During the first round, UMBCbecame the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the men's tournament by defeating Virginia 74–54.[1][2] For the first time in tournament history, all four top-seeded teams in a single region (the South) failed to make the Sweet 16. The tournament also featured the first regional final matchup of a 9-seed (Kansas State) and an 11-seed (Loyola–Chicago).
Villanova (returning after their 2016 national championship), Michigan (making their first appearance since their runner-up finish in 2013), Kansas (returning after their runner-up finish in 2012), and Loyola–Chicago (the "Cinderella team" of the tournament, and the fourth 11-seed to reach the Final Four, after VCU in 2011), all reached the Final Four. Villanova defeated Michigan in the championship game, 79–62.
A total of 68 teams entered the 2018 tournament. 32 automatic bids were awarded, one to each program that won their conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids were "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
Eight teams (the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four (the successor to what had been popularly known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.[4]
The state of North Carolina was threatened with a 2018-2022 championship venue boycott by the NCAA, due to the HB2 law passed in 2016.[7] However, the law was repealed (but with provisos) days before the NCAA met to make decisions on venues in April 2017. At that time, the NCAA board of governors "reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting".[8] Therefore, Charlotte was eligible and served as a first weekend venue for the 2018 tournament.
Four teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2018 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements: Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Savannah State, and Southeast Missouri State.[9] However, the NCAA granted the Savannah State Tigers a waiver which would have allowed the team to participate in the tournament, but the team failed to qualify.
Automatic qualifiers
The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.[10]
During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Virginia's South Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Xavier's West Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Villanova's East Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (Kansas' Midwest Region).
# — Kansas vacated 15 wins, including all NCAA tournament wins from the 2017–18 season after an investigation into the eligibility of Silvio De Sousa.[17] Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Kansas removing the wins from its own record.
Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated." The 2018 tournament saw a total of 11 upsets; 5 of them were in the first round, 5 of them were in the second round, and one of them was in the Sweet Sixteen.
The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
The "Record" column includes wins in the First Four for the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big South, and SWAC conferences and two losses in the First Four for the Pac-12 conference.
The MEAC and NEC conferences each had one representative, eliminated in the First Four with a record of 0–1.
The Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big West, CAA, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Summit, Sun Belt and WAC conferences each had one representative, eliminated in the first round with a record of 0–1.
The Pac-12 lost all of its teams after the first day of the main tournament draw, marking the first time since the Big 12 began play in 1996 that one of the six major conferences—defined as the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, and bothversions of the Big East—failed to have a team advance to the tournament's round of 32.[19]
Media coverage
Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports had U.S. television rights to the Tournament under the NCAA March Madness brand. As part of a cycle beginning in 2016, TBS held the rights to the Final Four and to the championship game.[20]
For the first time, TBS held the rights to the Selection Show, which expanded into a two-hour format, was presented in front of a studio audience, and promoted that the entire field of the tournament would be unveiled within the first ten minutes of the broadcast.[21] However, this entailed the 68-team field (beginning with automatic qualifiers, followed by at-large teams) being revealed in alphabetical order, and not by bracket matchups (which was done later in the show). The new format was criticized for lacking suspense, and the show also faced criticism for technical issues, as well as a segment containing product placement for Pizza Hut.[22][23][24]
First and second rounds – CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV
Regional semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) – CBS and TBS
National semifinals (Final Four) and championship – TBS
Studio hosts
Greg Gumbel (New York City and San Antonio) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
Ernie Johnson Jr. (New York City, Atlanta, and San Antonio) – first round, second round, regional semi-finals, Final Four and national championship game
Casey Stern (Atlanta) – First Four, first round and second round
Adam Zucker (New York) – first round and second round (game breaks)
Studio analysts
Charles Barkley (New York City and San Antonio) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
Seth Davis (Atlanta and San Antonio) – First Four, first round, second round, regional semi-finals, Final Four and national championship game
Brendan Haywood (Atlanta and San Antonio) – First Four, first round, second round, regional semi-finals and Final Four
Clark Kellogg (New York City and San Antonio) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
Jim Nantz/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson – first and second rounds at Charlotte, North Carolina; Midwest Regional at Omaha, Nebraska; Final Four and National Championship at San Antonio, Texas
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce – First Four at Dayton, Ohio (Wednesday); first and second rounds at Detroit, Michigan; East Regional at Boston, Massachusetts
Gary Cohen and P. J. Carlesimo – East Regional at Boston, Massachusetts
Kevin Kugler and Donny Marshall – Midwest Regional at Omaha, Nebraska
Brandon Gaudin and John Thompson – South Regional at Atlanta, Georgia
Tom McCarthy and Jim Jackson – West Regional at Los Angeles, California
Final Four
Kevin Kugler, John Thompson, Clark Kellogg, and Jim Gray – San Antonio, Texas
Internet
Video
Live video of games was available for streaming through the following means:[25]
NCAA March Madness Live (website and app, no CBS games on digital media players; access to games on Turner channels requires TV Everywhere authentication through provider; 3 hour preview for Turner games is provided before authentication is required)
CBS All Access (only CBS games, service subscription required)
