POST-SEASON CENTRAL
NCAA Bracket
NIT Bracket
ORLANDO, Fla. – The NCAA Division I men's basketball committee selected Cincinnati, UConn, Temple and Tulsa to the 2016 Men's Basketball Championship. The first four games will take place March 15 and 16 with the first and second rounds beginning March 17 and 19. UConn earned an automatic bid after winning the American Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday. Houston was selected to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
UConn, the American tournament champion, is the No. 9 seed in the South Region. The Huskies will face No. 8 seed Colorado in Des Moines, Iowa, at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET on TNT. UConn is seeking its fifth NCAA Championship title.
Cincinnati, the No. 9 seed in the West Region, opens tournament play in Spokane, Wash. against No. 8 Saint Joseph’s on Friday. The game will air live on TruTV. The Bearcats are making their sixth straight NCAA Championship appearance.
Tenth seeded Temple, who earned their first NCAA Championship appearance since 2013, will face No. 7 Iowa in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Friday (3 p.m. ET, TruTV). The Owls are the 2016 American Athletic Conference regular season champions.
Tulsa was chosen for the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in school history. The Hurricane will travel to Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday to face Michigan. The winner will play sixth-seeded Notre Dame in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Friday.
Houston, which makes its first postseason appearance since 2010, will face Georgia Tech on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in the first round of the NIT. Wednesday’s game marks the Cougars’ 10
th appearance in the NIT.
The 2016 Final Four will be held April 2 and 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston, while the NIT Championship will be played on March 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
NCAA First Four - Wednesday, March 16
No. 11 Tulsa vs. No. 11 Michigan, Dayton, Ohio (9:10 p.m. ET, TruTV)
NCAA First Round - Thursday, March 17
No. 9 UConn vs. No. 8 Colorado - South Region, Des Moines, Iowa (1:30 p.m. ET, TNT)
NCAA First Round - Friday, March 18
No. 10 Temple vs. No. 7 Iowa – South Region, Brooklyn, N.Y. (3:10 p.m. ET, TruTV)
No. 9 Cincinnati vs. No. 8 Saint Joseph’s – West Region, Spokane, Wash. (9:57 p.m. ET, TruTV)
NIT First Round - Wednesday, March 16
Houston vs. Georgia Tech – Atlanta, Ga. (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)