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History:

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams in the United States. Colloquially known as March Madness (as the tournament takes place mainly during the month of March) or the Big Dance (as opposed to the now smaller and less prestigious NIT), the tournament takes place over 3 weeks at sites across the United States, and the national semifinals (the Final Four) have become one of the nation's most prominent sporting events. Since its 1939 inception it has built a legacy that includes dynasty teams and dramatic underdog stories. In recent years, friendly wagering on the event has become something of a national pastime, spawning countless "office pools" that attract expert fans and novices alike. All games of the tournament are broadcast on the CBS broadcast television network in the United States, except for the Opening Round game (or "play-in game" as it has been called), which aired on TNN in 2001, and ESPN since 2002. The tournament bracket is made up of conference tournament champions from each Division I conference, which receive automatic bids. The remaining slots are at-large berths, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. The selection process and tournament seedings are based on several factors, including team rankings, win-loss records and RPI data. Two low-seeded teams (typically teams with poor records that qualified by winning their conference tournament championships) play the "opening round" game to determine which will advance into the first round of the tournament, with the winner advancing to play the top seed in one of the four regions. The opening Round game was added in 2001 and has been played in University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio each subsequent year. The opening round is considered part of the tournament and is often referred to as a "play-in" game.

Schedule:
March 17, 2009 to April 6, 2009
Opening Round: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
UD Arena
Dayton, Ohio
Host: University of Dayton

First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009
Greensboro Coliseum
Greensboro, North Carolina
Host: Atlantic Coast Conference

Sprint Center
Kansas City, Missouri
Host: Big 12 Conference

Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Host: Saint Joseph's University

Rose Garden
Portland, Oregon
Host: University of Oregon

First and Second Rounds: Friday and Sunday, March 20 and 22, 2009
Taco Bell Arena
Boise, Idaho
Host: Boise State University

UD Arena
Dayton, Ohio
Host: University of Dayton

American Airlines Arena
Miami, Florida
Host: Florida International University

HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Host: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Regionals: Thursday and Saturday, March 26 and 28, 2009
East Regional
TD Banknorth Garden
Boston, Massachusetts
Host: Boston College

West Regional
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, Arizona
Host: Arizona State University

Regionals: Friday and Sunday, March 27 and 29, 2009
Midwest Regional
Lucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, Indiana
Host: Butler University/Horizon League

South Regional
FedExForum
Memphis, Tennessee
Host: University of Memphis

Final Four: Saturday and Monday, April 4 and 6, 2009
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Host: University of Detroit-Mercy

March Madness:
March Madness is a popular term for season-ending basketball tournaments played in March (Brent Musburger is generally regarded as the individual who first used that phrase in conjunction with the college tournament, using it during CBS Sports' coverage of the tourney back in 1982 - see below), especially those conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and various state high school associations. The phrase was not associated with the college tournament in 1939, when an Illinois official wrote "A little March Madness may contribute to sanity." March Madness is also a registered trademark, held jointly by the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association. The trademark has sparked a pair of high-profile courtroom battles in recent years. March Madness refers to the frenzy these tournaments ignite among sports fans and, at least at the college level, sports gamblers. As it applies to college basketball, the term originally referred to the conference basketball tournaments, which occur in March just before the NCAA tournament begins, but in recent years has been used to refer to the NCAA tournament itself (the first weekend of which involves some 49 games, and which actually runs into early April). The term is now used in reference to both the men's and women's tournaments. The Big Dance also refers exclusively to the NCAA Tournaments to distinguish them from the conference tournaments and the NIT. As a tournament ritual, the winning team cuts down the net at the end of the regional championship game (and the national championship game). Each player cuts a single strand off of the net for themselves, commemorating their victory, with the head coach cutting the last strand and claiming the net itself. Furthermore, the regional champs (starting in 2006) receive a bronze plated NCAA Regional Championship trophy (previously given to only the Final Four teams that did not make the championship game), and the National Champions also receive a gold plated NCAA National Championship trophy. The loser of the championship game receives a silver plated National Runner-Up trophy for second place. The National Association of Basketball Coaches also presents a more elaborate marble/crystal trophy to the top-ranked team in its end-of-season coaches' poll, which is invariably the same as the NCAA championship game winner. This award, currently sponsored as the "Siemens Trophy", is not affiliated with the NCAA and is presented at a later press conference.

Official Site:
www.ncaa.com