What is the Final Four?

The Final Four means four teams are left. Each one won its region in March Madness. They play two semifinal games, then one title game.

Four regions, four winners

The tournament splits into four regions.

NCAA.com names them South, East, West, and Midwest.

Each region plays down to one winner.

That winner is called the regional champion.

Reaching this round takes four straight wins.

An Opening Round team needs five straight wins.

Each region ends with its Elite Eight game.

New to the chart? Read what a bracket is.

The last weekend of the tournament

The four teams meet in one city.

They play in one arena, on one weekend.

Two semifinal games are played on Saturday.

Then they play the title game on Monday.

NCAA.com notes both rounds share one arena.

One team leaves as the national champion.

For most fans, this weekend is the peak.

Where the name came from

The name just counts the teams left.

Four teams remain, so it is the Final Four.

NCAA.com traces the phrase to 1975.

Writer Ed Chay used it in a Cleveland newspaper.

He wrote about Marquette in the 1974 tournament.

The NCAA took up the phrase in 1978.

It later made Final Four a registered trademark.

No other United States tournament may use it.

Teams nobody saw coming

Big names reach this round most years.

Villanova, 1985. An 8 seed that won the title.

It is still the lowest seed to win.

George Mason, 2006. An 11 seed nobody picked.

VCU, 2011. It started in the First Four.

NCAA.com calls it the only team to do that.

No First Four team had gone this far.

Loyola Chicago, 2018. Another 11 seed made it.

Read more in what a Cinderella team is.

The Final Four in 2027

The men's semifinals are Saturday, April 3, 2027.

They are played at Ford Field in Detroit.

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

It is played in the same arena.

The women's semifinals are Friday, April 2.

They are played in Columbus, Ohio.

The women's title game is Sunday, April 4.

See every key date for 2027.