NCAA Basketball Tournament Schedule

If you're looking for a little bit of excitement, well, you're obviously in the right spot, as spectator sports don't get any better than the yearly NCAA Tournament, which the very best players in the nation against each other as players look to shoot their way into the record books. Yup, it all comes down to this. After a long and entertaining regular season, the best of the best in college basketball come together for a basketball tournament so good that they had to call it March Madness. Whether you like the powerhouses, the Cinderella story, the sentimental favorite or just the hometown team, the NCAA Basketball Tournament has a little bit of something for everybody, making it a unique sports experience that brings you some of the very best amateur athletes in the world in an intense battle for college hoops superiority. 

Loaded with stars headed to the next level, you never know what's going to happen at the yearly NCAA Basketball Tournament, which is why it routinely captures the imagination of basketball fans all over the country each and every year. But if you think you're going to get the full college basketball experience because you filled out a bracket for your office pool, you're way off, as this is a tournament that comes to life when you get a chance to watch alongside thousands of your fellow fans. With Tournament sites all over the U.S., including Providence, Dayton, Des Moines, Raleigh, Denver, Brooklyn, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Spokane, Anaheim, Louisville, Chicago, Philadelphia and Houston, this is a sporting event that crosses the country. 

NCAA Basketball Tournament History

Officially started all the way back in 1939, the NCAA Basketball Tournament has just grown and grown over the years. Though it went through plenty of changes, it eventually ended up with 64 teams in 1985, giving us the basic format that is still in use today. In the modern era, the Tournament has blossomed into one of the premier sporting events in the country each and every season, with the popularity growing to unbelievable levels. Teams like UCLA, Kentucky, North Carolina and Indiana have all won five titles or more, but there are plenty of other powerhouses that are always in the mix looking to add to their school's legacy. Just recently, it was the UCONN Huskies that captures their second title in four seasons, giving them their fourth overall title to solidify themselves as one of the greatest programs in the history of the sport. Now with 68 teams – including the play-in games – the Tournament has never been more exciting, cementing it as one of the iconic events of college athletics.

NCAA Basketball Tournament Trivia

Did you know that UCLA Bruin Bill Walton went 21-22 from the floor during the 1973 NCAA Championship Game?

If you want to know why there was such a buzz surrounding Walton by the time his college career was finished with the UCLA Bruins, all you have to do is look at the '73 NCAA Tournament finale. Walton was absolutely sensational, making all of his shots from the floor except for one on the way to scoring 44 points, scooping up 13 rebounds and tallying two assists to boot, helping the Bruins easily topple Memphis.