First Four
In 2001, the champion of the recently-formed Mountain West Conference began to receive an automatic bid to the men's tournament.The First Four games consist of:[3] In November 2021, as part of the implementation on recommendations to address inequalities between the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments, the NCAA announced that the women's tournament would expand to 68 teams in 2022, adopting the same format as the men's event.initial reactions to the concept were skeptical, the first game, played on March 13, 2001, was a success,[citation needed] and few complaints were lodged.Prior to the proposal of expansion, Syracuse University coach Jim Boeheim had advocated for an expansion of the tournament from 64 to 76 teams, which would include four opening round games for all of the 16th and also added opening round games for the 14th and 15th seeded teams.[4] The expansion of play in games faced logistical challenges and lukewarm acceptance from then-NCAA President Myles Brand and the corporate and media partners of the NCAA.The opening round games have also been criticized as a handicap for teams among the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).[9] In 2015, the Dayton Flyers were selected to the First Four, resulting in the team playing on its home court; it was the first time any team played on their home court in the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 28 years (earlier instances occurred prior to the current restriction against doing so).With the Second Round being played on Saturday and Sunday, this scheduling allows for six consecutive days of competition during the first week of the tournament.With the exception of 2019, at least one of the men's First Four winners has advanced past the First Round of the tournament every year since the format's inception.Round is noted as: Bold font indicates a win in the main tournament bracket by a team that advanced from the First Four.For these 10 tournaments, a single play-in game was contested, between the two lowest-ranked teams that had received automatic bids.† Played at Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) ‡ Played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana (Host: Indiana University Bloomington) * Denotes a team that went on to win the national championship ** Denotes a team that went on to win the national championship that was later vacated by the NCAA Beginning in 2022, First Four games are also contested in the women's tournament.
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