NCAA Basketball Bracket 2017: Mobile-Friendly Primer for March Madness

The 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament has one of the deepest fields in years, which should lead to one of the more entertaining contests we've ever seen.

Here's a look at some bracket essentials to get you ready for March Madness, along with a quick preview.

Bracket Essentials

Printable Bracket

Bleacher Report Bracket Challenge

Live Stream

March Madness Bracket

NCAA Tournament Schedule

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

Source: NCAA.com

NCAA Tournament Primer 

1. The Contenders

The top two lines are loaded this year. It wouldn't be a surprise if a No. 1 or No. 2 seed won the national championship this season.

With Louisville being the lone exception, each No. 1 or No. 2 seed won its regular-season championship (Kansas, North Carolina), conference tournament championship (Arizona, Duke) or both (Villanova, Gonzaga, Kentucky).

We could see a scenario where the tournament goes chalk the entire way and No. 1 and No. 2 seeds play each other exclusively in the Elite Eight. However, there are some potential land mines for those teams in the earlier rounds, as you'll see below.

2. The Group of Death

Villanova received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament this year, but its road back to the Final Four will be very difficult because the East Regional is this year's Group of Death.

Wisconsin, the Big Ten regular-season and conference tournament runner-up, only managed to earn a No. 8 seed this year. The Badgers, who are ranked 17th in the Sagarin ratings, may have been under-seeded by two or three seeds in the tournament.

Florida and Virginia are the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the East Regional this season. Not only are those two teams in the top 10 of the Ken Pomeroy college basketball ratings, but Pomeroy also rates UF and UVA fourth and first, respectively, in adjusted defensive efficiency this season.

Finally, on the other half of the East Regional, ACC champion Duke, which just beat Louisville, North Carolina and Notre Dame en route to a conference title, is waiting on the No. 2 line. The Blue Devils had a case for a No. 1 seed after its run, especially considering that they went 27-8 overall with the ninth-toughest strength of schedule in the country, per ESPN.

Villanova is a fantastic squad that returned seven of the top nine scorers from last year's national championship team, but that path back to the Final Four would be difficult for any college basketball team.

3. The Sleepers

Check the No. 4 and No. 5 seed lines if you're looking for a darkhorse Final Four participant (or even a national champion). Simply put, the tourney field is deep this year, especially on those lines. A host of good teams will be gone before the first weekend ends simply because these good teams are going to knock each other off.

West Virginia's pressure defense has caused havoc on teams this year, including No. 1 seed Kansas, who lost to the Mountaineers, 85-69, on the road in Morgantown.

Virginia's Pack Line defense has been phenomenal this season, leading to an upset 53-43 victory over No. 1 seed North Carolina and nearly leading to an upset win over No. 1 overall seed Villanova.

Iowa State won the Big 12 title and beat Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

Notre Dame finished third in the stacked ACC and went to the conference title game. Purdue won the Big Ten regular-season title by two games over the rest of the field and has one of the best big men in the nation in sophomore center Caleb Swanigan.

Butler beat Villanova twice. Florida beat Kentucky. Minnesota finished with 24 wins overall.

Looking at the bracket, it's almost preferable to be a No. 2 seed this year as opposed to a No. 1 seed simply because the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds are so strong.