NCAA Tournament 2020: Round-by-Round Dates and Schedule Info

From 68 teams to one, there are few sporting spectacles as thrilling and exciting as March Madness.

This year's NCAA Tournament is nearly here, and the field will be set Sunday evening. There are 32 teams that will receive automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments, while the remaining 36 spots will be decided on by the selection committee.

Five schools have already secured an automatic bid—Liberty (Atlantic Sun), Winthrop (Big South), Bradley (Missouri Valley), Utah State (Mountain West) and Belmont (Ohio Valley).

Here's everything you need to know with March Madness just around the corner.

2020 NCAA Tournament Schedule

March 17-18

First Four games in Dayton, Ohio.

March 19-20

First-round games at eight sites.

March 21-22

Second-round games at eight sites.

March 26-27

Sweet 16 games in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and New York City.

March 28-29

Elite Eight games in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and New York City.

April 4

Final Four in Atlanta.

April 6

National championship game in Atlanta.

Early NCAA Tournament Preview

A lot can change during conference championship week. Perhaps teams that would currently make the NCAA Tournament end up missing it after losing in the first or second round of its conference tourney. On the flip side, a team on the outs could move in with an impressive showing.

However, past NCAA Tournaments and this year's regular season can give us an idea of what to expect from March Madness this time around.

One of everybody's favorite aspects of this part of college basketball season is the emergence of Cinderella teams. There are frequently lower-ranked teams that surprise everybody by knocking off a powerhouse in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, then perhaps going on a deep run through March Madness.

But over the years, Cinderella teams lose before the tournament is over. Four No. 11 seeds, one No. 10 seed and one No. 9 seed have reached the Final Four, but none of those teams reached the national championship game.

The lowest seed to win a national title is No. 8, as Villanova went all the way in 1985. That was also the year that the tournament was expanded to 64 teams.

Over that span, March Madness has typically been dominated by No. 1 seeds, which have won 22 of 35 national championships.

So, it goes to show just how important seeding is for the NCAA Tournament. Or perhaps that the teams that are the best for most of the year truly are the best.

This season, there has been a lot of parity around college basketball as a lot of top-ranked teams have lost to unranked opponents. That's led to schools being unable to hold the top spot for long and a lot of movement in the AP Top 25 poll.

However, teams such as Kansas, Kentucky and Florida State have emerged as top contenders after each won its respective conference's regular-season championship. If those three schools win its conference tournaments, then it should likely be among the No. 1 seeds for March Madness.

With so much uncertainty surrounding much of the bracket, though, anything can happen in March. And that's what makes it a top-tier sporting event.