March Madness 2020: Bracket Release Dates for Men, Women Tournaments

All fantasy sports are fun. But there's nothing quite like filling out a bracket during March Madness.

Anybody can win a bracket pool. Sure, college basketball knowledge helps. But sometimes, the NCAA tournament is so unpredictable that even experts and analysts can lose to people who are filling out their brackets by just guessing or going crazy with upsets.

By this time next week, bracket fever will have taken over the sports world. And not just for the men's tournament, as the women's tournament will also be finalizing its field soon. The men's bracket will be announced Sunday night, followed by the women's bracket announcement Monday night.

Here's everything you need to know for the selection show for both tournaments, followed by some early top contenders to potentially win both.

NCAA Tournament Selection Shows

Men's

Date: Sunday, March 15

Time: 6 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

Women's

Date: Monday, March 16

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Early Top Contenders

Men's

Heading into conference championship week, Kansas currently appears to be the best team in the nation.

The Jayhawks, who are ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, have reeled off 16 consecutive wins, with their biggest victory coming at Baylor on Feb. 22. The Bears were No. 1 at the time, and Kansas moved up to the top spot after that huge win. With the Jayhawks likely to fare well in the Big 12 tournament, they're a probable No. 1 seed that should be watched as March Madness gets underway.

There are also several schools from the Big Ten that should be considered top contenders for the NCAA tournament. The conference has a lot of talent this season, and those teams have had tough schedules while having to play each other frequently.

Michigan State, Maryland and Wisconsin shared the Big Ten regular-season title, while teams such as Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa will also likely be dangerous opponents in March. If there's one conference that may be most likely to produce multiple Final Four teams, it could be the Big Ten.

Although Virginia hasn't been as dominant as last season, when it won the first national title in program history, it also shouldn't be counted out this March. The Cavaliers ended the regular season with eight straight wins, which included beating Duke and Louisville over their last three games.

No team has won back-to-back national championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007, but perhaps that will change this year.

Women's

While men's basketball had a lot of changes at the top of the rankings, the best women's teams mostly stayed the same. And that's because three top programs have two or fewer losses this season.

South Carolina is leading the way at 32-1, as it hasn't lost since falling at home against Indiana on Nov. 28. The Gamecocks have been impressive while taking down a lot of top teams, as 13 of their victories came against opponents that were ranked at the time.

Not only that, but South Carolina also owns wins over Baylor and Maryland, which are ranked Nos. 3 and 4 in the country, respectively.

It's not a surprise that the Gamecocks have reached at least the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in six straight seasons, which included winning a national title in 2017.

If any team can take down South Carolina, it could be No. 2 Oregon, which has yet to play the Gamecocks this season. The Ducks haven't lost since falling at Arizona State on Jan. 10, and they own 12 wins over teams that were ranked at the time.

Not only have South Carolina and Oregon rarely lost, but both won its conference tournament championship. So, expect both to be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament and to make deep runs through the bracket.