Selection Sunday 2017: Date, TV Coverage for Bracket Reveal

The 2017 men's Division I college basketball tournament bracket will be revealed on Sunday, March 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on CBS.

Every year, there is intrigue behind the bracket reveal. Who will the No. 1 seeds be? Which teams got snubbed? And which teams didn't deserve to make March Madness but found themselves in the field anyway? Will any team get a particularly easy (or bad) draw?

Here's a look at three things to watch out for on Sunday.

Selection Sunday Storylines

1. No. 1 Seeds

Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina and Gonzaga figure to be the No. 1 seeds in some order. That's been the projection for a few weeks, anyway, as ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has listed those four on the top line since February 20.

If each of those teams wins its respective conference tournaments (or just makes the finals), there is no debate: They will be the No. 1 seeds. Gonzaga just beat Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference semifinals, so its position at the top is probably secured.

However, if one of the other three teams slips up early in the conference tournament, and a team currently projected as a No. 2 seed (e.g. Oregon) looks unbeatable en route to a league championship, then a conundrum ensues.

That being said, if you look at the Big East, ACC and Big 12 draws, it's very difficult seeing any of those teams losing in the quarterfinals, and they'd all be sizable favorites in the semifinals.

Still, anything is possible in March, so keep an eye out this week to see if one of these teams loses in an upset.

2. Mid-Major Powerhouses vs. Middling Majors

Every season, the same debate takes place: Should a team in the middle of the pack in a power conference make the field over a team that dominated the regular season in a mid-major conference but fell short in the league tournament?

The selection committee can't avoid that debate this season. Illinois State, which finished 27-6 and 17-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play, lost 71-51 to Wichita State in the MVC title game. It's hard to finish with those win-loss records in any year, so that will be the Redbirds' biggest plus on their resume, but they also didn't beat a team out of conference inside the top 100 in RPI aside from No. 83 New Mexico, per ESPN.

ISU will be compared to a team like Iowa, which finished above .500 in Big Ten play but had a uglier win-loss record at 18-13. Still, the Hawkeyes have four very solid wins (at Maryland, at Wisconsin, home vs. Purdue and home vs. Iowa State), while the Redbirds can only point to their win over Wichita State as an impressive victory.

Right now, Lunardi has ISU in the field with Iowa sitting just on the outside looking in. We'll see how the selection committee takes these cases on Sunday.

3. Who Will Get the Short (or Long) End of the Stick?

If Villanova and Kansas hold on to their No. 1 seeds, they will be placed in the East and Midwest regionals, which will be a huge boost to their chances of making the Final Four. Villanova would play the regional semifinals and finals in New York City at Madison Square Garden, where it will likely enjoy a partial Wildcat crowd that will travel the two hours north from Philadelphia to watch their team play.

'Nova also has a huge fanbase and alumni base in New York City that can easily hop on the train or drive into the city and watch the game.

Meanwhile, Kansas would have an even easier road trip, as the Jayhawks would play in the Sprint Center in Kansas City, which is 45 minutes away from its home in Lawrence. The Jayhawks would immediately be familiar with that arena as they are already playing there in the Big 12 tournament.

Those two teams would conceivably enjoy easier paths to the Final Four, although some teams will undoubtedly get tougher draws.

In 2014, for example, an undefeated Wichita State team earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest regional and was rewarded with a second-round matchup with a very under-seeded Kentucky at No. 8.

The Wildcats upset the Shockers and then had to face a very under-seeded Louisville team at No. 4. They won that game and went on to the national championship, where the Wildcats lost to UConn.

If those four teams were all in different regionals, it's conceivable that they could have met in the Final Four, but they were all bunched up in the same half of the same regional, and two of them were knocked out before the Elite Eight.

Hopefully a similar situation does not happen again, but be on the lookout for any hard draws for top teams.