NCAA Bracket 2019: March Madness Tournament Schedule and Coverage

The NCAA tournament, one of the most exciting and unpredictable sporting events of the year, begins on Tuesday. But before that, the March Madness bracket will be revealed on Sunday evening.

After the 68-team field is set, there will be nearly four weeks of exciting college basketball action, filled with upsets, buzzer-beaters and thrilling finishes from the best teams in the country.

Last year, Villanova, a No. 1 seed, won the national championship to end an NCAA tournament that marked the first time a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 seed (UMBC over Virginia) and a No. 11 seed (Loyola-Chicago) making a run to the Final Four.

Selection Sunday Information

Date: Sunday, March 17

Time: 6 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

NCAA Tournament Schedule

First Four: March 19-20

First round: March 21-22

Second round: March 23-24

Sweet Sixteen: March 28-29

Elite Eight: March 30-31

Final Four: April 6

National Championship: April 8

Games will be broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. They can also be streamed live at NCAA.com.

NCAA Tournament Preview

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Over the past few seasons, it's been top teams that have won the national championship. Three of the past four NCAA tournaments have been won by No. 1 seeds (Duke in 2015, North Carolina in 2017 and Villanova in 2018), with the other being won by a No. 2 seed (Villanova in 2016).

That could be a good indication for the top teams heading into this year's March Madness.

Like past seasons, the ACC is filled with top teams again this season, including three teams that are in contention for No. 1 seeds—Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. Depending on how those teams fare during this week's ACC tournament, it's possible that all three could even be No. 1 seeds.

There may be a lower chance of that happening, but it is likely that there will be two ACC teams that are No. 1 seeds. Virginia and North Carolina should be able to secure those spots by reaching the ACC tournament championship game.

The SEC is another conference with a trio of top teams this season. LSU, Kentucky and Tennessee are the top three seeds in this week's SEC tournament, respectively, and all three are in contention for Nos. 1 and 2 seeds for the NCAA tournament.

Despite losing in the championship game of the West Coast Conference tournament, Gonzaga is also in the conversation for a No. 1 seed, and the Bulldogs will likely secure one because of their full resume.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are also bubble teams that will anxiously be awaiting the bracket reveal on Sunday. Some of them still have a chance to improve their resumes this week during conference tournaments (Florida, NC State, Texas, among others), while others (Belmont, UNC Greensboro) have already played in its conference tourney and are just waiting for others to unfold and for the NCAA tournament selection committee to make its decisions.