The 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule has been set for the college basketball championship. The 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule will begin on March 15, 2011 with the play-in games set to take place at the University of Dayton Arena. These will be the games that decide which schools advance to play the top seeded schools in the first official round of the tournament.
The 2011 NCAA Final Four will be played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, and is being co-hosted by Rice University and the University of Houston. The 2011 Final Four will be played on April 2nd and 4th, bringing a great conclusion to what will be the longest NCAA Tournament that college basketball has seen. With more than 100,000 seats available at Reliant Stadium, it will be a great opportunity for quite a few college basketball fans to take in the games.
Television coverage for the tournament will be split between CBS and the Turner group of networks after a new deal was reached for the television rights in 2011. The reason for this is that the most teams ever involved in the NCAA Tournament will take part in 2011, with 68 teams now being invited to the big dance. There will be four play-in games that take place on March 15, deciding which four teams advance to play the No. 1 seeds in each bracket.
Having an increase in the number of teams could make this tournament even more interesting than in the past, with those games all taking place at the University of Dayton on March 15. The official first round games will then begin on March 17, with four days of games spread around the country. That first weekend will be the rounds of 64 and then 32. The following Thursday through Sunday will play out the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight; all leading to the 2011 Final Four beginning on April 2.
Everyone will be watching these play-in games with a lot of interest in 2011, because it could determine if the NCAA decides to once again increase the number of teams involved in the tournament. It seems like a good idea to include more schools, but at what point will it become too ridiculous and leave the regular season of college basketball looking a bit meaningless? 37 teams will receive at-large bids this year, meaning that conference titles are even less important for the major conferences than ever before.
Below is the full 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule as well as the list of venues where each round will be taking place around the country. That will all lead to the final three games taking place down in Texas to decide which school wins the 2011 college basketball national championship for division one teams.
Full 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule
Play-In Games
March 15
University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OH
First and Second Round Games
March 17, 18, 19 & 20
BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: University of Tulsa)
McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Host: Mountain West Conference)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University)
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)
Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Big Ten Conference)
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight Games
March 24, 25, 26 & 27
Southwest Regional: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
West Regional: Honda Center, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
Southeast Regional: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Host: Tulane University)
East Regional: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey (Host: Seton Hall University)
2011 Final Four Games
April 2 & 4
Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
Sources:
Full_NCAA_2011_Schedule
2011_NCAA_Tournament_Venues
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