The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament will be a 68-team single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2018-19 season. The 81st edition of the Tournament is scheduled to begin on March 19, 2019 and will conclude with the championship game on April 8 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Video 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the current format, a total of 68 teams will enter the 2019 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 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.
Maps 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
2019 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2019 tournament:
First Four
- March 19 and 20
- University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and Second Rounds
- March 21 and 23
- XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
- Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa (Host: Drake University)
- Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida (Host: Jacksonville University)
- Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
- March 22 and 24
- Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina)
- Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)
- BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: University of Tulsa)
- SAP Center, San Jose, California (Host: West Coast Conference)
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 28 and 30
- West Regional, Honda Center, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
- South Regional, KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)
- March 29 and 31
- East Regional, Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
- Midwest Regional, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
- April 6 and 8
- U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
2019 will see U.S. Bank Stadium become the fortieth venue to host the Final Four. This is the first hosting of the event at the facility, built on the site of the old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, a two-time host in 1992 and 2001. The last time a venue hosted the Final Four for its first hosting of an NCAA tournament was 1977 when Atlanta's Omni Coliseum hosted the Final Four. It will also see the tournament return to Hartford's XL Center for the first time since 1998. And, for the first time since 1970, the tournament will return to Columbia, South Carolina when it comes to the Colonial Life Arena, the second tournament the state will host since the end of the ban due to the Confederate Flag controversy.
Media Coverage
Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament.
- First Four - truTV
- First and Second rounds - CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
- Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) - CBS and TBS
- National Semifinals (Final Four) - CBS
- National Championship - CBS
Radio
Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.
Internet
Video
Live video of games will be available for streaming through the following means:
- NCAA March Madness Live (website and app, no CBS games on digital media players; access to games on Turner channels requires TV Everywhere authentication through provider)
- CBS All Access (only CBS games, service subscription required)
- CBS Sports website and app (only CBS games)
- Bleacher Report website and Team Stream app (only Turner games, access requires subscription)
- Watch TBS website and app (only TBS games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
- Watch TNT website and app (only TNT games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
- Watch truTV website and app (only truTV games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
- Websites and apps of cable, satellite, and OTT providers of CBS & Turner (access requires subscription)
Audio
Live audio of games will be available for streaming through the following means:
- NCAA March Madness Live (website and app)
- Westwood One Sports website
- TuneIn (website and app)
- Websites and apps of Westwood One Sports affiliates
See also
- 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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