NCAA Tournament 2016: Known Info for March Madness Bracket

March Madness is upon us.

With Selection Sunday nearly here, there are still a ton of questions surrounding seeds, matchups and bubble teams.

But there are also things we do know. Let’s talk about those.

Schedule

Date	Time	Outlet	Location
Sunday, March 13	5:30-7:30 p.m. ET	CBS	New York City

Locations

Round	Date	Locations
First Four	March 15-16	UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio
First and Second Rounds	March 17, 19	Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa; PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C.; Pepsi Coliseum, Denver; Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.
First and Second Rounds	March 18, 20	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Scottrade Center, St. Louis; Chesapeak Energy Center, Oklahoma City; Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Wash.
West Regional	March 24, 26	Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
South Regional	March 24, 26	KFC YUM! Center, Louisville, Ky.
Midwest Regional	March 24, 26	United Center, Chicago, Ill.
East Regional	March 25, 27	Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Final Four	April 2, 4	NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas

Conference Champions

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Here’s a list of teams that have already clinched a spot in the tourney after winning their respective conference championships.

Warning: There are some you’ve likely never heard of.

• Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun)
• UNC Asheville (Big South)
• North Carolina Wilmington (Colonial Athletic)
• Green Bay (Horizon League)
• Yale (Ivy League)
• Iona (Metro Atlantic Athletic)
• Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)
• Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast)
• Austin Peay (Ohio Valley)
• Holy Cross (Patriot League)
• Chattanooga (Southern)
• South Dakota State (Summit League)
• Gonzaga (West Coast)

 To see schedules for the rest of the tournaments, click here.

Projected Top Seeds

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Well, that’ll do it for the concrete information. We’re now heading into prediction territory.

Based on the latest projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the No. 1 seeds will be Kansas, Virginia, North Carolina and Villanova.

Buddy Hield and Oklahoma might have an issue with that. The No. 6 Sooners will enter the Big 12 semifinals against No. 9 West Virginia with an impressive 25-6 record that includes victories against eight Top 25 opponents.

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm gives both Oklahoma and Michigan State No. 1 seeds. In doing so, Palm boots Virginia and UNC to No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.

As you can see, even the bracketology experts disagree.

The rest of the country agrees with Lunardi and Palm’s top two choices—Kansas and Villanova—though. The Jayhawks and Wildcats are the best pair of teams in the nation, based on the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Player to Watch

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Most of the time, team basketball wins out.

Still, it doesn’t hurt to have a star player capable of taking over games this time of year. It’s often an upperclassman or a battle-tested player who doesn’t crumble in crunch time.

One of those guys is Nova’s Ryan Arcidiacono.

On Thursday, the Wildcats were pushed by Georgetown in the Big East tournament quarterfinals. Point guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and the rest of the Hoyas were on the verge of an upset midway through the second half.

Then, Arch took a breath…and took over.

The senior made play after play to spark the Wildcats to an 81-67 victory at Madison Square Garden:

That’s just what he does. When the waters get rough, he has a way of righting the ship. With Villanova having failed to get past the second round since 2009, expect head coach Jay Wright to heap a ton of pressure on his star guard.

And expect Arch to embrace it.