2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Redirected from 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
 | |||||
| Season | 2020–21 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 68 | ||||
| Finals site | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||
| |||||
The 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament is a planned single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 82nd edition of the tournament is scheduled to begin on March 18, 2021[1] and will conclude with the championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in the cancellation of the previous year's tournament, the entire tournament will be held in the state of Indiana.[2]
Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the current format, a total of 68 teams will enter the 2021 tournament. 31 automatic bids (down from 32, due to the Ivy League having cancelled all winter semester sports due to COVID-19)[3] will be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 37 bids are "at-large", with selections 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 popularly 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.
2021 NCAA Tournament venues
On January 4, 2021, the NCAA announced that the tournament will be held at the following venues, all contained within the Indianapolis metro and central Indiana:[2]
- Indianapolis
- Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Host: Ball State University)
- Lucas Oil Stadium (two courts) (Host: Horizon League)
- Hinkle Fieldhouse (Host: Butler University)
- Indiana Farmers Coliseum (Host: IUPUI)
- Bloomington
- West Lafayette
- Mackey Arena (Host: Purdue University)
Original 2021 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The following were the sites initially selected to host each round of the 2021 tournament;[4] with the exceptions of Boise and Minneapolis, all cities and venues listed are scheduled to host tournament games after 2021:
First Four
- March 16 and 17
First and Second Rounds
- March 18 and 20
- March 19 and 21
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 25 and 27
- Midwest Regional, Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
- West Regional, Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado (Host: Mountain West Conference)
- March 26 and 28
- South Regional, FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)
- East Regional, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York (Host: Atlantic 10 Conference)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
- April 3 and 5
Media coverage
Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament.[5] As part of a cycle that began in 2016, CBS will televise the 2021 Final Four and the National Championship Game.
Television channels
- First Four – TruTV
- First and Second Rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV
- Regional Semifinals and Final (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) – CBS and TBS
- National Semifinals (Final Four) and Championship – CBS
See also
References
- ^ "NCAA announces early-round dates for tourney". ESPN.com. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ a b "NCAA announces further details for 2021 Division I men's basketball championship". Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ "Ivy League cancels basketball season for 2020-21 as part of ban on winter sports due to COVID-19". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ^ "Future Division I Men's Basketball Championship sites". NCAA. 22 March 2019.
- ^ Bonesteel, Matt (April 12, 2016). "CBS and Turner Sports lock down NCAA tournament through 2032". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2016.