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March Madness is on the verge of another huge step on the road to returning to normalcy in sports.
The 2022 NCAA Tournament will be held without many of the restrictions and policies that defined the 2021 competition, which itself was the first dose of March Madness that sports fans enjoyed since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the event outright in 2020.
This year, for example, the tournament will return to several pre-pandemic operating procedures, such as hosting First Four games over the course of two days instead of one; featuring multiple host cities for the first and second rounds and regional semis/finals (as opposed to keeping the entire tournament in a singular area); and having seemingly no capacity restrictions. Fans in attendance will still need to adhere to local and state health regulations, however.
Regardless, that return to normalcy is great news for basketball fans who have missed the experience of March Madness as much as the on-court product. While the 2021 iteration was more than welcome after missing the tournament entirely in 2020, March Madness in 2022 could represent the closest to a "normal" tournament that fans have enjoyed in several years.
And that's not even considering the most important aspect of the tournament: the teams and players, of course. Already there are a few teams that stand out above the rest — most notably Gonzaga, which is aiming for redemption after getting blown out of the national championship game in 2021 to defending national champion Baylor.
Of course, this will also be the final NCAA Tournament with Duke's Mike Krzyzewski prowling the court, a fact that itself makes this tournament must-watch television. What other storylines and Cinderellas will reveal themselves as the tournament progresses?
Here's the schedule:
Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET March 13 on CBS
First Four: March 15-16
First round: March 17-18
Second round: March 19-20
Sweet 16: March 24-25
Elite Eight: March 26-27
Final Four: April 2
NCAA championship game: April 4
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Overview123
For those of you who might not be aware, the NCAA has expanded the tournament field from 64 teams to 68 teams.
A total of 68 teams will enter the tournament. Thirty of the thirty-one automatic bids teams will be given to the program that wins their conference tournament. The remaining automatic bid will go to the Ivy League regular season champion since they do not hold a conference tournament. The remaining 37 teams will be granted "at-large" bids, which are 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.
In the past, we have had the 65th game as the first tie breaker. They now have 4 games played before the tournament. We will not be participating in this since I think it is dumb. Not every one is a winner, not eveyone can make it! There are only 64 teams in the tournament!
The main reason for this is after talking with league members, people did not want to pick the winners of these 4 games both from a lack of interest standpoint and from the standpoint of requiring entries to be completed by Tuesday after the pairings given out on Sunday night. So, the 64/65 team logic currently in place will be removed.
For those of you who might not be aware, the NCAA has expanded the tournament field from 65 teams (with 1 play-in game) to 68 teams (with, essentially, 4 play-in games).
Round 1 - 1pt
Round 2 - 3pt
Sweet 16 - 5pt
Elite 8 - 7pt
Final 4 - 9 pt
Championship - 11pt
Bonus: 25pts will be granted to the person(s) that gets the correct combine score of the two teams playing in the championship game.
Example: If the final score was 65-32, your pick would be 97. ( 65 + 32 = 97 )
Tie Breaker will be as followed:
1.) Picked the correct championship team
2.) Most teams in the championship
3.) Most teams in final 4
4.) Most teams in elite 8
5.) Most teams in sweet 16
6.) Most teams in 2nd round
7.) Pick Percentage
8.) Number of upsets picked in first round
9.) Number of upsets picked in the 1st round based on seed starting with 16th seed. (16th seed, 15th, 14th, etc)
10.) Number of upsets picked in the 2nd round based on seed starting with 16th seed. (16th seed, 15th, 14th, etc)
All brackets need to be filled out and returned to me before 11AM ET on Thursday March 17th (This means if you live in IOWA, you need to have your picks in by 10AM Thursday Morning). All brackets received after that time will not be included in the tournament. As always, I will give my bracket to Steve K. and Aaron Casper to verify my picks.
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| The individual who finishes with the most points at the conclusion of the NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament will have their name engraved on the "March Madness Hanson Bracketology College Basketball Champions" trophy. Being the champ also includes bragging rights for an enitre year and an entry on the "Words Of Advice" page on the site. No prizes will be awarded to 2nd place. In my book, 2nd place is the first loser! |
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