March Madness is upon us! The best month of the year brings a month of college hoops like none other. Fans all over the country hunker down and cheer on their teams as they attempt to win a championship title.
For hardcore and casual fans alike, March is a month dedicated to basketball. A ton of information regarding brackets, quad wins, tournaments, and other terms will be thrown around this month, so here is an information guide to all things March.
NET Rankings System
The NET Ranking System determines a team's resume before the Division I Tournament. It includes winning percentage, game location, game results, strength of schedule, net offensive/defensive ratings, and quality of wins/losses.
These factors are used to categorize wins and losses into four quadrants. Quadrants are determined by the game location and NET ranking.
Quad wins and losses
One of the main identifiers for NET Rankings is quadrant wins and losses. Quadrant wins and losses are determined by the quality of the opponent and the game location. Here is a breakdown:
Quad 1: home games played against teams currently ranked 1-30 in NET Rankings, games played at a neutral site against teams currently ranked 1-50 in NET Rankings, and road games against teams currently ranked 1-75 in NET rankings.
Quad 2: Home games against teams 31-75 in NET, neutral site games against teams 51-100 in NET, and road games against teams 76-135 in NET.
Quad 3: Home games against teams 76-160 in NET, neutral site games against teams 101-200 in NET, and road games against teams 136-240 in NET.
Quad 4: Home games against teams 161-353 in NET, neutral site games against teams 201-353 in NET, and road games against teams 242-353 in NET.
Quadrant wins and losses are important to determining a team's resume before the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Automatic bids
Teams can receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament if they win their conference championship. This automatically qualifies them for the tournament as one of the 31 teams who won their conference championship.
Smaller programs and non-power five conferences must win their conference championship to qualify for the field. If they do not, they will be at the mercy of the committee to determine if they are worthy of entrance.
Quad wins and losses play a large role in determining a team's resume if they do not receive an automatic bid.
Selection Sunday
Selection Sunday is the day when the brackets and seeding for each Division I men's and women's teams are revealed. Sixty-eight teams make the tournament (31 automatic, 37 by committee).
The selection committee uses a non-automatic bid team's resume to determine if they deserve to make the field and what seed they will be.
The Selection Sunday show begins after the final conference tournament on March 16, around 5:00 p.m. Central Time for the men's bracket and 7:00 p.m. for the women's bracket. Selection Sunday airs on CBS.
The Selection Sunday Show also determines where each team will play based on their seeding. The Division I Tournament Bracket is split into four regions.
March Madness
March Madness is the term for March when the NCAA Division I tournament takes place. The Division I Tournament is a seven-round, single-elimination tournament in which 68 teams compete.
31 of the 68 teams in the field are determined by automatic bids. These are obtained by winning the conference tournament. The others are determined by a committee on Selection Sunday.
After Selection Sunday, the teams in the field are set, and the games begin. The games start on March 18 and go until the Championship on April 7. Here is the schedule for March Madness:
First Four: March 18-19 (determines the last four teams to make the field)
First Round: March 20-21
Second Round: March 22-23
Sweet 16 (final 16 teams): March 27-28
Elite Eight (final eight teams): March 29-30
Final Four: April 5
Championship: April 7
Printable brackets
You can get a printable bracket from NCAA.com to help you follow along with all the action!