NCAA Tournament facts and figures

By Scripps Howard News Service

The 65-team bracket for the NCAA Tournament will be announced live at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern time) March 14 on CBS. Tipoff times for all first- and second-round games will be announced March 15. Tipoff times for regional semifinals and finals will be announced March 22.

_ Play-in game

March 16, Dayton, Ohio, 7 p.m. EST.

_ First-and second-round games

March 18, 20 (Thursday, Saturday): Denver; Buffalo, N.Y.; Raleigh, N.C.; Seattle.

March 19, 21 (Friday, Sunday): Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee; Orlando, Fla.

_ Regional semifinals and finals

March 25, 27 (Thursday, Saturday): East Rutherford, N.J., and Phoenix.

March 26, 28 (Friday, Sunday): Atlanta and St. Louis.

_ Final Four

Alamodome, San Antonio. National semifinals are April 3, with the first game starting at 6:07 p.m. EST.

Unlike past years, the NCAA will match regional champions in the semifinals according to the ranking of the four No. 1 seeds (1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3). That ranking will be announced on Selection Sunday. In past years, the semifinal matchups were predetermined (East vs. West, Midwest vs. South, for example). Starting this year, the NCAA will not identify the regionals by geography but by the host city. In other words, the regional in Atlanta will not be the South Regional, it will be known as the Atlanta Regional. The championship game April 5 will tip off at 9:18 p.m. MST.

_ Television

With the exception of the play-in game, which will be on ESPN, the tournament will be televised by CBS, with games in the first three rounds shown on a regional basis and the entire country seeing all four regional finals, the national semifinals and the national championship. ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS 4 will televise conference tournament games beginning Saturday through March 14.