship.
How to Get in a Bracket
Because of how popular March Madness is, so many people decide to do brackets and try and guess who will make it into the final rounds. You may be able to find a group of friends or coworkers who are putting together a casual bracket. But many sports gambling sites have NCAA brackets as well.
Once the committee announces who will be playing officially, you can start predicting who will win and fill out your bracket. Once you’ve done it, the bracket gets locked in on Thursday right before the first games pick. From then on, you won’t be able to make changes to it.
This 2021 Schedule
Now that you know how to set up your bracket and know what teams to watch, you’re ready to watch men’s college basketball! But when is it on?
On March 14th, there will be Selection Sunday.
Later that week on March 18th, the first four will play. The first game will be at Mackey Arena, and the second one will be in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
After those games, the next ones will be from Friday to Saturday (March 19 – 20). This is when the first round will play, and there will six different games for you to watch.
The next games don’t happen until a week later, which is the second round. This will be from March 21st through March 22nd. All of these four games will be played in Indianapolis.
Another week from then, from March 27th to March 28th, the Sweet 16 will play. Both of these games will be in Indianapolis as well.
From March 29 through the 30th, the Elite Eight will play one game in Indianapolis. On April 3rd, the final four will play as well.
From then, however, wins will have a few days to prepare for the championship. And then the National Championship will be on April 5th.
Learn More About the Basketball Schedule for 2021
These are only a few things to know about the college basketball schedule for 2021, but there are many more things you should read up on!
We know that learning about sports can be confusing sometimes, but we’re here to help you figure it out.
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