2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule
March Madness 2009 Kicks off with a Play-in Game on March 17
Feb 24, 2009
The 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins on Selection Sunday when the brackets are released with 65 teams qualifying. Many bubble teams, those teams that are unsure if they will qualify for the NCAA basketball team, learn their fates. More successful teams figure out if they received a seed that was equal to their performance.
Many factors play a role in a team’s selection including their record, Ratings Index Percentage (RPI), strength of schedule, and wins against top 25 and top 50 teams and losses against opponents who are deemed inferior. It is a very complex process that is studied by thousands of humans and computers. A selection committee of writers and analysts meet to decide which teams are worthy of making the tournament. There is an East, Midwest, South, and West portion of the bracket. Better seeds are supposed to be placed closer to the region that they inhabit.
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule 2009:
Selection Sunday 2009
Sunday March 15, 6 p.m. ET (CBS)
March Madness 2009 commences when the NCAA Men’s tournament bracket finally hits the press. Most major sports sites such as ESPN.com, Cbssports.com, and CNNSI.com hold bracket contests for prizes. Most years, one person fills out a bracket perfectly. This is a difficult task in that many upsets occur on a given day.
NCAA Tournament Play-In Game 2009
Tuesday March 17, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Dayton, Ohio
The 64th and 65th rated teams, as deemed by the committee, face off in the first official game of the tournament. The winner plays the top-rated number 1 seed.
Thursday and Saturday NCAA Tournament Opening Round Games 2009
Thursday March 19 and Saturday March 21
Greensboro, North Carolina
Kansas City, Missouri
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Oregon
The first full-day of NCAA tournament games begins at 12:15 P.M. EST on CBS. Many people take a long lunch or the whole day off; some consider it to be the most called-off day of work of the year. The winners of these games play again on Saturday.
Friday and Sunday NCAA Tournament Opening Round Games 2009
Friday March 20 and Sunday March 22
Boise, Idaho
Dayton, Ohio
Miami, Florida
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The tournament continues on Friday with the winners playing again on Sunday.
NCAA Men’s Tournament Regional Finals 2009
Thursday March 26 and Saturday March 28
East Regional
Boston, Massachusetts
West Regional
Phoenix, Arizona
Sixteen teams remain for a chance to qualify for the elite eight.
NCAA Tournament Regional Finals 2009
Friday March 27 and Sunday March 29
Midwest Regional
Indianapolis, Indiana
South Regional
Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA Final Four Schedule 2009
Saturday April 4 and Monday, April 6
Detroit, MI
Ford Field
The Final Four is held on Saturday with the 2009 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament concluding on Monday night.
Men's NCAA Conference Tournament Schedule
NCAA Men's Tournament Bracket Tips
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