March Madness 2014 TV Schedule: Full Viewing Guide for NCAA Tournament
You don't have to miss a single basket of the NCAA tournament if you don't want to. That's the beauty of the tournament, folks—every single moment will be broadcast, and if you have the right setup during the tourney, you can watch them all at once.
Sports nirvana, am I right?
Don't know what I mean? You will. Below, you'll find a bracket and full viewing guide for this year's tournament. And because I can't resist a bit of good debate, I also broke down my picks for this year's top contenders. And yes, I might surprise you with a pick or two.
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Schedule
| First Four (Game 1) | 6:30 p.m. | TruTV |
| First Four (Game 2) | 9 p.m. | TruTV |
| First Four (Game 3) | 6:30 p.m. | TruTV |
| First Four (Game 4) | 9 p.m. | TruTV |
| Second Round | 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Second Round | 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:55 p.m. | TruTV |
| Second Round | 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:45 p.m., 9:15 p.m. | TBS |
| Second Round | 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:45 p.m. | TNT |
| Second Round | 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Second Round | 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:55 p.m. | TruTV |
| Second Round | 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:45 p.m., 9:15 p.m. | TBS |
| Second Round | 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:45 p.m. | TNT |
| Third Round | 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Third Round | 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Third Round | 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | TBS |
| Third Round | 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Third Round | 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. | TNT |
| Third Round | 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | TBS |
| Third Round | 7:30 p.m. | TruTV |
| Sweet Sixteen | 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Sweet Sixteen | 7:15 p.m., 9:55 p.m. | TBS |
| Sweet Sixteen | 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Sweet Sixteen | 7:15 p.m., 9:55 p.m. | TBS |
| Elite Eight | 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. | TBS |
| Elite Eight | 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. | TBS |
| Final Four (Game 1), Final Four Game 2 | 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. | TBS, TNT, TruTV |
| National Championship Game | 9 p.m. | CBS |
Top Contenders
Much like last year, it feels like there are a number of teams that could conceivably win this year's NCAA tournament.
Florida has been consistently excellent all season long. Wichita State hasn't lost this year. Villanova very quietly put together an excellent campaign. Arizona and Aaron Gordon are not to be taken lightly. Virginia and Duke are dangerous coming out of the ACC. San Diego State has already beaten Creighton, Kansas and New Mexico and played Arizona tough.
Big Ten teams like Michigan, Wisconsin or Michigan State could go on deep runs. Kansas and Syracuse are better than their rankings suggest. And you never know what teams like North Carolina and Kentucky are capable of doing if they get hot.
But we all know that's too many contenders for this year's throne. Let's whittle it down a bit.
Arizona
"Defense wins championships" is the oldest sports cliche in the book, and college basketball doesn't generally deviate from the formula. Year in and year out, the teams that reach the Final Four generally rate highly in kenpom.com's defensive efficiency rating. Don't believe me?
Check this out from Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn, written in January:
"Title teams always—not sometimes, always—have high-efficiency profiles on kenpom.com. A database I've kept of the past 11 seasons generates these average rankings for where teams finished in kenpom's adjusted offense/adjusted defense metrics:
Teams that reached the Elite Eight: 15.9/19.4
... that reached the Final Four: 15.9/16.4
... that reached the title game: 11.9 /11.3
... that won the national title: 4.5/8.5
"
You guessed it, Arizona.
Pair that fact with a proven go-to guy in Aaron Gordon, and you can see why Arizona has a legitimate shot at winning this year's title.
Now, granted, Arizona's adjusted offensive efficiency wasn't nearly as high (36th after the regular season). But behind a stellar defense, they'll be a tough out this season and are a definite title contender.
Louisville
You may not have expected to see Louisville as a top contender, but it isn't to be taken lightly. And it isn't as good as a season ago, but it might not need to be.
The Cardinals are 14th in kenpom's adjusted offensive efficiency and sixth in defense. They have a (streaky) lead gunner in Russ Smith. They did this a year ago. They survived the brutal American Athletic Conference.
Don't sleep on Louisville. The Cardinals will make plenty of noise once the tourney begins.
Florida
The Gators were the first team in history to finish the SEC regular season 18-0. Non-conference wins over Kansas and Memphis negate non-conference losses to Wisconsin and UConn. They are balanced, experienced and led by the masterful Billy Donovan. They finished the regular season ninth in offensive and defensive efficiency.
Florida might be a chalk pick, but it is a very, very smart chalk pick.
Kansas
If Andrew Wiggins decides to dominate and Joel Embiid is healthy, Kansas may simply win based on pure talent. It's really that simple for the Jayhawks.
Said Bill Self before the Big 12 tournament via Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated, “I really believe—and of course I’m biased—when he’s healthy and playing well he has the potential to impact the game on both ends as much as anybody in the country."
The rest of the country agrees.
What do you think?
Did I nick Wichita State or Villanova too much for strength of schedule? Did I undervalue Syracuse too much after they limped to the finish in the ACC? Any glaring omissions that you would include in my list of top contenders? Any of the above teams that you don't think has a chance at all of winning a title?
Let the debates begin.
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