MAIN Sports Basketball NCAA Brackets - 2013 March Madness

St. Patrick's Day 2013 marked the start of the madness when the highly anticipated Selection Sunday announcement was made on Sunday, March 17, 2013 -- as college basketball team match-ups were officially broadcast at 6PM ET on CBS.

Then it was on to the national championship during a month-long battle of skill, determination, and dazzling performances by top competing college teams.

From the announcement of the initial 64 teams — to eliminations that determine the Sweet 16 to the Elite 8 — all the action ultimately led to the Final Four games and the annual championship played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on April 8, 2013.

2013 March Madness schedule

First Four: March 19-20, 2013
Second and Third Rounds: March 21-24, 2013
Regionals: March 28-31, 2013
Final Four: April 6, 2013
Championship Final: April 8, 2013

2013 TV coverage

As usual, the NCAA's recent television deal with CBS Sports and Turner Sports (TBS, TNT and truTV) meant the two top broadcasters owned the rights to televise the NCAA Tournament games until 2024.This year, the madness spread worldwide as Canada tuned into live broadcasts on TSN, while European fans watched on ESPN America. Heading south, Australia caught the crazy via select telecasts on ONE HD.

2013 NCAA National Championship FINAL SCORE

FINAL FOUR Final Scores

ELITE 8 Final Scores

SWEET 16 Final Scores

THIRD ROUND Final Scores

SECOND ROUND Final Scores

FIRST FOUR Final Scores

2013 March Madness tickets

"Hotlanta" really began to heat up with the initial scramble for 2013 March Madness tickets for the first four, second/third round and regional games that went on sale Saturday morning, October 13, 2012. Meanwhile, scoring tickets to local games means getting ready to pounce at venues where games will be played as they are announced - whether its college arenas or mega-venus such as the Staples Center in LA.

FINAL FOUR: For the most sought-after finals, the NCAA annually puts about 40% of allotted Final Four tickets up for grabs in a random selection process the year before. The rest are managed by their official partner, Prime Sport. They provide a safe venue for fans to swap or sell tickets for popular final game tickets. As the tournament heats up, prices can range anywhere from $30 and upwards to $15,000!

(OR WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR: Plan ahead for 2015 FINAL FOUR tickets by clicking on the link for applying to the random selection process found annually at www.NCAA.com. It remains live between the day after Selection Sunday and May 31 each year, or until 20,000 ticket applications have been received.)

March Madness Trivia & Fun Facts

The fans and players aren't the only ones who go a little crazy.

The phrase “March Madness” was coined by Henry V. Porter in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tourney. Brent Musburger first used it during NCAA coverage in 1982 causing a legal battle almost as insane as the playoffs.

But everyone finally worked things out and the madness was official. There isn't a good record of who first called the playoffs "The Big Dance", but it does describe the action.

The 6 schools who have the winningest history in NCAA Division I Men's basketball are:

• UCLA with 11 championships;
• Kentucky who won the March Madness games 7 times;
• Indiana with 5 Big Dance victories;
• North Carolina outlasted all the other teams 4 times, including their championship win in 2005, and
• Duke with 4 titles, the most recent in a nail biter over Butler in 2010.

Although past history is no guarantee in this Cinderella-laced NCAA tournament, number one seeds have won every time in the first round for the past 16 years and number two seeds have only lost three first round games... a 95% win average.

What makes the brackets exciting are the number 13 and 14 seeds who came out winners in the first round 20 times since 1992... a sweet 16% that leads to dreams of glory. Watch for them in your brackets. Also look for teams from smaller conferences or those who had a bad start to the season, but got their game on during the last weeks to pull off an invitation. A power player on a slump or injury roster who recovers can mean a lower seed for a solid team.

More about March Madness around the Web:

NCAA Men's Basketball - The official site for ticket information, the latest updates, scores, ranking and related pictures and feature stories, interviews and more.

NCAA Basketball - CBS Sportsline - The official network TV station with headline reports & predictions, opinion and news, plus the latest scores at a glance and key dates for major games.

Rivals.com Yahoo! NCAA Basketball - This site has all the stats, brackets, news and analysis with a few extras that may help with your bracket selections... or help you understand why your teams did - or didn't - come through for you. Experts, blogs and videos for in depth looks at the teams, coaches and players...

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship - Wikipedia's excellent overview of March Madness with tons of stats, facts and incredible depth of trivia answers.

CollegeHoops.net - NCAA Basketball Tournament - One-stop browsing for daily news & updates, odds & predictions, how to's on winning that office pool, plus tons more on March Madness history, stats & trivia.

also see -> 2011 Viewable Men's Division I Bracket

2011 Printable Men's Division I Bracket

also see -> Fantasy Basketball

NBA playoffs | NBA draft