The opening round of the NCAA Tournament kicks off on Tuesday ahead of Thursday and Friday’s college basketball bonanza. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Washington Huskies both play on CBS in the late games, set to tip-off around 7 p.m. here on the West Coast. Ahead of those games, however, there’s an incredible amount of college basketball to satisfy all your NCAA Tournament needs.
Check out the bracket, schedule and announcers below and get to work planning a college basketball holiday.
Bracket: On Sunday, during the traditional Selection Sunday show, the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed for the world to see. A full printable bracket is also available for all your prediction needs. Check it out and get to work filling it out.
Schedule: The opening round games take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio on TruTV. After that, it’s wall-to-wall college basketball on Thursday and Friday. The full schedule can be found here.
TV Information: March Madness is going multi-platform this year as TruTV, TNT and TBS join CBS with the broadcasting duties. All four networks will handle the opening round games, ensuring every single game will be broadcast. In addition to the network television, CBS’ March Madness on Demand should also be up and running. The full schedule can be found at the same link as above.
Announcers: The announcers play a huge role in March Madness, adding to the environment of the games. What’s better than seeing a star player hit a big shot while Gus Johnson screams “COLD BLOODED” in the background. For Washington fans, nothing is better. Need to know which games Gus is calling? Where will CBS send its “A” team? Here’s a few of the important locations.
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore are in Dayton for the opening round games and will call the Wednesday games. After that, they’ll head to Cleveland for the Friday/Sunday games. Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery are in Denver and will call the Gonzaga game. Washington gets the Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, CBS’ “best.”
To check out the entire NCAA Tournament field, visit our Selection Sunday StoryStream or check out SB Nation’s 2011 NCAA Tournament printable bracket. For more on the Huskies and Zags, visit SB Nation’s UW Dawg Pound and The Slipper Still Fits. For previews of each team’s first round games, check out our Gonzaga preview and UW preview.