Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
The 2022 NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament starts today with a pair of “First Four” games in Dayton, Ohio.
This year’s March Madness bracket is chock full of storylines, not least of which is legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski coaching in his final postseason with the Blue Devils.
Krzyzewski, who is retiring at the end of the season, guided Duke to the NCAA Tournament for the 36th time this season and has coached the Blue Devils to five national championships and 12 Final Fours. Were Duke to win three tournament games this year, it would give Krzyzewski his 100th career tournament victory.
Duke, a No. 2 seed, is among the favorites to have a strong showing, but has stumbled lately having been blown out by rival North Carolina in the regular-season finale and Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Saturday.
The quartet of Arizona, Baylor, Gonzaga, and Kansas represent the top seeds in each of the tournament’s four regions. Baylor, the 2021 champion, enters March Madness with a record of 26-6. Gonzaga, the team Baylor beat for the title last year, received the No. 1 overall seed for the second consecutive year.
This year’s tournament also marks a unique circumstance in which a conference tournament champion did not make the field.
Bellarmine, which won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, is ineligible for the national tournament having only recently moved to Division I from Division II. Jacksonville State, the ASUN regular-season champ replaced Bellarmine.
This year also marks the first appearance for Bryant. The Bulldogs won the Northeast Conference tournament to earn a berth.
March Madness’ official tipoff is 6:40 Eastern tonight when a pair of 16 seeds, Texas Southern of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Texas A&M Corpus Christi of the Southland face off for the right to meet Kansas in the Round of 64. Wyoming and Indiana will follow, with the winner of that game facing St. Mary’s Thursday.
The NCAA has created a detailed list of all game times, locations, and viewing options here.