The 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Men’s Basketball tournament or better known as March Madness is set to make a return in Indiana in upcoming March. The NCAA is planning to play the tournament with 68 teams. Games will take place at West Lafayette, Indianapolis and Bloomington. The finals will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Bankers Life FieldHouse, Hinkle FieldHouse, and Mackey Arena are some other arenas where games will take place.
Before any tournament game is played, the league has to go through Selection Sunday. Selection Sunday is where teams that are ranked one through 68 by the Selection Committee, with the best team in college basketball that sit at No.1 will have four teams eliminated in the first round. This then leaves the tournament with 64 teams that get divided into four regions with 16 teams each. Teams get ranked at one through 16 and will play each other in the upcoming round. Higher ranked teams will be able to play teams with the lowest ranking such as the No.1 seed will play the No.16 seed. After Selection Sunday, people can start to create their own brackets. The brackets are set to be locked in before the first round.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA hasn’t figured out if there will be any fans allowed. “The NCAA is closely monitoring the ongoing pandemic and will continue to work with local officials to determine the feasibility of having fans attend games at any of the venues, though a limited number of family members of each participating team’s student-athletes and coaches will be permitted to attend their team’s games,” said David Worlock, spokesman for the men’s NCAA tournament. If the league decides to have fans, then only a limited number of people can attend games. People will be required to wear a mask at all times and social distance. The NCAA has also mentioned that family may be the only audience allowed to attend the games.Players, coaches, and other staff members must have seven consecutive negative tests before the tournament. When they arrive in Indiana, everyone will be tested daily. “Our emphasis is on the safety and well-being of everyone participating in the event,” said Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Hainline. The NCAA will make sure to monitor everyone’s safety in a clean and efficient way.