NCAA Tournament Schedule: March Madness Bracket, TV Info and More

If you don’t have brackets, mascots and basketballs dancing through your head as you go to sleep at this time of year, then you’re doing it wrong.

The NCAA tournament gets under way Tuesday in Dayton with the First Four games, and the real thrillers start Thursday when everyone in America starts taking longer lunch breaks at work and spends their afternoons watching hoops.

With that in mind, here is a look at some of the essential information for this year’s tournament: a schedule, broadcast information and an under-the-radar game to monitor in the round of 64.

All Your Bracket Essentials 

• Download the Printable Bracket
• Play the Free Bracket Challenge 

Bracket

Schedule/TV Information

Date	Event	Location	TV
March 17-18	First Round	Dayton	truTV
March 19, 21	Second and Third Rounds	Jacksonville, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Portland	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 20, 22	Second and Third Rounds	Columbus, Charlotte, Omaha and Seattle	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 26, 28	Midwest Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Cleveland	CBS and TBS
March 26, 28	West Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Los Angeles	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	South Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Houston	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	East Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Syracuse	CBS and TBS
April 4	National Semifinals	Indianapolis	TBS
April 6	Championship Game	Indianapolis	CBS

Round of 64 Game to Watch: Louisville vs. UC Irvine 

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Louisville is the No. 4 seed in the East Region and will square off with No. 13 seed UC Irvine in an intriguing, under-the-radar round of 64 contest.

There is a certain cache that comes with Louisville because it is a brand-name program that always attracts attention, but that is not the only reason this game should be on your radar. In fact, there is one very big reason you should watch this matchup—UC Irvine’s Mamadou Ndiaye is 7’6” tall.

Talk about a rim protector.

Ndiaye averaged 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game this season and will be a problem on both ends of the floor for Louisville based on his height alone. He camped himself in front of the rim on the defensive side throughout the Big West tournament and forced his opponents into difficult mid-range jumpers instead of clean looks at the rim. 

If he can do that against Louisville, the Anteaters can stay in this game until the end. If nothing else, Ndiaye should provide some entertainment for the fans, as Jody Norstedt of WDAY/WDAZ in Fargo noted:

This UC Irvine team is much more than just Ndiaye, though. Will Davis led the squad in scoring at 12.9 points per game, and the Anteaters took Oregon to overtime, only lost by three to Saint Mary’s and beat a formidable Green Bay squad. They can challenge the Cardinals.

The biggest problem for UC Irvine will be scoring against Louisville’s lockdown defense. Rick Pitino’s squad finished No. 6 in Ken Pomeroy’s pace-adjusted defensive efficiency rankings and simply stifled almost every team it faced the entire season. In fact, the Cardinals only allowed 59.5 points per game.

However, they are susceptible to the upset because its offense doesn’t parallel its tremendous defense. 

Louisville was a disappointing 95th in Pomeroy’s offensive rankings and 130th in points per game (69.2). The Chris Jones dismissal certainly didn’t help the scoring numbers either considering he was first on the team in assists (3.6 per game) and third in scoring (13.7 points per game).

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Pitino discussed how he was pleased to get away from home for this game in an effort to put some of the distractions in the rear-view mirror.

"We're real happy about being out in Seattle. We wanted to get away," Pitino said on ESPN Radio, via Eric Crawford of WDRB.com. "This team needs to get away from family and friends. They were distracted at home with all the fanfare. It's good that we're away. We're excited about it."

Ultimately, Louisville’s offensive struggles will be a serious issue in this game, especially with Ndiaye protecting the rim, but they won’t hold the Cardinals back from advancing.

This is a battle-tested squad that beat Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia and stayed within 10 points of Kentucky. What’s more, the Terry Rozier-Montrezl Harrell combination will be too much for the Anteaters to deal with for the entire 40 minutes.

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Rozier is an excellent perimeter player who can hit from three and averaged 17.1 points a night. Harrell is a double-double machine who will counter Ndiaye down low with incredible athleticism and the ability to soar for dunks and rebounds.

They are both future pros and should exploit the UC Irvine defense.

The Cardinals simply have more talent on paper than the Anteaters, and it will show in the closing minutes of this game. It will still be close because of Louisville's offensive struggles, but look elsewhere for an upset pick. 

Prediction: Louisville 65, UC Irvine 60

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