With the Super Bowl in the past, the eyes of most American sports viewers turn to the NCAA tournament and March Madness. It's the next big collective viewing experience for the country, a series of weeks in which just about everybody wants to talk college basketball. It's an absolute blast and helps the long month of March pass a bit more quickly.
It's never too early to start mentally preparing how one will attack their bracket this year. So here's everything you need to know about when March Madness starts this year.
What is March Madness?
Before we get into the calendar, it's important to define this parameter. What, exactly, is March Madness?
Contrary to popular thinking, March Madness is not just the NCAA men's basketball tournament. While it's common to refer to the men's tourney as "March Madness" that technically isn't all the term encompasses. Instead, March Madness refers to the crazy time in March where all the college basketball tournaments are held at the same time—most significantly the men's and women's D-1 tournaments that determine the year's national champion, as well as the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
March Madness, in other words, is not just one tournament. It's a period of time where all the tournaments are played.
When does March Madness start?
With that out of the way, let's dig into dates.
Selection Sunday is on March 16, when the participants for the men's and women's tournaments will be announced. NIT invitations are sent out shortly thereafter to schools who did not earn a spot.
The first games for the men's tournament will be played on Tuesday, March 18. On the women's side, the first slate of games comes on Wednesday, March 19. These games will be the "First Four" qualifiers that determine the 16-seed for each bracket. The NIT will be played concurrently and thus will also begin on March 18.
When does March Madness end?
It's sad to consider but the fun basketball that accompanies each March does, in fact, come to an end. The end-of-year tournaments usually take about three weeks to complete, with games being held over three weekends before the national title game is set. Then the tournaments conclude with one final winner-take-all game between two teams who have won out to get to that point.
For the men's tournament, the last game will be played on Monday, April 7. For women's, the final game is set for Sunday, April 6. The NIT final will be played on Thursday, April 3.
Now you'll be fully locked and loaded for the start of the madness come March.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as When Does March Madness Start? First Games for Men's, Women's, NIT Tournaments .
