2020 NCAA Tournament

[Greek Tragedy]

With only one round of games in the Sweet 16, could there potential be a lot more flights?

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

I think it's far easier to find suitable matchups within 500 miles when there's 64 teams compared to when there's just 16 spread out. Lots more flexibility without terrible budgeting issues going 1-2-2-0-1.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

With only one round of games in the Sweet 16, could there potential be a lot more flights?

You're going to see more flights if they're bringing eight teams to Ft. Wayne.  Typically they bracket with the top seeds able to drive somewhere the second weekend.  Obviously, upsets sometimes mess with that a little (like this past season), but I suspect they'll bracket pretty similarly - especially if it is a 2-1-2.

[Greek Tragedy]

We're obviously only talking about the first three rounds and the first two weekends. Either it's one round the 1st weekend and two rounds the second or vice versa. The Elite 8 is in Fort Wayne and that weekend can't be moved. The final is in Atlanta. Obviously there will be more flights to Fort Wayne because there's eight teams going, not four.

My point is that I'm guessing there will be more flights the 2nd weekend if we are only discussing 16 teams and eight hosts. If we only have one round the first weekend, there are enough teams where it shouldn't be too regionalized. In that case, the 2nd weekend pods would consist of eight teams hosting four-team pods.

[iwumichigander]

The NCAA seems to have made a decision to make this happen which also means they have the check book out to make it happen. 

As I recall, there are two venues very close to each other in Atlanta.  D1 will be played in the larger venue.  The other games will be played in the smaller venue between D1 games.  Despite the delay for the non D1 championships, it was a fan, team and Atlanta area success.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The NCAA seems to have made a decision to make this happen which also means they have the check book out to make it happen. 

As I recall, there are two venues very close to each other in Atlanta.  D1 will be played in the larger venue.  The other games will be played in the smaller venue between D1 games.  Despite the delay for the non D1 championships, it was a fan, team and Atlanta area success.

Division III and the NCAA put aside money for this very event a year ago. Yes. They are planning accordingly.

And yes, the DII and DIII games will be played at State Farm Arena - home of the NBA and NHL teams that call Atlanta home. Just like the Final Four plans in 2013. You can find all you need to know here: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/04/joint-championships-announced

We tend to stay on top of things pretty well and write about them.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Update for those paying attention: https://twitter.com/d3hoopsville/status/1214322665546289156?s=20

Now, I was told that the committee may not have been told it was confirmed. But I think we are good to go here.

And that will mean eight hosts - not four hosting two games.

[PauldingLightUP]

Saw what you confirmed on Twitter in the posted pre championship manual. The page 22 bracket makes it seem like left side of bracket games will be March 13 and right side March 14. Dave do you know if these are set in stone or could they change?

Seems like an easy way to determine who plays Friday and who plays Saturday if it's all pre-set.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Saw what you confirmed on Twitter in the posted pre championship manual. The page 22 bracket makes it seem like left side of bracket games will be March 13 and right side March 14. Dave do you know if these are set in stone or could they change?

Seems like an easy way to determine who plays Friday and who plays Saturday if it's all pre-set.

How do you mean "set in stone" or could change?

If you mean what side of the bracket, I wouldn't worry about which side of the bracket means anything right now. However, I suspect they will try and keep the sides of the brackets separate for 3/13 and 3/14. They certainly aren't going to want to disadvantage one team in the elite eight if their opponent had one more days rest - that's a no-brainer. I suspect they also won't want to disadvantage a team in the semifinal if their opponent also got one more day's rest ahead of the weekend. By keeping the brackets equal on either side, every team knows their opponents had the same time to recover - just as they do in D1.

But nothing is pre-set except the bracket. Still need to fill those teams in and a blank bracket doesn't mean anything. With the Elite 8 in Fort Wayne, the committee actually has a lot of flexibility on who plays who this year in later rounds. We could see four regions presented each side of the bracket come Elite 8 time.

[Inkblot]

This makes the bracketing dynamics very similar to the baseball tournament.

[Greek Tragedy]

So if I'm reading everything correctly...

1st round 3/6
2nd round 3/7

Probably one team host a 4-team pod?

3rd round 4 games on 3/13, 4 games on 3/14

Probably 8 hosts?

Elite 8 at Fort Wayne 3/20

Final 4 at Fort Wayne 3/21

Final in Atlanta 4/5

[PauldingLightUP]

That is correct Greek.

You can read it all in the published pre-championship manual.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/division-iii-mens-basketball

[PauldingLightUP]

Saw what you confirmed on Twitter in the posted pre championship manual. The page 22 bracket makes it seem like left side of bracket games will be March 13 and right side March 14. Dave do you know if these are set in stone or could they change?

Seems like an easy way to determine who plays Friday and who plays Saturday if it's all pre-set.

How do you mean "set in stone" or could change?

If you mean what side of the bracket, I wouldn't worry about which side of the bracket means anything right now. However, I suspect they will try and keep the sides of the brackets separate for 3/13 and 3/14. They certainly aren't going to want to disadvantage one team in the elite eight if their opponent had one more days rest - that's a no-brainer. I suspect they also won't want to disadvantage a team in the semifinal if their opponent also got one more day's rest ahead of the weekend. By keeping the brackets equal on either side, every team knows their opponents had the same time to recover - just as they do in D1.

But nothing is pre-set except the bracket. Still need to fill those teams in and a blank bracket doesn't mean anything. With the Elite 8 in Fort Wayne, the committee actually has a lot of flexibility on who plays who this year in later rounds. We could see four regions presented each side of the bracket come Elite 8 time.

Thanks for a thorough answer Dave. I won't read too much into a blank bracket at this point. Just hopefully they put the put the games on one side of the bracket on the same day, so there are no advantages heading to Fort Wayne.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Saw what you confirmed on Twitter in the posted pre championship manual. The page 22 bracket makes it seem like left side of bracket games will be March 13 and right side March 14. Dave do you know if these are set in stone or could they change?

Seems like an easy way to determine who plays Friday and who plays Saturday if it's all pre-set.

How do you mean "set in stone" or could change?

If you mean what side of the bracket, I wouldn't worry about which side of the bracket means anything right now. However, I suspect they will try and keep the sides of the brackets separate for 3/13 and 3/14. They certainly aren't going to want to disadvantage one team in the elite eight if their opponent had one more days rest - that's a no-brainer. I suspect they also won't want to disadvantage a team in the semifinal if their opponent also got one more day's rest ahead of the weekend. By keeping the brackets equal on either side, every team knows their opponents had the same time to recover - just as they do in D1.

But nothing is pre-set except the bracket. Still need to fill those teams in and a blank bracket doesn't mean anything. With the Elite 8 in Fort Wayne, the committee actually has a lot of flexibility on who plays who this year in later rounds. We could see four regions presented each side of the bracket come Elite 8 time.

Thanks for a thorough answer Dave. I won't read too much into a blank bracket at this point. Just hopefully they put the put the games on one side of the bracket on the same day, so there are no advantages heading to Fort Wayne.

That is what I am saying. The bracket makes it understood that is the plan. Sure, we have to see it to believe it, but the brackets in the past have given us hints about things like who will wear the home or away jerseys and who will play at what time in the final four. Thus, this is giving us the hint that the left side will all play on one day and the right side will play on the other.

We will confirm, of course, in the weeks ahead (sometimes we don't get a lot confirmed until late January as some of the i's and t's get taken care of).

That is correct Greek.

You can read it all in the published pre-championship manual.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/division-iii-mens-basketball

Just keep in mind, the pre-championship manual does go through edits throughout the season. For example, College of Staten Island is listed in there as a DIII institution when in reality they are not - that needs to be deleted and a new version put online. So, don't just assume what you read in that manual is perfectly accurate - speaking generically.

Per the part in bold below:

Saw what you confirmed on Twitter in the posted pre championship manual. The page 22 bracket makes it seem like left side of bracket games will be March 13 and right side March 14. Dave do you know if these are set in stone or could they change?

Seems like an easy way to determine who plays Friday and who plays Saturday if it's all pre-set.

Thus why my tweet is a bit more "confirmed" than what you read in the manual (I can't tell you how many times we have other information than the manual).

That said, as we have said on Hoopsville numerous times this season (you guys should really check out the show; it's worth it - especially the effort we put into it) and tweeted in some form probably half a dozen times ... the format is 2/1/2/0/1 for this season. The opening weekend is the same as every other opening weekend. The Sweet 16 will take place over two days and as I said above it will be eight hosts:

Update for those paying attention: https://twitter.com/d3hoopsville/status/1214322665546289156?s=20

Now, I was told that the committee may not have been told it was confirmed. But I think we are good to go here.

And that will mean eight hosts - not four hosting two games.

There is also the hope to stagger the times the opening weekend (and heck, maybe the Sweet 16, though I haven't spoken to anyone about that idea specifically). You will notice a hint to that in the manual as well. That said, it isn't set in stone. Last year, the committee tried to pull this off as well, but due to other things (like LATE Sunday conference championship games!!! These need to stop IMO!), the committee didn't have time to take this up. There is no guarantee they can pull it off this year, but they will be checking with hosts to see if it is possible (it is more complicated than just moving the time up on Friday and Saturday).

[Greek Tragedy]

That is correct Greek.

You can read it all in the published pre-championship manual.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/division-iii-mens-basketball

Thanks for the link.