March Madness 2018: Men's Bracket Release Info, Full Tournament Schedule

The start of one of the more unique March Madness periods in recent memory is less than a week away, with the 2018 tournament featuring big-time storylines both on and off of the court.

A reported FBI investigation involving numerous top schools and players is hanging over the sport like a dark cloud, per Pat Forde and Pete Thamel of Yahoo. Given that, the 2018 season has been a wild one on the hardwood. Parity has ruled the day as top schools continually fall with few teams establishing themselves as national favorites. This should lead to plenty of surprises in each bracket come tournament time.

The unveiling process for the March Madness brackets is a bit different this season, as all of the participants will first be named before the seedings are announced. SNY's Adam Zagoria shared the details:

Clear your calendars, as here is how you can catch the Selection Sunday show and the entirety of the NCAA tournament:

Selection Sunday Schedule

When: Sunday, March 11 at 6 p.m. ET

Television: CBS

March Madness 2018 Schedule

First Four: Tuesday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 14

First Round: Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16

Second Round: Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18

Sweet 16: Thursday, March 22 and Friday, March 23

Elite Eight: Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25

Final Four: Saturday, March 31

National Championship: Monday, April 2

*All games are broadcasted on the CBS family of networks

No favorites?

Typically, a handful of teams enter the tournament as consensus top contenders thanks to a consistent resume of strong play and numerous high-profile wins. This season? Not so much.

While only the quartet of Duke, Michigan State, Villanova and Virginia have held the No. 1 spot in the AP poll, the four have also displayed some obvious vulnerability throughout the season.

At 25-6, Duke's talented young roster has endured some inconsistent play, including head-scratching losses to Boston College, NC State and St. John's while also dropping three out of four games in late January to early February.

The Spartans came out on top of a weak Big Ten this season, but the last five or six weeks have raised some questions about this team. Amid the FBI probe and an ESPN Outside the Lines report that head coach Tom Izzo and the athletic department improperly handled sexual assault allegations against the team's players, Michigan State has put forth some puzzling efforts.

It was down 13 at halftime against a mediocre Maryland team in late January before pulling out a win. The team then had a three-point triumph over a bad Iowa squad. After that the Spartans were down by as much as 27 against Northwestern before struggling twice with a sub-.500 Wisconsin team and losing handily to Michigan in the conference tournament.

Villanova sports convincing marquee wins over Gonzaga, Tennessee and Xavier (twice). Yet, the Wildcats dropped games to teams like Providence and St. John's. When it is on, Villanova looks fantastic, especially with Phil Booth now healthy, but it always seems like the Wildcats are susceptible to lapses. Add in that the program's volatility in March Madness, as ESPN's Chris Fallica pointed out, and Villanova could be hard to trust.

Virginia is stout as ever defensively, leading the nation by a wide margin in points allowed per game at 52.8. The Cavaliers also struggle to put the ball in the hoop, ranking 314th nationally with 67.3 points per night. The Cavaliers tend to get stymied in the NCAA tournament thanks to an inept offense, and there is little reason to believe this season will be different.

What about other top teams? Kansas has been a top-10 squad all season, but it has seen double-digit losses to the likes of Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Washington. The same could be said for Purdue, who have all of the pieces to play in the Final Four, but the Boilermakers have lost four times since the start of February and were most recently blown out of the gym by Michigan in the Big Ten tournament final.

The point is there are no teams to feel great about in the coming weeks. Of the teams mentioned, though, Duke looks like the most dangerous with the return of Marvin Bagley and the emergence of Alex O'Connell. No team is as talented as the Blue Devils, and Mike Krzyzewski in March is always a force to be reckoned with.

Sleepers?

The potential for a sleeper team to make a deep run this season looks to be as strong as ever due to so much fluctuation with the top-ranked teams, and two teams stand out.

The Michigan Wolverines are playing their best basketball at the end of the season, which ESPN's Jay Williams noted is a recurring theme under head coach John Beilein:

For the second year in a row, Michigan reeled off four straight wins to claim the Big Ten tournament title, and it is doing so with quick, smart passes and tough matchups for opponents.

The Wolverines rank second behind Virginia by committing just 9.1 turnovers per night, but they shoot the ball at an excellent clip. They have three players averaging at least 12 points per game while boasting five players shooting at least 37 percent from three.

The Wolverines are coming off convincing wins over Michigan State and Purdue, and they are shooting the lights out. No coach in America wants to see Michigan next week, and it could take advantage of a wide-open field in a big way.

What about UNC Greensboro?

That's right, the Spartans are one of the top mid-major squads this season and have the ability to destroy some brackets. The school made history by winning its conference tournament, and features a head coach on the rise, per CBS' Matt Norlander:

What makes this team so good? Smothering defense.

UNCG ranks sixth in the country in scoring defense, 20th in field-goal percentage defense and 33rd in turnovers forced. It plays at a high-tempo that frustrates opposing offenses and creates an ugly game. This helped the Spartans fare well against top conference opponents, as they downed NC State and played Virginia and Wake Forest tough.

Like the Cavaliers, UNCG does not light up scoreboards as it sits 187th in scoring. It is unlikely the Spartans could maintain their low-scoring approach throughout a deep run, but they could shut down one or two teams in March to reach the Sweet 16. Keep an eye on this team when the brackets are announced on Sunday.

Individual statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com. Team statistics are courtesy of NCAA.com unless otherwise noted.