NCAA announces March Madness preliminary round dates

[Zagdawg]

"INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will tip off with a quartet of First Four games Thursday, March 18, setting a stage for a March Madness unlike any other in the 82 years of the event."

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball...ry-round-dates

[Zags11]

Yea good looks. Friday/sat is 1st round which is weird.

[RenoZag]

As previously announced, the entire tournament will be in Indiana, with 55 of the 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington will each host two First Four games and will join Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Lucas Oil Stadium as hosts of first-round games Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20. The four venues in Indianapolis will serve as sites for the remainder of the championship, including second-round games Sunday and Monday, March 21 and 22. While specific game times will be announced later, viewers can expect games in typical broadcast windows, with first- and second-round games on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

The Sweet 16 will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28, with each of the eight games getting its own television window. In the past, regional semifinal games took place in prime time, with a pair of games overlapping each other in the early evening and late evening sessions. In 2021, all Sweet 16 games will be played at separate times.

Elite Eight games will take place in prime time Monday and Tuesday, March 29 and 30, and the Final Four is scheduled for Saturday and Monday, April 3 and 5. All those games will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.

[RenoZag]

Guess I'll have to take a vacation day or call in sick for those Monday 2nd round games. . .oh, wait. . .

[Zagdawg]

NCAA tourney schedule:

- First Four: Thursday, March 18
- First Round: March 19-20
- Second Round: March 21-22
- Sweet 16: March 27-28
- Elite Eight: March 29-30
- Final Four: April 3 and 5

[Kiddwell]

Do winning teams that progress to the following weekend stay put the entire tournament? Winners there, in other words, for weeks? Or do they fly home during the week then back again for the weekend? (Also, is the NCAA picking up the hotel + meals tab?)




:]

[Mr Vulture]

Looks good to me. I think the move to the first four games on Thursday makes it easier to prepare and travel the teams for those games. Otherwise, like the schedule overall. Will be interesting to see if there are going to be quarantine guidelines for teams once they arrive to the tournament or how that works.

[Lewey]

Guess I'll have to take a vacation day or call in sick for those Monday 2nd round games. . .oh, wait. . .

If things go as hoped / planned, Zags would be undefeated going in to the tourney and overall #1 seed. With the First Four on Thursday, I would think they'd schedule the First Four winners games on Saturday rather than forcing them to play the next day. That would put the Zags playing on Saturday and then Monday. And of course continuing on until we win the championship. And everyone here lives happily ever after. That's according to my plan anyway.

[ezcure17]

I just heard fraschilla say on the radio that the winning teams will be staying in Indy for the week, no traveling at all prob best and safest way to avoid catching anything

[TexasZagFan]

Guess I'll have to take a vacation day or call in sick for those Monday 2nd round games. . .oh, wait. . .

Too bad it isn't scheduled for Texas...by then, it's likely that fan attendance would be allowed up to 50 per cent. I'd be happy to treat you to any variety of adult beverages while you're visiting.

[CDC84]

FYI - Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis is the home of IUPUI basketball. It was recently renovated and is located at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis. It seats 6,800.

If the Zags are the number one overall seed, I would imagine they will be able to choose which arena they wish to play at. But that rule may be changed due to the coronavirus situation.

Nonetheless, which arena would you, as a Zag fan, would like to play at for games one and two, as well as games three and four? My sense is that the team would prefer Banker's Life Fieldhouse. They are familiar with the venue and it is state-of-the-art with all the latest medical equipment and such. Hinkle Fieldhouse just brings back too many bad memories for me. Bankers could almost feel like a homecourt.

I know some might think that it is utterly pointless to be using a football stadium for basketball games given the current health crisis, but as someone pointed out to me, a dome allows for more social distancing and more family members to be able to attend.

[CarolinaZagFan]

I just don’t understand why they’re using a 70,000 seat stadium when they’re not going to allow any fans. Gonna be tough on shooters playing in a massive, empty cave. I’ll definitely be taking the under in every game there.

[CDC84]

They have said that family members will be allowed to attend any of the games, and I would imagine this will be expanded at the Final Four at the 70K plus football stadium. It's all about social distancing, and the more seats you have, the more distancing you can create.

[RenoZag]

STORY LINK: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/bask...yuzz05o34s9egu

Coaches from several major conferences have begun to openly discuss whether it is prudent to stage league championship tournaments given the NCAA requirement, spelled out in this 2021 Men's Basketball Championship Planning guide, that all 34 members of the official traveling party for each team "must produce seven consecutive daily negative COVID-19 tests" starting March 6. At least one of those seven tests must be of the PCR variety.

If a member of the party tests positive during that sequence, then the person will be under the supervision of the public health officials in that locale and unable to travel to Indianapolis until isolation or quarantine is complete.