NCAAM Final Four: A Battle of Basketball Titans
The NCAAM Final Four is the semifinal game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Teams are selected into a field of 68 and play in a single-elimination tournament, branded March Madness, until they reach the semifinals, which is called the Final Four. There are four regions in the tournament, with the winner from each region being the team who advances to the Final Four.
The Road to the Championship: NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Format
The Final Four teams then continue in the single-elimination style play until one winner is crowned as the championship team of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Selection Process and Surprises in NCAA Tournament Seeding
There are 32 teams that automatically qualify for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament by winning their conference tournament, while the other 36 are selected from a committee. Those teams are then placed in a region and ranked based upon their regular-season record and prediction on how far they’ll go in the tournament.
The Unpredictability of NCAA Tournament Upsets
However, just because a team may be seeded high, doesn’t mean it will necessarily go far, as last season, all four No. 1 seeds failed to reach the Final Four, even getting knocked out before the Elite Eight for the first time in history.
Last year’s Final Four teams were lower seeds in No. 5 Miami, FL, No. 4 UConn, No. 9 FL Atlantic and No. 5 San Diego State, with three of the four making their first Final Four appearance.
Front-Runners and Dark Horses: Predicting the 2023 Final Four Teams
This year, though, college basketball odds predict the Final Four will be back to the regular suspects. College basketball lines have Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Purdue as the top four favorites to make it to the Final Four, with UConn and Michigan State tied for the next best-odds to make it.
