A major upset occurred on the first full day of the tournament, when 15-seed Saint Peter's upset 2-seed Kentucky, and subsequently became the third 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16 (the second consecutive year in which this occurred and third in the last nine years) and the first ever 15-seed to advance to the Elite Eight.[2] This was the tenth time a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed overall, but it was the sixth time since 2012 this occurred. The defending champions Baylor were defeated by North Carolina in the second round, ensuring the defending champion and at least one top seed was eliminated before the regional semifinals for the fifth consecutive tournament, and at least one double-digit seed (this year, four: 15-seed Saint Peter's, 11-seeds Michigan and Iowa State, and 10-seed Miami) made the Sweet 16 for the 14th straight tournament.
A total of 68 teams have been entered into the 2022 tournament. A total of 32 automatic bids were awarded to each program that won a conference tournament (with one exception, as the tournament winner in the ASUN Conference was ineligible, due to its transition from Division II). The remaining 36 bids were issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.
Eight teams (the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four. The winners of these games advanced to the main bracket of the tournament.
The top four teams outside of the ranking (commonly known as the "first four out" in pre-tournament analyses) acted as standbys in the event a school is forced to withdraw before the start of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. Any recipient of an automatic bid would designate a replacement from within their own conference if they need to withdraw. Otherwise, the replacement teams were as follows, in order:
Once the tournament starts, any team that is forced to withdraw will not be replaced; the bracket will not be reseeded, and the affected team's opponent will automatically advance to the next round.
The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released.[8] This was the fifth consecutive tournament in which at least one of the four #1 seeds repeated their #1 seeding from the year before.
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 2022 tournament saw a total of 13 upsets; 6 of them were in the first round, 5 of them were in the second round, one in the Sweet Sixteen, none in the Elite Eight, and one in the Final Four.[9]
Indiana cheerleader Cassidy Cerny signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal after teaming with fellow cheerleader Nathan Paris to rescue a ball stuck on the backboard during the Hoosiers' first-round game against Saint Mary's.[10] The moment went viral, and Arkansas cheerleaders used the same approach when another ball was stuck on the backboard during the Razorbacks' West Regional Final against Duke.[11]
The FF, R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the first four, round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
CBS Sports and Turner Sports have US television rights to the tournament.[12][13] As part of a cycle that began in 2016, TBS televised the 2022 Final Four and the national championship game. The Final Four and title game broadcasts were the last CBS Sports assignments for longtime director Bob Fishman, who retired from CBS Sports after 47 years (and 50 with CBS) and has been a director on 39 of the 40 Final Fours CBS/Turner have carried.[14][15] The 2022 Tournament was Mark Emmert final season as the NCAA President with Charlie Baker succeeding him starting in 2023.
Candace Parker (Atlanta and New Orleans) – First Four, first round, second round, regional semi-finals and Final Four
Kenny Smith (New York City and New Orleans) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
Gene Steratore (New York City and New Orleans) (Rules Analyst) – First Four, first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game
Jim Nantz/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson – first and second rounds at Greenville, South Carolina; West Regional at San Francisco, California; Final Four and National Championship at New Orleans, Louisiana
Live video of games is available for streaming through the following means:[16]
NCAA March Madness Live (website and app, no CBS games on digital media players; access to games on WarnerMedia channels (TBS, TNT, truTV) required TV Everywhere authentication through provider)
Paramount+ (only CBS games, service subscription required)
^Jacksonville State, the ASUN regular-season champion, was awarded the ASUN's NCAA tournament bid because Bellarmine, which won the conference tournament, is ineligible due to a transition from Division II.[7]
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