2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
| File:2014NCAAFinalFourLogo.png 2014 Final Four logo | |||||
| Season | 1998–1999 | ||||
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| Finals site | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas | ||||
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The 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament will involve 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It is scheduled to begin on March 18, 2014, and will conclude with the championship game on April 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The East Regional will be held in Madison Square Garden, the first time the current MSG has been used as an NCAA Tournament venue and the first time in 40 years games have been held in the city of New York.
Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the current format, a total of 68 teams will enter the 2014 tournament. Thirty-one of the 32 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 36 teams will be granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. This is being made possible with the addition of the new American Athletic Conference, which will be made up of the FBS football-playing schools of the original Big East Conference. The new Big East will be made up of 10 colleges that do not sponsor football at the FBS level: the so-called Catholic 7 from the original Big East, plus Butler and Xavier from the Atlantic 10 Conference, and Creighton from the Missouri Valley Conference.
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.
2014 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2014 tournament:[1]
First Four
- March 18 and 19
Second and Third Rounds
- March 20 and 22
- First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York (Host: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
- BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University)
- Amway Center, Orlando, Florida (Host: Stetson University)
- Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: Washington State University)
- March 21 and 23
Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 27 and 29
- South Regional, FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)
- West Regional, Honda Center, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
- March 28 and 30
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Hosts: St. John's University, Big East Conference)
- Midwest Regional, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: IUPUI, The Summit League)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
- April 5 and 7
Media coverage
Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament.[2] Coverage is detailed below:[3]
- First Four - truTV
- Second and Third Rounds - CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV
- Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) - CBS and TBS
- National Semifinals (Final Four) - TBS
- National Championship - CBS
Radio
WestwoodOne has exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.[4]
See also
- 2014 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
- 2014 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament
- 2014 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament
- 2014 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
- 2014 National Invitation Tournament
- 2014 CollegeInsider.com Tournament
- 2014 Women's National Invitation Tournament
References
- ^ "Preliminary round sites announced for 2014, 2015 NCAA tournaments". NCAA. December 16, 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ^ "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement". NCAA. January 12, 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ^ "CBS Sports, Turner Sports announce programming schedule for 2014, 2015". NCAA. May 7, 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ^ "NCAA, Westwood One extend deal". NCAA. January 13, 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2013.