Tournament Procedure[]
A total of 68 teams have been entered into the 2022 tournament. A total of 32 automatic bids were awarded to each program that won a conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids were issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.
Eight teams (the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four. The winners of these games advanced to the main bracket of the tournament.
The top four teams outside of the ranking (commonly known as the "first four out" in pre-tournament analyses) acted as standbys in the event a school is forced to withdraw before the start of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. Any recipient of an automatic bid would designate a replacement from within their own conference if they need to withdraw. Otherwise, the replacement teams were as follows, in order:
| School | Conference |
|---|---|
| Washington State | Pac-12 |
| Marquette | Big East |
| Wisconsin | Big Ten |
| Iowa State | Big 12 |
Once the tournament starts, any team that is forced to withdraw will not be replaced; the bracket will not be reseeded, and the affected team's opponent will automatically advance to the next round.
2023 NCAA Tournament Schedule and Venues[]
The sites selected to host each round of the 2023 tournament were:
First Four
- March 14 and 15
- University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and Second Rounds (Subregionals)
- March 16 and 18
- East Region
- Amway Center, Orlando, Florida (Host: University of Central Florida)
- South Region
- Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
- Midwest Region
- Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa (Host: Drake University)
- West Region
- Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California (Host: California State University, Sacramento)
- East Region
- March 17 and 19
- East Region
- MVP Arena, Albany, New York (Host: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
- South Region
- Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
- Midwest Region
- Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)
- West Region
- Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado (Host: Mountain West Conference)
- East Region
Regional Semi-Finals and Finals
- March 23 and 25
- East Regional
- Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York (Host: Big East Conference, St. John's University)
- West Regional
- T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada (Host: University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
- East Regional
- March 24 and 26
- South Regional
- KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)
- Midwest Regional
- T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 12 Conference)
- South Regional
National Semifinals and Championship
- April 1 and 3
- NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas (Host: University of Houston, Rice University, Houston Baptist University, Texas Southern University)
Qualification and Selection of Teams[]
Automatic Qualifiers[]
| Conference | Team | Appearance | Last Bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| America East | Vermont | 9th | 2022 |
| American | Houston | 24th | 2022 |
| Atlantic 10 | Dayton | 19th | 2017 |
| ACC | North Carolina | 53rd | 2022 |
| ASUN | Liberty | 6th | 2021 |
| Big 12 | Baylor | 15th | 2022 |
| Big East | Villanova | 42nd | 2022 |
| Big Sky | Montana State | 5th | 2022 |
| Big South | Longwood | 2nd | 2022 |
| Big Ten | Michigan | 32nd | 2022 |
| Big West | UC Irvine | 3rd | 2019 |
| CAA | Towson | 3rd | 1991 |
| C-USA | UAB | 17th | 2022 |
| Horizon | Oakland | 4th | 2011 |
| Ivy League | Yale | 7th | 2022 |
| MAAC | Iona | 16th | 2021 |
| MAC | Toledo | 5th | 1980 |
| MEAC | Norfolk State | 4th | 2022 |
| Missouri Valley | Missouri State | 7th | 1999 |
| Mountain West | San Diego State | 15th | 2022 |
| NEC | Sacred Heart | 1st | Never |
| Ohio Valley | SIU Edwardsville | 1st | Never |
| Pac-12 | UCLA | 52nd | 2022 |
| Patriot | Colgate | 6th | 2022 |
| SEC | Kentucky | 18th | 2022 |
| Southern | Chattanooga | 13th | 2022 |
| Southland | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 3rd | 2022 |
| SWAC | Texas Southern | 11th | 2022 |
| Summit League | South Dakota State | 7th | 2022 |
| Sun Belt | Louisiana | 11th | 2014 |
| WCC | Gonzaga | 25th | 2022 |
| WAC | New Mexico State | 27th | 2022 |
Tournament Seeds[]
The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released.
South Regional - KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky[]
| Seed | School | Conference | Berth Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky | SEC | Automatic |
| 2 | Kansas | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 3 | Duke | ACC | At-Large |
| 4 | Purdue | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 5 | TCU | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 6 | Texas A&M | SEC | At-Large |
| 7 | Xavier | Big East | At-Large |
| 8 | Iowa | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 9 | Colorado State | Mountain West | At-Large |
| 10 | Wyoming | Mountain West | At-Large |
| 11* | Colorado | Pac-12 | At-Large |
| Saint Mary's | West Coast | At-Large | |
| 12 | Toledo | MAC | Automatic |
| 13 | Towson | Colonial | Automatic |
| 14 | Liberty | ASUN | Automatic |
| 15 | Colgate | Patriot | Automatic |
| 16* | SIU Edwardsville | Ohio Valley | Automatic |
| Texas Southern | SWAC | Automatic |
Midwest Regional - Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio[]
| Seed | School | Conference | Berth Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | American | Automatic |
| 2 | Arkansas | SEC | At-Large |
| 3 | Arizona | Pac-12 | At-Large |
| 4 | Illinois | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 5 | Auburn | SEC | At-Large |
| 6 | Indiana | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 7 | Texas Tech | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 9 | Oregon | Pac-12 | At-Large |
| 10 | UConn | Big East | At-Large |
| 11* | Notre Dame | ACC | At-Large |
| Florida | SEC | At-Large | |
| 12 | Chattanooga | Southern | Automatic |
| 13 | South Dakota State | Summit | Automatic |
| 14 | Montana State | Big Sky | Automatic |
| 15 | Louisiana | Sun Belt | Automatic |
| 16* | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | Southland | Automatic |
| Sacred Heart | Northeast | Automatic |
East Regional - MVP Arena, Albany, New York[]
| Seed | School | Conference | Berth Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor | Big 12 | Automatic |
| 2 | North Carolina | ACC | Automatic |
| 3 | Villanova | Big East | Automatic |
| 4 | Tennessee | SEC | At-Large |
| 5 | Michigan State | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 6 | Dayton | Atlantic 10 | Automatic |
| 7 | Ohio State | Big Ten | At-Large |
| 8 | Virginia | ACC | At-Large |
| 9 | Memphis | American | At-Large |
| 10 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 11 | Florida State | ACC | At-Large |
| 12 | UAB | C-USA | Automatic |
| 13 | UC Irvine | Big West | Automatic |
| 14 | Iona | MAAC | Automatic |
| 15 | Vermont | America East | Automatic |
| 16 | Longwood | Big South | Automatic |
West Regional - Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado[]
| Seed | School | Conference | Berth Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | Pac-12 | Automatic |
| 2 | Gonzaga | West Coast | Automatic |
| 3 | Michigan | Big Ten | Automatic |
| 4 | Creighton | Big East | At-Large |
| 5 | Alabama | SEC | At-Large |
| 6 | Texas | Big 12 | At-Large |
| 7 | USC | Pac-12 | At-Large |
| 8 | San Diego State | Mountain West | Automatic |
| 9 | Saint Louis | Atlantic 10 | At-Large |
| 10 | Providence | Big East | At-Large |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | ACC | At-Large |
| 12 | Missouri State | Missouri Valley | Automatic |
| 13 | New Mexico State | WAC | Automatic |
| 14 | Yale | Ivy | Automatic |
| 15 | Oakland | Horizon | Automatic |
| 16 | Norfolk State | MEAC | Automatic |
*See First Four
Media Coverage[]
Television[]
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament. As part of a cycle that began in 2016, CBS televised the 2023 Final Four and the National Championship Game.
Television channels[]
- Selection Show – CBS
- First Four – TruTV
- First and Second Rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV
- Regional Semifinals and Finals – CBS and TBS
- National Semifinals (Final Four) and Championship – CBS
Radio[]
Westwood One will have exclusive coverage of the entire tournament.