2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament


The 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The 80th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2018, and concluded with the championship game on April 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
During the first round, UMBC became the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the men's tournament by defeating Virginia 74–54. For the first time in tournament history, none of the four top seeded teams in a single region advanced to the Sweet 16. The tournament also featured the first regional final matchup of a 9-seed and an 11-seed.
Villanova, Michigan, Kansas, and Loyola-Chicago, the "Cinderella team" of the tournament, reached the Final Four. Villanova defeated Michigan in the championship game, 79–62.
Atlantic Sun Conference champion Lipscomb made its NCAA tournament debut.
The 2018 tournament was the first time since 1978 that none of the six Division I college basketball-playing schools based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area – American, Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, Howard, and Maryland – made the NCAA Tournament.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams entered the 2018 tournament. 32 automatic bids were awarded, one to each program that won their conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids were "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
Eight teams played in the [|First Four]. The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.
The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

2018 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2018 tournament:
First Four
First and Second Rounds
Regional Semifinals and Finals
National Semifinals and Championship
For the fourth time, the Alamodome and city of San Antonio are hosting the Final Four. This is the first tournament since 1994 in which no games were played in an NFL stadium, as the Alamodome is a college football stadium, although the Alamodome hosted some home games for the New Orleans Saints during their 2005 season. The 2018 tournament featured three new arenas in previous host cities. Philips Arena, the home of the Atlanta Hawks and replacement for the previously used Omni Coliseum, hosted the South regional games, and the new Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings, hosted games. And for the first time since 1994, the tournament returned to Wichita and Kansas where Intrust Bank Arena hosted first round games.
The state of North Carolina was threatened with a 2018-2022 championship venue boycott by the NCAA, due to the HB2 law passed in 2016. However, the law was repealed days before the NCAA met to make decisions on venues in April 2017. At that time, the NCAA board of governors "reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting". Therefore, Charlotte was eligible and served as a first weekend venue for the 2018 tournament.

Qualification and selection

Four teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2018 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements: Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Savannah State, and Southeast Missouri State. However, the NCAA granted the Savannah State Tigers a waiver which would have allowed the team to participate in the tournament, but the team failed to qualify.

Automatic qualifiers

The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.
ConferenceTeamRecordAppearanceLast bid
America EastUMBC24–102nd2008
AmericanCincinnati30–432nd2017
Atlantic 10Davidson21–1114th2015
ACCVirginia31–222nd2017
Atlantic SunLipscomb23–91st
Big 12Kansas27–747th2017
Big EastVillanova30–438th2017
Big SkyMontana26–711th2013
Big SouthRadford22–123rd2009
Big TenMichigan28–728th2017
Big WestCal State Fullerton20–113rd2008
CAACollege of Charleston26–75th1999
Conference USAMarshall24–106th1987
Horizon LeagueWright State25–93rd2007
Ivy LeaguePenn24–824th2007
MAACIona20–1313th2017
MACBuffalo25–83rd2016
MEACNorth Carolina Central19–153rd2017
Missouri ValleyLoyola–Chicago28–56th1985
Mountain WestSan Diego State22–1012th2015
NortheastLIU Brooklyn18–167th2013
Ohio ValleyMurray State26–516th2012
Pac-12Arizona27–735th2017
Patriot LeagueBucknell25–98th2017
SECKentucky24–1058th2017
SouthernUNC Greensboro27–73rd2001
SouthlandStephen F. Austin28–65th2016
SWACTexas Southern15–198th2017
Summit LeagueSouth Dakota State28–65th2017
Sun BeltGeorgia State24–104th2015
West CoastGonzaga30–421st2017
WACNew Mexico State28–524th2017

Tournament seeds

The tournament seeds were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process. The seeds and regions were determined as follows:
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1VirginiaACC31–2Auto1
2CincinnatiAmerican30–4Auto8
3TennesseeSEC25–8At-large10
4ArizonaPac-1227–7Auto16
5KentuckySEC24–10Auto17
6Miami ACC22–9At-large22
7NevadaMountain West27–7At-large27
8CreightonBig East21–11At-large30
9Kansas StateBig 1222–11At-large34
10TexasBig 1219–14At-large39
11Loyola–ChicagoMissouri Valley28–5Auto46
12DavidsonAtlantic 1021–11Auto48
13BuffaloMAC26–8Auto51
14Wright StateHorizon25–9Auto57
15Georgia StateSun Belt24–10Auto60
16UMBCAmerica East24–10Auto63

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1XavierBig East28–5At-large4
2North CarolinaACC25–10At-large5
3MichiganBig Ten28–7Auto11
4GonzagaWCC30–4Auto15
5Ohio StateBig Ten24–8At-large20
6HoustonAmerican26–7At-large23
7Texas A&MSEC20–12At-large25
8MissouriSEC20–12At-large32
9Florida StateACC20–11At-large38
10ProvidenceBig East21–13At-large35
11San Diego StateMountain West22–10Auto45
12South Dakota StateSummit League28–6Auto49
13UNC GreensboroSouthern27–7Auto52
14MontanaBig Sky26–7Auto56
15LipscombAtlantic Sun23–9Auto59
16*North Carolina CentralMEAC19–15Auto67
16*Texas SouthernSWAC15–19Auto68

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1VillanovaBig East30–4Auto2
2PurdueBig Ten28–6At-large7
3Texas TechBig 1224–9At-large12
4Wichita StateAmerican25–7At-large14
5West VirginiaBig 1224–10At-large18
6FloridaSEC20–12At-large21
7ArkansasSEC23–11At-large26
8Virginia TechACC21–11At-large31
9AlabamaSEC19–15At-large36
10ButlerBig East20–13At-large33
11*St. BonaventureAtlantic 1025–7At-large42
11*UCLAPac-1221–11At-large41
12Murray StateOhio Valley26–5Auto50
13MarshallConference USA24–10Auto54
14Stephen F. AustinSouthland28–6Auto58
15Cal State FullertonBig West20–11Auto61
16*LIU BrooklynNEC18–16Auto66
16*RadfordBig South22–12Auto65

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1KansasBig 1227–7Auto3
2DukeACC26–7At-large6
3Michigan StateBig Ten29–4At-large9
4AuburnSEC25–7At-large13
5ClemsonACC23–9At-large19
6TCUBig 1221–11At-large24
7Rhode IslandAtlantic 1025–7At-large28
8Seton HallBig East21–11At-large29
9NC StateACC21–11At-large37
10OklahomaBig 1218–13At-large40
11*Arizona StatePac-1220–11At-large43
11*SyracuseACC20–13At-large44
12New Mexico StateWAC28–5Auto47
13College of CharlestonCAA26–7Auto53
14BucknellPatriot25–9Auto55
15IonaMAAC20–13Auto62
16PennIvy League24–8Auto64

*See First Four

Regional brackets

All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time

* – Denotes overtime period

First Four – Dayton, Ohio">UD Arena">Dayton, Ohio

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia">Philips Arena">Atlanta, Georgia

South Regional Final

South Regional all tournament team

West Regional Final

West Regional all tournament team

East Regional Final

East Regional all tournament team

Midwest Regional Final

Midwest Regional all tournament team

During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region, and the champion of the second overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region.

[Alamodome] – San Antonio, Texas

National Semifinals

National Championship

Final Four all-tournament team

The Pac-12 lost all of its teams after the first day of the main tournament draw, marking the first time since the Big 12 began play in 1996 that one of the six major conferences—defined as the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and both versions of the Big East—failed to have a team advance to the tournament's round of 32.

Media coverage

Television

and Turner Sports had U.S. television rights to the Tournament under the NCAA March Madness brand. As part of a cycle beginning in 2016, TBS held the rights to the Final Four and to the championship game.
For the first time, TBS held the rights to the 2018 Selection Show, which expanded into a two-hour format, was presented in front of a studio audience, and promoted that the entire field of the tournament would be unveiled within the first ten minutes of the broadcast. However, this entailed the 68-team field being revealed in alphabetical order, and not by bracket matchups. The new format was criticized for lacking suspense, and the show also faced criticism for technical issues, as well as a segment containing product placement for Pizza Hut.

Television channels

;Final Four
;National Championship Game
had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.

First Four

Video

Live video of games was available for streaming through the following means:
Live audio of games was available for streaming through the following means: