The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involves 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 77th edition of the tournament began on March 17, 2015, and will conclude with the championship game on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Out of 333 eligible Division I teams, 68 participate in the tournament. Eighteen Division I teams were ineligible due to failing to meet APR (The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a term-by-term measure of eligibility and retention for Division I student-athletes that was developed as an early indicator of eventual graduation rates.) requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division.
Of the 32 automatic bids, 31 were given to programs that won their conference tournaments. The Ivy League, does not hold a tournament, and awards its bid to the team with the best regular-season record. However, whenever two or more teams are tied for the conference title, league rules call for a one-game playoff between the top two teams (or a series of such playoffs if more than two teams are tied), which occurred in this year. The remaining 36 bids were granted on an "at-large" basis, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee to the teams it deemed to be the best 36 teams that did not receive automatic bids.
Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—will play in the first four games. The winners of these games advance to the round of 64.
The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 68.
Blog Author's Comments - March Madness is a fun time of year for basketball fans. Many people who don't follow basketball during the season will watch the tournament, especially if the college they graduated from or one which is near them is in the tournament. This year the University of Kentucky is the favorite to win the national championship since they went undefeated during the regular season. But, many higher ranked teams will lose to lower ranked teams which makes it interesting. March Madness for many folks and sports fans ranks right up there with the National Football League playoffs and the Major League baseball playoffs.
