2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2016–17 season. The 79th edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2017, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game was the first to be contested in the Western United States since the 1995 tournament when Seattle was the host of the Final Four.

In the Final Four, North Carolina beat Oregon in Oregon's first Final Four appearance since the inaugural tournament in 1939, while Gonzaga defeated South Carolina in both teams' first ever Final Four appearance. This was the first NCAA tournament since 1979 to see two first-time Final Four participants. North Carolina then defeated Gonzaga 71–65 to win their 6th national championship, and 3rd under Roy Williams.

After being the only longstanding Power Five team to never make the tournament, Northwestern from the Big Ten finally made the tournament for the first time in program history. North Dakota (Big Sky), UC Davis (Big West), Northern Kentucky (Horizon League), and Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley) also all made their tournament debuts.

A total of 68 teams entered the 2017 tournament, with all 32 conference tournament winners receiving an automatic bid. The Ivy League, which previously granted its automatic tournament bid to its regular season champion, hosted a postseason tournament to determine a conference champion for the first time. In previous years, had the Ivy League had two schools tied for first in the standings, a one-game playoff (or series as was the case in the 2002 season) determined the automatic bid. On March 10, 2016, the Ivy League's council of presidents approved a four-team tournament where the top four teams in the regular season would play on March 11 and 12 at Philadelphia's Palestra.

The remaining 36 teams received "at-large" bids which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. On January 24, 2016, the NCAA announced that the Selection Committee would, for the first time, unveil in-season rankings of the top four teams in each division on February 11, 2017.

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 known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.

The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

The committee's selections resulted in two historic milestones. The Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference made their first-ever NCAA Tournament in school history, officially becoming the last "power conference" school to make the tournament. (This fact is ironic considering that Northwestern hosted the first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1939). The Wildcats' First round opponent, the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference, also made history: with a record of 19–15, they set the mark for the most ever losses for an at-large team in tournament history.

Four conference champions also made their first NCAA appearances: North Dakota (Big Sky Conference), UC Davis (Big West Conference), Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference), and first-year Division I school Northern Kentucky (Horizon League).

The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2017 tournament

First Four

• March 14 and 15
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and Second Rounds

• March 16 and 18
  • Amway Center, Orlando, Florida (Hosts: University of Central Florida, Stetson University)
  • Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University)
  • KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Canisius College, Niagara University, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
  • Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City (Host: University of Utah)
• March 17 and 19
  • Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: IUPUI, Horizon League)
  • BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: University of Tulsa)
  • Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina, (Hosts: Furman University, Southern Conference)
  • Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California (Host: California State University, Sacramento)

Regional semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 23 and 25
  • Midwest Regional, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 12 Conference)
  • West Regional, SAP Center, San Jose, California (Host: Pac-12 Conference)
• March 24 and 26
  • East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Hosts: St. John's University, Big East Conference)
  • South Regional, FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 1 and 3
  • University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Eight teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2017 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division. Hawaii had previously been banned from entering the tournament as a penalty for infractions, but the NCAA later reversed its ban.

The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.

Notes

*See First Four

All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

The First Four games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

• Sindarius Thornwell (Sr, South Carolina) – East Regional most outstanding player

• PJ Dozier (So, South Carolina)

• KeVaughn Allen (So, Florida)

• Chris Chiozza (Jr, Florida)

• Nigel Hayes (Sr, Wisconsin)

• Johnathan Williams (Jr, Gonzaga) – West Regional most outstanding player

• Trevon Bluiett (Jr, Xavier)

• J. P. Macura (Jr, Xavier)

• Jordan Mathews (Sr, Gonzaga)

• Nigel Williams-Goss (Jr, Gonzaga)

• Jordan Bell (Jr., Oregon) – Midwest Regional most outstanding player

• Frank Mason III (Sr, Kansas)

• Dillon Brooks (Jr, Oregon)

• Tyler Dorsey (So., Oregon)

• Josh Jackson (Fr, Kansas)

• Luke Maye (So., North Carolina) – South Regional most outstanding player

• De'Aaron Fox (Fr, Kentucky)

• Isaac Humphries (So., Kentucky)

• Joel Berry II (Jr, North Carolina)

• Justin Jackson (Jr, North Carolina)

University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of the 2017 Final Four

During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Villanova's East Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Gonzaga's West Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Kansas's Midwest Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (North Carolina's South Region).

• Joel Berry II (Jr, North Carolina) – Final Four Most Outstanding Player
• Nigel Williams-Goss (Jr, Gonzaga)
• Justin Jackson (Jr, North Carolina)
• Kennedy Meeks (Sr, North Carolina)
• Zach Collins (Fr, Gonzaga)

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 2017 tournament saw a total of 9 upsets, with four in the first round, four in the second round, and one 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 Big 12, Big West, NEC, and Pac-12 conferences and losses in the First Four for the ACC and Big East conferences.
• The MEAC and Southland each had one representative, both eliminated in the First Four with a record of 0–1.
• The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mountain West, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Summit, Sun Belt, SWAC, and WAC conferences each had one representative, eliminated in the first round with a record of 0–1.

CBS Sports and Turner Sports held joint U.S. television broadcast rights to the Tournament under the NCAA March Madness brand. As part of a cycle beginning in 2016, CBS held rights to the Final Four and championship game. As CBS did not want its audience to be diffused across multiple outlets, there were no localized "Team Stream" telecasts of the Final Four or championship games on Turner channels as in previous years.

Following criticism of the two-hour format of the 2016 edition, the Selection Sunday broadcast was shortened to 90 minutes. CBS Sports executive Harold Bryant promised that the unveiling of the bracket would be conducted in an "efficient" manner, and leave more time to discuss and preview the tournament.

• First Four – TruTV

• 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 – CBS

• Greg Gumbel (New York City and Glendale) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Ernie Johnson Jr. (New York City, Atlanta, and Glendale) – 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 and Glendale) – First round and second round (in-game updates) and Final Four

• Charles Barkley (New York City and Glendale) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Seth Davis (Atlanta and Glendale) – First Four, first round, second round, regional semi-finals, Final Four and national championship game

• Brendan Haywood (Atlanta and Glendale) – First Four, first round, second round, regional semi-finals, and Final Four

• Clark Kellogg (New York City and Glendale) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Jimmy Patsos (Atlanta) – second round

• Bruce Pearl (Atlanta) – first round

• Jon Rothstein (Glendale) - Final Four

• Kenny Smith (New York City and Glendale) – first round, second round, regionals, Final Four and national championship game

• Steve Smith (Glendale) – Final Four

• Wally Szczerbiak (New York City, Atlanta, and Glendale) – First Four, second round, and Final Four

• Buzz Williams (Atlanta) – regional semi-finals

• Jay Wright (Glendale) – Final Four

• Jim Nantz/Bill Raftery/Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson – First and Second Rounds at Indianapolis, Indiana; South Regional at Memphis, Tennessee; Final Four and National Championship at Glendale, Arizona

• Brian Anderson/Chris Webber or Clark Kellogg/Lewis Johnson – First Four at Dayton, Ohio (Tuesday); First and Second Rounds at Greenville, South Carolina; West Regional at San Jose, California

  • Kellogg called the First Four (Tuesday) with Webber doing the First, Second and regionals.

• Verne Lundquist/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce – First and Second Rounds at Buffalo, New York; East Regional at New York City, New York

• Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Dana Jacobson – First and Second Rounds at Tulsa, Oklahoma; Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri

• Ian Eagle/Steve Lavin/Evan Washburn – First and Second Rounds at Orlando, Florida

• Spero Dedes/Steve Smith/Len Elmore/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude – First Four at Dayton, Ohio (Wednesday); First and Second Rounds at Sacramento, California

• Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Jamie Erdahl – First and Second Rounds at Salt Lake City, Utah

• Carter Blackburn/Mike Gminski/Debbie Antonelli/Lisa Byington – First and Second Rounds at Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. For the first time in the history of the tournament, broadcasts of the Final Four and championship game were available in Spanish.

Live video of games was available for streaming through the following means:

• 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)
• CBS All Access (only CBS games, service subscription required)
• CBS Sports website and app (only CBS games)
• Bleacher Report website and Team Stream app (only Turner games, access requires subscription)
• Watch TBS website and app (only TBS games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch TNT website and app (only TNT games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
• Watch truTV website and app (only truTV games, requires TV Everywhere authentication)
• Websites and apps of cable, satellite, and OTT providers of CBS & Turner (access requires subscription)

Live audio of games was available for streaming through the following means:

• NCAA March Madness Live (website and app)

• Westwood One Sports website

• TuneIn (website and app)

• Websites and apps of Westwood One Sports affiliates

• 2017 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament

• 2017 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament

• 2017 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

• 2017 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament

• 2017 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

• 2017 National Invitation Tournament

• 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament

• 2017 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament

• 2017 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament

• 2017 College Basketball Invitational

• 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

• Official website