March Madness is one of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the year. Some even say it’s more exciting than the Super Bowl. In a lot of ways, this is true, as having a field of 64 teams means tons of fans around the nation get to cheer on their home teams, and many others spend the tournament waiting for stunning upsets and Cinderella stories.
The tournament has changed over the years, and the First Round is now just the play-in games, giving teams that were on the bubble a chance to get into the Big Dance. For these teams, the tourney starts early, on March 15 and 16. Selection Sunday is on the 13th. The play-in games will take place at the UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
For most fans, though, the real action starts on Thursday, March 17. This is the beginning of the Second Round, when the field of 64 is set. Half of the teams play on the 17th, while the other half play on the 18th.
These two days are often the best of the whole tournament, as there is non-stop action, a ton of overlap between games, and more than a few upsets. The field is cut from 64 to 32 in two days, then the remaining 32 are trimmed down to the Sweet 16 on March 19 and March 20.
Due to the sheer number of teams playing, there are multiple venues for this four-day basketball frenzy. For 2016, the sites will be as follows:
Dunkin Donuts Center, in Providence, RI.
Wells Fargo Arena, in Des Moines, IA.
PNC Arena, in Raleigh, NC.
Pepsi Center, in Denver, CO.
Barclays Center, in New York City, NY.
Scottrade Center, in St. Louis, MO.
Chesapeake Energy Arena, in Oklahoma City, OK.
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, in Spokane, WA.
No matter which venue you’re thinking of hitting up, this is one of the biggest sporting events of the year, so be sure you have your Men’s NCAA Tournament tickets in hand.
