Now that all of the automatic bids have been determined (congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes, who defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions to claim the Big Ten crown), the NCAA Tournament selection committee is working to finalize their March Madness brackets right now.
Here's what we know about the field:
- There are 31 automatic bids into the 68-team field.
- This is the first season that the "first four" will exist.
- Four automatic qualifying teams will compete for two 16-seed spots, while the last four bubble teams to make the tournament will compete for the two open 12-seed spots.
- It appears that the Big East will be very well represented in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, where experts predict that 11 (yes, eleven) teams will participate in March Madness.
- This is the first time in a very long time that a team from the Ivy League (Harvard) is being given consideration as an at-large bid. Harvard was 23-6 this season and defeated Boston College and Colorado.
- March Madness is finally here!
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show begins at 3:00 P.M. Pacific time on CBS. Make sure you tune in, and check back here for analysis of Arizona's seed, their "road to the Final Four", and a handy bracket you can use for your office pools.