Category: NCAA Men’s Basketball

Nevada the last team in, Oklahoma State the first team out in 2023 NCAA men’s bracket

The last four teams in and the first four teams out being announced always means heartbreak for some teams.

Every year, there’s a robust discussion around the bubble for the men’s NCAA tournament, and 2023 was no different. While the bubble felt a little less tenuous this year — there were not a lot of teams that had a huge argument to get into the field and very few bid-stealers from conference tournaments — there are still those that will question or praise the committee’s choices.

After announcing the entire bracket for March Madness, CBS shared the committee’s eight teams that made up the last four in and the first four out. Three ACC teams landed in that octet, the only conference with more than one representative in that grouping.

Pitt fell on the good side of the line, despite having a net ranking lower than three of the four teams left out. Preseason No. 1 North Carolina is the first to go from that expectation before any games are played to not making the tournament, and Clemson’s bad losses (South Carolina, Louisville and Loyola Chicago) kept the Tigers out.

Oklahoma State was the first team left out of the Big Dance, with Nevada being the last to sneak in.

Two of the last four in — Mississippi State and Pitt — play Tuesday evening in the First Four in Dayton for a chance to face off against 6-seed Iowa State in the Midwest.

Kennesaw State’s reaction to hearing its name on Selection Sunday for the first time ever was simply the best

Hootie Hoo, y’all.

Kennesaw Stateā€™s menā€™s basketball team has known for a week that it was going to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.

But that didnā€™t spoil any feelings of enthusiasm the Owlsā€™ players, coaches and fans felt when they heard their name on Selection Sunday for the first time.

The Owls ā€“ champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference ā€“ were given a No. 14 seed and will face No. 3 Xavier in the first round on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina And when the folks packed inside the KSU Convocation Center saw their schoolā€™s name in yellow and black flash on the big screen, they erupted with joy.

Kennesaw State punched its ticket to the tournament by beating Liberty in the ASUN title game on March 5. The Owls are 26-8 this season, which is their best record since joining Division I in 2005.

The Owls are coached by Amir Abdur-Rahim, brother of former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Ahead of the tournament, basketball fans should familiarize themselves with KSU guard Chris Youngblood, who averages 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Should the Owls upset Xavier, theyā€™ll play the winner of Iowa State and a First Four game between Pitt and Mississippi State.

Kennesaw isnā€™t that far from Atlanta, so if youā€™re rooting for them, do your best OutKast impression and give a Hootie Hoo shoutout.

Clark Kellogg accidentally called TCU the ā€˜Froghornsā€™ while analyzing the NCAA tournament bracket

Clark Kellogg called TCU the “Froghorns” as the NCAA tournament bracket was unveiled. No, really.

CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg got a bit tongue-tied while talking about the West Region of the 2023 NCAA tournament.

While mentioning six-seeded TCU, Kellogg called the team the “Froghorns,” which was very much incorrect.

Those in Fort Worth, Texas will quickly tell you that TCU’s mascot is the Horned Frog, not the Froghorn. There is no such thing as the Froghorn.

There is a foghorn, which bellows a loud noise to help ships sailing in foggy conditions avoid treacherous obstacles as they head into port. There is also Foghorn Leghorn, the Looney Tunes rooster with a Southern drawl.

However, the Froghorn does not exist. It’s just a hilarious verbal blooper from Kellogg as he broke down this year’s March Madness bracket.

Alright, live television is hard, and we all know what team Kellogg was talking about. Even so, this is just one of those gaffes you can’t help but chuckle at.

How will the Froghorns do in the NCAA tournament this year? Well, they didn’t make it, but the Horned Frogs might could make some waves.

The 2023 NCAA men’s tournament bracket: Get in on March Madness fun

Get your bracket for the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament!

Happy March Madness season, everyone!

Selection Sunday has officially come and gone, which means March Madness is set to begin in full in just a few days. We now know all of the 68 teams set to take the field ahead of the first round on March 16 and 17, so now it’s time to fill out those ever-important March Madness brackets!

If you’re looking to fill out one of your own, we’ve put together a printable blank bracket for you to use as you see fit! You can download the blank PDF file here.

Here’s how the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament bracket looks coming out of Selection Sunday with all 68 teams filled in.

Create your men’s and women’s tournament brackets at USA TODAY Sports.

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Every NCAA Final Four Court since 2001

Where the road ends each March

Editor’s note:Ā This post was originally published in 2022. It has since been updated.Ā 

There’s something extremely powerful about the court each year at the Final Four.

We don’t have to go into the wholeĀ HoosiersĀ speech and note that all the dimensions are the same as every other floor, but knowing that you’ve reached the final stageā€”not just in the NCAA Tournament, but for many players, their college careersā€”helps turn hardwood into hallowed ground.

The actual court themselves are, more often than not, a true sight to behold. A work of art in concept, style and design. It’s no wonder many teams who win the national title take the NCAA up on their offer to buy the floor after the game. Sometimes that means hanging the court in a team’s practice facility or auctioning off parts of it to fans and alumni.

Either way, it’s the ultimate conversation piece.

There have been many different iterations since 2001. Let’s run through them all.

When and where is each round of men’s March Madness being played?

The dates and locations for each round of the men’s NCAA tournament.

The bracket for the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament goes live Sunday March 12 at 6 p.m. ET as the selection show takes place on CBS. But where and when is each round of the tournament?

The First Four will take place in Dayton, Ohio on March 14 and 15 at the UD Arena. There will be two 11-seed games and two 16-seed games in Dayton, Ohio in what essentially amounts to a play-in game.

From there, games will rotate to the first and second round sites. On March 16 and 18, games will be played in Birmingham, Des Moines, Orlando and Sacramento.

Albany, Columbus, Denver and Greensboro will host games on March 17 and 19.

The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will take place at four regional sites over March 23 and 25 (East and West Regions) and March 24 and 25 (South and Midwest Regions):

East: New York City (Madison Square Garden)

South: Louisville (KFC Yum! Center)

Midwest: Kansas City (T-Mobile Center)

West: Las Vegas (T-Mobile Arena)

The Final Four will be in Houston with the semifinals on April 1 and the championship game on April 3.

THE BRACKETS ARE BACK!Ā The USA TODAY Sports Bracket Challenge is back! $1 MILLION grand prize for a perfect bracket, $25,000 prize for top bracket. Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules.Ā Play now!

2023 Men’s March Madness: Final Four and National Championship odds for all 68 teams

Updating the live Final Four and championship odds all month long

March Madness is in full swing and Selection Sunday is upon us.

As the 68 teams get set for their matchups in the big dance, the usual questions remain. Who is this year’s Cinderella? Which players will etch their names in tournament history? And, of course, which teams will meet in the Final Four before cutting down the nets.

Ahead of the bracket reveal the favorites to win the title contained some familiar names.

Houston (+550) held the best odds, followed by Alabama (+800), Kansas (+800) and Purdue (+1100). Oddly enough, UCLA (+225) held better odds to reach the Final Four than Purdue (+240) despite the Boilermakers considered more likely to win the tournament.

Here’s a look at the full list of 68 teams and their odds via DraftKings Sportsbook. Check back here for live, updated odds throughout the tournament. Odds for the women’s bracket are available here.

THE BRACKETS ARE BACK!Ā The USA TODAY Sports Bracket Challenge is back! $1 MILLION grand prize for a perfect bracket, $25,000 prize for top bracket. Free to enter, 21+. Terms apply, void where prohibited by law. See Official Rules. Play now!

The radio call of Howard basketball punching its ticket to the NCAA tournament will give you goosebumps

For the first time since 1992, Howard men’s basketball is going dancing.

Howard is going dancing for the first time since 1992.

The school’s men’s basketball team won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Saturday in a close contest with Norfolk State, 65-64, and punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament.

If you want to know how much this victory means to Bison nation, be sure to listen in on the school’s official radio call.

Even though March Madness doesn’t officially start until next week when the brackets are set, this is exactly why we all block out so much time to watch these college programs vie for a spot in the tournament.

This is just so cool for Howard and its fans.

If that doesn’t give you goosebumps, we’re not sure what will.

Howard will try and shock the world by pushing ahead in next week’s NCAA Tournament games. Could they be the next team to write a Cinderella story? This is March; time will tell. For now, the Bison will celebrate.

Feature photo courtesy of ESPN.

March Madness is officially here and it comes to you in the form of Southern Utah University game-winners

Southern Utah University is absolutely unreal right now

We all love March, man. It’s basketball season. Conference tournaments are well underway and we’re just hours away from the start of the NCAA tournament at large.

Jobs are on the line. Draft stocks are, too. And so is glory. This time of year is truly for all the marbles. That’s what makes it so special.

But you know March Madness is officially upon us when we start to see the ridiculous game-winning shots pour in from across the country. These are the shining moments everyone talks about.

And, fortunately for us, Southern Utah’s Men’s and Women’s basketball teams just gave us two of the wildest game-winners we’re probably going to see this March on back-to-back nights, no less. And the NCAA tournament hasn’t even started yet.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

NCAA March Madness Live isn’t integrating betting content in 2023, but it does have another new feature bettors can appreciate

The NCAA won’t be taking a leading position in the betting space.

NCAA March Madness Live is back for 2023 to give college hoops fans every second of action from all 67 games of this year’s men’s tournament.

Because of its use as a one-stop shop for live games and analysis, March Madness Live can be a valuable tool for sports bettors looking to keep track of how their bets are doing in real time. The expansion of legal sports betting means a record number of people could be looking to access the MML site or app for that purpose alone.

But don’t expect to see betting lines or related content in 2023. It’s an area the NCAA would rather take a backseat approach.

“Not yet. I think that you’re not going to see NCAA take a leading position in integrating betting into the landscape,” Turner Sports SVP of Digital Hania Poole said Friday. “However, we are staying close to everything going on in this space. We obviously have a lot of experience on the Bleacher Report and the NBA products, other parts of our business where we do go a little bit deeper. But we’ll take it a little slowly for this piece, especially as the landscape continues to play out as it relates to issues like NIL as well.ā€œ

MML is managed by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports in partnership with the NCAA and CBS Sports. The lack of betting content shouldn’t be a huge deterrent for bettors, who are used to not seeing lines as a major part of in-game broadcasts on those networks — including TBS, CBS and TNT ā€” and others.

However, that doesn’t mean MML can’t be useful. March Madness Live is debuting a multi-game viewing feature for the web this year, allowing fans (and bettors) to stream four separate games at once. This feature expands on the current availability to stream two games at once on connected devices like Apple TV.

MML also has a feature called Matchup Analysis, which allows fans to choose from over 20 stats and weigh them against each other to determine possible outcomes of a game and make picking a winner that much easier. For non-bettors, MML has other fun games like the men’s and women’s Bracket Challenge and the men’s Tournament Run.

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