2021 March Madness: Complete schedule, dates and stuff

[Thomas]

The 2021 NCAA DI men's basketball tournament will be unlike any March Madness that has come before. All games will be played in Indiana, with most in Indianapolis.

Here's the schedule:

• Selection Sunday — 6 p.m. ET March 14 on CBS
• First Four — 4 p.m. start on Thursday, March 18
• First round — 12 p.m. start on Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20
• Second round — 12 p.m. start on Sunday, March 21, and Monday, March 22
• Sweet 16 — 2 p.m. start on Saturday, March 27, and 1 p.m. start on Sunday, March 28
• Elite Eight — 7 p.m. start on Monday, March 29, and 6 p.m. start on Tuesday, March 30
• Final Four — 5 p.m. start on Saturday, April 3
• NCAA championship game — 9 p.m. Monday, April 5

Get a printable 2021 NCAA bracket .PDF here

The NCAA announced in early January the entire 2021 men’s basketball championship will be played in Indiana, with the majority of the tournament’s 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. Selection Sunday is scheduled for March 14, with the Final Four scheduled for April 3 and 5. The NCAA also announced exact preliminary-round dates in January.

Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Only one game at a time will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Teams will practice at the Indiana Convention Center with multiple courts set up inside the venue. All teams will be housed on dedicated hotel floors, with physically distanced meeting and dining rooms, as well as secure transportation to and from competition venues.

1 IN A BILLION: We'll follow perfect NCAA brackets in the 2021 tournament

CBS Sports and Turner Sports will continue to show all 67 games of the tournament across TBS, CBS, TNT, truTV and their digital platforms, including March Madness Live.

Here is the schedule with more detail, as it stands now. All dates are tentative because of changing conditions brought about by COVID-19.
2021 March Madness: Complete schedule, dates

Selection Sunday	Sunday, March 14
First Four	Thursday, March 18	Mackey Arena, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
First Round	Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20	Mackey Arena, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Lucas Oil Stadium
Second Round	Sunday, March 21 and Monday, March 22	Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Lucas Oil Stadium
Sweet 16	Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28	Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse
Elite Eight	Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30	Lucas Oil Stadium
Final Four	Saturday, April 3 and Monday, April 5	Lucas Oil Stadium

2021 March Madness: TV schedule

Selection Show	6 p.m. Sunday, March 14	CBS
First Four	4 p.m. coverage start on Thursday, March 18	truTV, TBS
First Round	12 p.m. coverage start on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20	TBS, CBS, TNT, truTV
Second Round	12 p.m. starts on Sunday, March 21 and Monday, March 22	TBS, CBS, TNT, truTV
Sweet 16	2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 27 and 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 28	CBS (afternoon games), TBS (primetime games)
Elite Eight	7 p.m. start on Monday, March 29 and 6 p.m. coverage start on Tuesday, March 30	CBS (Monday) and TBS (Tuesday)
Final Four	Games start 5 p.m. Saturday, April 3	CBS
National Championship	9 p.m. Monday, April 5	CBS

2021 NCAA Bracket: Changes to March Madness seeding


The NCAA bracket itself will be handled a little bit differently because the entire tournament is in Indiana. The top four seeds will be handled the same and so will the First Four. The changes will come in how the rest of the bracket is completed. Teams will be placed in the bracket based on rankings without the usual considerations for geography. This is called using the "S-curve" to fill the bracket. There will be 37 at-large selections (one more than normal) and 31 automatic qualifiers (one fewer than normal).

You can read the entire release from the NCAA on its bracketing changes for 2021 here.

[Thomas]

March Madness betting trends are like breadcrumbs. Some lead you down the path of NCAA Tournament profits, and some are just garbage on the ground.
Heading into March Madness, you’ll be blasted with a fire hose of Big Dance trends, but the truth is most of them are useless when it comes to betting on tournament games. Even reputable sources and sharp betting minds (Covers among the guilty) will spout these intriguing – but empty - historical happenings.
More often than not, these trends are the betting equivalent of a chocolate Easter bunny: they look so sweet on the outside but once you peel back the wrapper and take a bite, you find out pretty quick that they’re hollow inside.
Not all March Madness betting trends are trash, however, and we’ll help you sort the recycling when it comes to deciphering which trends are worth a wager each year and which ones are a waste of time and, more importantly, money.
How sportsbooks treat March Madness trends

Perhaps the best way to gauge how useful March Madness betting trends are is to look at the folks setting the odds for NCAA Tournament games.
If you ask an oddsmaker if they’re factoring in the past against the spread (ATS) success of No. 15 seeds into this year’s No. 2-versus-No. 15 matchup odds, they’ll likely laugh in your face. Historic trends are largely ignored by bookmakers, especially when it comes to college sports as player and skill turnover differs greatly from year-to-year.
Oddsmakers base their numbers more on current form and data from that season, rather than historical hooha that pulls from random teams with random players led by random coaches from random conferences playing at random sites. You get the idea.
Three trends to trust

There are March Madness betting trends out there with teeth that you can put some trust into. The term “trend” should be used lightly as some are more stat-based, but they do hold water from year to year.
1
Coaching trends

If there is a constant in the madness of March it has to do with college hoops coaches. Coaches all have systems and playbooks and recruit players to fit those plans. While the names on the jerseys get swapped out, the skill sets and styles can remain similar.
So, any trends as it pertains to coaches – especially when dealing with the pace of play (fast or slow tempo) – can be weighed a little heavier than others when capping spreads and totals.

2
Adjusted defensive efficiency

Made popular by famed college hoops stats maven Ken Pomeroy, adjusted defensive efficiency (which is points allowed per 100 possessions multiplied by the national average defensive efficiency divided by the opponents’ offensive efficiency) is a telltale stat as it pertains to the Final Four.
Since the 2012 NCAA Tournament, only one Final Four team has ranked outside the Top 40 in adjusted defensive efficiency that season: Kansas (47th) in 2018. Sixteen of those 32 national semifinal programs ranked Top 10 in that metric and nine were in the Top 3.
The 2019 Final Four programs ranked as such in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom.com: Texas Tech (1), Virginia (5), Michigan State (9), and Auburn (36th).
So, as you’re sizing up the spreads, moneylines, and even the odds to win March Madness, keep an eye on programs among the elite in adjusted defensive efficiency.

3
No. 5 vs. No. 12 seeds

Most seed-versus-seed results should be taken with a grain of salt (and a shot of tequila followed by a lime wedge), but there’s no denying the No. 12 versus No. 5 March Madness trend. Despite the randomness, this pairing continues to produce profits for those picking the No. 12 seed – whether against the spread or in their bracket pools.
Since 2012, No. 5 seeds are 16-16 SU versus No. 12 seeds and 11-20-1 ATS in those opening-round matchups. Over the past four Big Dances (remembering we didn’t have one in 2020), No. 5 seeds are 10-6 SU and 5-10-1 ATS, including a 1-3 SU and 0-4 ATS record in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Don’t just blindly bet on No. 12 seeds over No. 5’s but until this comes back to earth, treat this trend with respect – like handling a cobra.

Three trends to fade

There’s a surplus of shallow March Madness betting trends out there that you should never blindly trail when placing your bets or building your bracket. Here’s the tip of the iceberg.
1
Conference trends

Certain conferences will have stronger historical ATS records in the NCAA Tournament, but the teams, opponents, players and spreads all vary when building out this bull crap. The overall strength of conferences sways every year, so don’t go chasing the SEC teams or fading ACC schools based solely on those conferences’ counts against the spread.

2
Seed vs. Seed trends

We’ve singled out the No. 5-versus-No. 12 trend, which has held its own in the past eight NCAA Tournaments with No. 12 seeds covering 64.5 percent of the time. However, bettors should tread lightly with that info and more so with other trends around seed-versus-seed. The level of parity in college basketball seems to be widening by the season, so don’t base a bet solely on the Selection Committee’s seeding.

3
Point spread and Over/Under trends

Brace yourself for some doozies when it comes to any historical NCAA Tournament trends powered by spreads and totals. You’ll get tantalizing trends around the Round of 64 underdogs between a certain point range and Over/Under tips based on past totals from certain seeding matchups.
As mentioned, some trends can lead you down the right handicapping road but many of these take you and your bankroll to a dead end. Be skeptical of these trends and look into the past results that powered them. If you can, try to spot a narrative behind them that could roll over into this year’s March Madness field.

March Madness betting sites

March Madness is a very popular time of year for sports bettors and one of the busiest for online sportsbooks. With every betting site offering March Madness odds, it’s important to know which are safe and secure, offer a wide range of banking options, and give you a ton of markets for each game. Check out the best online sportsbooks in your region, reviewed by Covers’ team of knowledgeable experts.


The verdict on March Madness trends

Basketball bettors should be wary of many March Madness trends. While betting them blindly is bonkers, there are lessons to be learned from evaluating them and picking up on past patterns.
Covers Experts veteran handicapper Marc Lawrence has a massive sports betting database that pumps out multiple March Madness betting trends every year. And while he doesn’t jump on board all of those with his NCAA Tournament bets, he does see the value in what he calls “anticipating expectancy”.
“There is a reason that Winston Churchill said, ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,’” Lawrence says. “By learning failures and successes from the past and applying skills from today, we become better, well-rounded handicappers. Yes, teams change but strategies and patterns are highly predictive…By relying on past patterns, we can better anticipate expectancy.”
March Madness betting trends FAQs


Which March Madness betting trends are for real?


Which March Madness betting trends should I avoid?

https://www.covers.com/ncaab/march-madness/trends

[Chamblin]

Thanks !!!