Good Question 'Reply All': March Madness Edition
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- David from Eagan asked: Who picks the 68 teams in the tournament?
The first 32 get in automatically by winning their conference (31 by a conference tournament and the Ivy League through a regular season title). The next 36 teams are chosen by a 10-member NCAA tournament selection committee made up of Division 1 athletic directors and conference commissioners who serve five-year terms. Each of these members is required to leave the room when the committee is discussing their school.
Joe wanted to know: What city has held the most NCAA tournaments?
In the '50s, '60s and '70s, the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn., was the most popular spot. But more recently, Dayton, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, Utah, have led the count. When it comes to overall NCAA tournament games, the University of Dayton Arena is in the lead with 101 games, at the latest count.
Gene from Ottertail asked: How many of the number one seeds make to the Final Four?
A lot. Going back to 1979, only three times has a number one seed not made it to the Final Four. On the flip side, all four number ones made it to the Final Four in 2008 – the only time that's ever happened. As for the lowest seed that's ever won the championship game: the 1985, number 8-seeded Villanova.
Glenda was up late Thursday night taking in all the games, a quarter of which went into overtime. She wanted to know: What's the record for OT games?
On Thursday, the four overtime games in the first round broke the one-day record. If there is even one more OT game on Friday, the OT record for the entire first round will be broken.
