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Selection Sunday 2019 Time: Viewing Info for NCAA Tournament Bracket Unveiling
March 17, 2019
One of the most anticipated moments on the sports calendar comes to us Sunday night, as the bracket for the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament is revealed.
The field of 68 comprises 36 at-large teams and 32 conference tournament champions, and eight of those outfits will head to Dayton, Ohio for the First Four.
The last four teams into the field and a quartet of No. 16 seeds will open the tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at UD Arena in Ohio.
The rest of the programs involved in the competition open play Thursday and Friday at eight first-round sites across the United States.
Selection Sunday Viewing Info
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Live Stream: NCAA.com
Automatic Bids Earned Through Saturday
America East: Vermont
ACC: Duke
Atlantic Sun: Liberty
Big 12: Iowa State
Big East: Villanova
Big Sky: Montana
Big South: Gardner-Webb
Big West: UC Irvine
Colonial: Northeastern
C-USA: Old Dominion
Horizon: Northern Kentucky
MAAC: Iona
MAC: Buffalo
MEAC: North Carolina Central
Missouri Valley: Bradley
Mountain West: Utah State
NEC: Fairleigh Dickinson
Ohio Valley: Murray State
Pac-12: Oregon
Patriot: Colgate
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Abilene Christian
SWAC: Prairie View A&M
Summit League: North Dakota State
WAC: New Mexico State
West Coast: Saint Mary's
Could ACC Land 3 No. 1 Seeds?
One of the top storylines that will be discussed at length in the buildup to the Selection Show is which programs should land the four No. 1 seeds.
The ACC is expected to have at least two programs on the top seed line, but it could have a third depending on how the selection committee views North Carolina.
ACC regular-season champion Virginia and ACC tournament winner Duke appear to be locked in to two of the top seeds alongside Gonzaga, one of the best teams in the nation over the course of the season.
According to ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi and Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, North Carolina has the edge over Kentucky for the fourth No. 1 seed.
However, the Tar Heels aren't the unanimous pick in the eyes of bracket analysts, as Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com has Kentucky ranked over Roy Williams' team.
North Carolina's resume is boosted by a pair of victories over Duke and a nonconference win over Gonzaga, but it dropped a result to Kentucky.
Kentucky also boasts a strong resume, with victories over North Carolina, Kansas, Auburn and Mississippi State, but it went 1-3 against the other top teams in the SEC, including a loss to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals.
The recent losses to Tennessee could cost the Wildcats and leave them as a No. 2 seed alongside the Volunteers, Michigan State and Michigan.
Which Bubble Teams Will Get In?
A handful of mid-major teams are left on the bubble along with the normal collection of power-conference programs we're used to seeing in the fight for the final at-large berths.
Going into Sunday, the debate between rewarding the top mid-majors versus including more teams from power conferences circles around Belmont, who fell in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament final to Murray State.
The Bruins are the second team out in Lunardi's last projection and the third team out according to Palm.
Although their prospects aren't promising, the Bruins did benefit from the lack of bid thieves winning Saturday, as only Oregon in the Pac-12 stole an automatic bid.
NC State, TCU and St. John's are the programs from power conferences lingering on the bubble alongside Belmont.
TCU and St. John's are safely in the tournament according to Lunardi, Palm and SB Nation's Chris Dobbertean, but the same can't be said about NC State.
The Wolfpack, who have been in this situation more times than they have wanted to in the past, are the first team out, per Lunardi and Miller, and Palm's fourth team out.
With that being said, NC State will likely have the most nervous day of all the bubble hopefuls given the mixed opinions on its resume.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.