March Madness 2017: NCAA Tournament Dates, Bracket Release TV Schedule

In a little more than 24 hours, basketball fans will wait restlessly no longer.

That's because the NCAA tournament committee will make its big reveal, and the 68 teams in this year's men's basketball championship will be announced.

Fans can watch the drama unfold on CBS at 5:30 p.m. ET, and the bracket announcements will run until 7 p.m. ET. The program will also stream live at NCAA.com.

While nothing is official yet, there doesn't appear to be much mystery at the top of the draw. The first four spots are apparently in the hands of Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina and Gonzaga.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has had those four teams at the top of his brackets since February.

The NCAA tournament consists of 68 teams, and 32 of them are automatic qualifiers as a result of winning their conference tournament. The committee then selects the 36 best at-large teams and then seeds all 68 teams into the bracket.

There is no limit on the number of teams that can come from any single conference. Lunardi expects to see as many as 10 teams from the ACC in the tournament, while the Big East and the Big Ten are expected to have seven teams each.

All 67 games in this year's NCAA tournament will be televised, and the broadcasts will be divided among TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

The tournament gets underway March 12 and 13 with the First Four, and the first and second rounds will be contested from March 14-17. The championship will be contested April 3 in Phoenix.

Here's a look at the full NCAA tournament schedule.

Date	Round	Location	Television
Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15	First Four	Dayton, Ohio	TruTV
Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18	First/Second	Buffalo, New York	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18	First/Second	Milwaukee	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18	First/Second	Salt Lake City	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18	First/Second	Orlando, Florida	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Wednesday, March 17 and Friday, March 19	First/Second	Greenville, South Carolina	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Wednesday, March 17 and Friday, March 19	First/Second	Indianapolis	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Wednesday, March 17 and Friday, March 19	First/Second	Tulsa, Oklahoma	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Wednesday, March 17 and Friday, March 19	First/Second	Sacramento, California	CBS, TNT, TBS or TruTV
Thursday, March 23 and Saturday, March 25	Midwest Regional	Kansas City, Missouri	Thu: CBS or TBS; Sat: TBS
Thursday, March 23 and Saturday, March 25	West Regional	San Jose, California	Thu: CBS or TBS; Sat: TBS
Friday, March 24 and Sunday, March 26	South Regional	Memphis, Tennessee	Fri: CBS or TBS; Sun: CBS
Friday, March 24 and Sunday, March 26	East Regional	New York	Fri: CBS or TBS; Sun: CBS
Saturday, April 1 and Monday, April 3	Final Four	Phoenix	CBS

'Nova looking to extend legacy

Villanova (30-3, 15-3) has a legitimate chance at winning back-to-back NCAA championships under head coach Jay Wright.

The Wildcats won last year's tournament in the most dramatic of fashions, when Kris Jenkins hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Villanova a 77-74 victory over North Carolina.

Head coach Jay Wright has seen his team continue to play at a high level this season, and the Wildcats will square off with Creighton Saturday night in the Big East tournament championship game. 

Villanova is led by Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and Jenkins, and the three play together with so much confidence, talent and success that it will be difficult to keep them from another long tournament run.

Hart hit the winning shot over Seton Hall in the Big East semifinals after going to the hoop and picking off the rebound of Jenkins' missed three-point shot.

"We were out in transition, and I kicked it to Kris, and I think he was kind of surprised he was so open," Hart said after the game (h/t Joe Juliano of Philly.com). "Right when I saw him shoot it, I knew he put a little too much mustard on it, and I was like, 'Go get it.' Luckily it bounced in the perfect spot, and I was able to get it and go up with it."

Hart is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game and connecting on 50.8 percent of his shots.

Brunson has enjoyed an excellent year with an average of 14.7 points per night and a team-leading 4.2 assists per game. Brunson is also a sharp shooter from the field, connecting on 53.7 percent of his shots.

Jenkins is averaging 13.4 points per night and connecting on 87.2 percent of his free throws.

Gonzaga still gunning for first Final Four

Gonzaga (32-1, 17-1) has enjoyed a steady run as one of the elite regular-season teams in college basketball.

The Zags and head coach Mark Few would like to change that description during this year's NCAA tournament. Gonzaga has never made it to the Final Four, and the school based in Spokane, Washington, would like to change that this season.

It has been a remarkable season for Gonzaga, and their late-season loss to Brigham Young may help the Zags because it takes the pressure of having an undefeated season off of their shoulders.

Gonzaga shook off that defeat and went on to record a successful run in the West Coast Conference tournament, beating St. Mary's 74-56 in the title game.

Defensive lapses against elite teams like Duke and Syracuse have been the Zags' NCAA tournament undoing in the past, but this year's team has leaned on its defense. After losing to Gonzaga in the WCC title game, St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett was impressed with that part of the Zags' game.

"Defensively, they're hard to score on," Bennett said (h/t Myron Medcalf of ESPN). St. Mary's was held to 16 points below its average in the title game.

Junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss is the team's leading scorer with a 16.9-points-per-game average, and he is connecting on 52.1 percent of his shots from the field and 91.0 percent of his free throws.

Senior center Przemek Karnowski is averaging 12.6 points and connecting on a somewhat shocking 60.1 percent of his shots from the field.