The tournament starts this Thursday with the First Four games. The first round of the tournament starts on Friday, March 19, and the second round begins two days later.
Here are the First Four match ups this Thursday: No. 11 Wichita State vs No. 11 Drake No. 11 Michigan State vs No. 11 UCLA No. 16 Norfolk State vs No. 16 Appalachian State No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s vs No. 16 Texas Southern
The positioning of the other 60 teams are also set. TV times and game sites are still being worked on by the committee. Here are the regions and seeds:
West Region (First round on Saturday) No. 1 Gonzaga (26-0) vs No. 16 Norfolk St./Appalachian St winner No. 8 Oklahoma (15-10) vs No. 9 Missouri (16-9) No. 5 Creighton (20-8) vs No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (22-4) No. 4 Virginia (18-6) vs No. 13 Ohio (16-7) No. 6 USC (22-7) vs No. 11 Wichita St/Drake winner No. 3 Kansas (20-8) vs No. 14 Eastern Washington (16-7) No. 7 Oregon (20-6) vs No. 10 VCU (19-7) No. 2 Iowa (21-8) vs No. 15 Grand Canyon (17-6)
South Region (First round on Friday) No. 1 Baylor (22-2) vs No. 16 Hartford (15-8) No. 8 North Carolina (18-10) vs No. 9 Wisconsin (17-12) No. 5 Villanova (16-6) vs No. 12 Winthrop (23-1) No. 4 Purdue (18-9) vs No. 13 North Texas (17-9) No. 6 Texas Tech (17-10) vs No. 11 Utah State (20-8) No. 3 Arkansas (22-6) vs No. 14 Colgate (14-1) No. 7 Florida (14-9) vs No. 10 Virginia Tech (15-6) No. 2 Ohio State (21-9) vs No. 15 Oral Roberts (16-10)
Midwest Region (First round on Friday) No. 1 Illinois (23-6) vs No. 16 Drexel (12-7) No. 8 Loyola-Chicago (24-4) vs No. 9 Georgia Tech (17-8) No. 5 Tennessee (18-8) vs No. 12 Oregon State (17-12) No. 4 Oklahoma State (20-8) vs No. 13 Liberty (23-5) No. 6 San Diego State (23-4) vs No. 11 Syracuse (16-9) No. 3 West Virginia (18-9) vs No. 14 Morehead State (23-7) No. 7 Clemson (16-7) vs No. 10 Rutgers (15-11) No. 2 Houston (24-3) vs No. 15 Cleveland State (19-7)
East Region (First round on Saturday) No. 1 Michigan (20-4) vs No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s/Texas Southern winner No. 8 LSU (18-9) vs No. 9 St. Bonaventure (16-4) No. 5 Colorado (22-8) vs No. 12 Georgetown (13-12) No. 4 Florida State (16-6) vs No. 13 UNC Greensboro (21-8) No. 6 BYU (20-6) vs No. 11 Michigan State/UCLA winner No. 3 Texas (19-7) vs No. 14 Abilene Christian (23-4) No. 7 UCONN (15-7) vs No. 10 Maryland (16-13) No. 2 Alabama (24-6) vs No. 15 Iona (12-5)
The last four teams to get into the tournament with at-large bids were: Drake, Michigan State, UCLA, Wichita State
The first four teams out were: Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis, Ole Miss
The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 will be the weekend of March 25-28, with the Final Four and national championship the weekend after that.
All games will be played in Indianapolis or surrounding areas in Indiana. The brackets will be unveiled Sunday, and here’s how to watch them live.
