After a grueling college basketball season that started back in early November, we’re just a few weeks away from one of the best parts of the year: March Madness. 

The month of March is an absolute goldmine for basketball fans, as it features almost non-stop college basketball action, complete with buzzer-beaters, bracket busters and unpredictable upsets.

In honor of the 2020 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament being right around the corner, we’ve decided to look forward at some of the notable dates for this year’s iteration of March Madness.

Notable March Madness Dates

Selection Sunday

Sunday, March 15

Selection Sunday is the perfect way to kick things off for the upcoming tournament as college basketball teams and fans become glued to their television screens for the release of the official tournament bracket. The full field of the tournament is revealed over an incredibly dramatic live broadcast, which releases the names of the 68 teams that have made the tournament as well as who each team will face in the first round. Once the bracket has been released, one of the nation’s favorite past times can begin – filling out a March Madness bracket that will surely be busted by the third day of the tournament.

First Round Play

Thursday, March 19 & Friday, March 20 

The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are arguably the best part of the tournament, as you have 32 college basketball games being played over the course of two days. This is pretty much heaven on earth for college basketball fans as you can sit down on your couch and watch high-stakes basketball action for almost two days straight. The first two days of the tournament fall on a Thursday and Friday, so you might want to make plans to take one of these days off from work – or you can always duck into a sports bar for a long lunch. SHOP TICKETS

National Semi-Finals

Saturday, April 4 

Saturday, April 4 is a day that you should circle on your calendar as both semifinals are set to be played that day at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Last year’s Final Four gave us one of the most dramatic endings of a basketball game in recent history, as a controversial foul call with one second remaining gave Virginia three free throws as they trailed by two points to Auburn. Virginia guard Kyle Guy made all three free throws, powering Virginia to a one-point victory. Let’s hope this year’s Final Four is just as good! SHOP TICKETS

NCAA Men’s Championship Game

Monday, April 6 

The 67th and final game of March Madness is the Championship game, where one team will be crowned champion and one team will be left wondering what could have been. This year’s defending champion is the University of Virginia, who needed overtime to defeat Texas Tech by the score of 85-77 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis last April. The Cavaliers will be looking to be the first team to win back-to-back titles since the University of Florida won back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007 under coach Billy Donovan. SHOP TICKETS

NCAA Men’s Basketball Schedule 2020

(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)