2021 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

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, marking the first time in the history of the tournament that a single state has hosted it in its entirety.[2]

2021 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament
Season2020–21
Teams68
Finals siteLucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, Indiana
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«2020 2022»

Tournament procedure
Further information: NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament § Current tournament format

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
Indianapolis
West Lafayette
Bloomington
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 area and central Indiana:[2]

Original 2021 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
Dayton
Providence
Boise
Detroit
Dallas
Wichita
Lexington
Raleigh
San Jose
2021 First Four (orange) and first and second rounds (green) as originally selected.
Minneapolis
Denver
Memphis
Brooklyn
Indianapolis
2021 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red) as originally selected.

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

First and Second Rounds

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

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
  1. "NCAA announces early-round dates for tourney". ESPN.com. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. "NCAA announces further details for 2021 Division I men's basketball championship". Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. "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.
  4. "Future Division I Men's Basketball Championship sites". NCAA. 22 March 2019.
  5. Bonesteel, Matt (April 12, 2016). "CBS and Turner Sports lock down NCAA tournament through 2032". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
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