What is March Madness?

March Madness is the NCAA college basketball tournament. Teams play single-elimination games until one champion is left. Lose once, and your season is over.

One loss, and you are out

The tournament crowns the national champion.

It is played every spring, mostly in March.

In 2027, 76 teams enter each tournament.

There is a men's tournament and a women's tournament.

The field is split into four regions.

Each team gets a seed, from 1 to 16.

Winners move on. Losers go home.

After the Opening Round, 64 teams remain.

Then come the First Round and the Second Round.

The last rounds have names everyone uses.

The Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, and the Final Four.

Two teams reach the title game. One wins it all.

New to the chart itself? Read what a bracket is.

Where the name came from

The phrase started in Illinois high school basketball.

An official named Henry V. Porter used it in 1939.

The first NCAA tournament was also played in 1939.

CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger used the phrase on air in 1982.

He meant the NCAA tournament, and the name stuck.

Now March Madness is the name everyone knows.

Why everyone fills out a bracket

Before the games start, fans predict every winner.

That prediction sheet is the bracket.

Offices, schools, and families run pools on it.

You do not need to follow basketball to play.

Plenty of brackets are picked by mascot or by colors.

That is the whole fun of March.

March Madness 2027, in short

The field is set on Selection Sunday, March 14, 2027.

The Opening Round is played March 16 and 17.

The First Round starts Thursday, March 18.

The men's Final Four is Saturday, April 3, in Detroit.

The men's title game is Monday, April 5.

See every key date for 2027.