A leap year means we have a spare day in February, but even so, March is nearly here and with it comes… Madness.
Hold up... It really is almost March already. As the name signifies, March Madness is one of the biggest times of the year for hoops fans. The NCAA’s big tournament is an annual source of basketball heroics, underdog stories, crushing blows, and darn good basketball.
Many players are looking to make a splash to get noticed by the next level. Some are just happy playing out their final seasons on a big stage. Either way, it is all on display for the fans, so when will you need to have brackets filled out?
For the men, selection Sunday is March 15th. This is when we will see who plays who and which teams on the bubble do or do not make that cut for NCAA March Madness 2020.
From there, you will need to get that bracket filled out so you can earn those precious bragging rights (or not) because the First Four play-in games take place March 17th and 18th in Dayton, Ohio. These games serve as a nice, immediate reminder that none of us really know exactly how this thing is going to shake out.
The first and second rounds begin on March 19th. Games played on this date and the 21st will be held in Albany, St. Louis, Spokane, and Tampa. Games played on the 20th and 22nd will take place in Cleveland, Greensboro, Omaha, and Sacramento.
The Midwest Regional (Indianapolis) and West Regional (Los Angeles) will take place on March 26th and 28th. The South Regional (Houston) and East Regional (New York) will be played on March 27th and 29th. This will conclude the March action and give us the Final Four.
Final Four games will be held in Atlanta and played on April 4th and 6th. ESPN has a breakdown as of February 24th that gives an early estimation of how the bracket will look here.
Women’s dates and locations
Let’s not forget the ladies. The women’s NCAA tournament is just as much of a catalyst for big stories, with yearly upsets, heroics, and more. There are some big names in women’s college basketball this year and it will be exciting to see everyone put to the test.
Selection Monday is March 16th and will be televised on ESPN. Locations for the first and seconds rounds are still to be determined, but they will run from March 20th to March 23rd.
The Dallas Regional and Greenville (South Carolina) Regional games are on March 27th and 29th. Portland Regional and Fort Wayne (Indiana) Regional games are March 28th and 30th. April 3rd and 5th will see the women’s 2020 Final Four games at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
ESPN has an early glimpse of how this bracket may shake out as well, here.
As mentioned, this is always a crazy exciting time for basketball fans. The Basketball Movement will be bringing you the big stories and recaps of how the rounds shake out. Fill out those brackets, stay tuned all March, and embrace the Madness.