With Selection Sunday 2008 in the sports history books, keep up with March Madness around the Web to see who's in and who's out, with first round action beginning March 20.

The Final Four begins April 5 and heads to Texas... on the way to see who wins the 2008 NCAA Men's Championship Game on Monday, April 7, 2008 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Once again, the NCAA men's basketball tournament will be available online for free in 2008.

Otherwise, the games will traditionally air on ESPN and CBS Television. So be sure to surf over to the NCAA full March Madness TV listing or check out Yahoo! Sports to listen to the games online.

Selection Sunday & Opening Rounds

Seeds were announced live on Selection Sunday - March 16, 2008 on CBS at 6PM ET when the pairings for the 65 men's Division I teams were revealed.

This years field was another tough one to call. High performance teams with good road records made choosing the top 65 hard for the officials who had to eliminate some very good teams from the tournament.

The North Carolina Tarheels took the No. 1 overall spot in the NCAA Tournament rankings. The Tarheels, coming off an 11 game streak, set a record for the number one seed placement - 12 times. They have not lost a road game all season and are the top rebounding team going into the championship.

The four No. 1 seeds are: Kansas Jayhawks (Midwest), North Carolina Tarheels (East), Memphis Tigers (South), and the UCLA Bruins (West). All four number one seeds have never made it to the finals, but this could be the year that changes that stat. Wouldn't that ruin everyone's bracket picks!

Look for Cinderella talk to commence when George Mason advances past 5th seeded Notre Dame in the East, but don't be disappointed when they don't advance to the Sweet 16. Georgia pulled some magic out of nowhere to even get an invitation to the dance. Can the 14th seed keep the miracle alive? Duke, seeded number two in the West has depth enough to be a Final Four contender and the number two seed in the east, Tennessee, is coming into the tournament after an impressive season. Could they be the spoilers who take the regionals? Fill in your brackets and watch the action. The only thing guaranteed with March Madness is that there will be plenty of upsets and surprises as the tournaments heats up...

Play-in Game
The NCAA Tournament Opening Round Game to determine which team gets the 16th seed place in the East between Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers and the Coppin State Eagles on March 18th ended with the Moutaineers advancing to play against North Carolina on Friday March 21. The final score was Mt St Mary's 69 and Coppin State 60.

Now, it's off to the first and second round games and the Sweet 16 regionals:

First Round Schedule, Teams and Results

Thursday March 20, 2008
East - Denver		South - Denver
(13) Winthrop 40 vs. (4) Washington St. 71	RECAP	(12) Temple - 61 vs. (5) Michigan St. 72	RECAP
(12) George Mason 50 vs. (5) Notre Dame 68	RECAP	(13) Oral Roberts 63 vs. (4) Pittsburgh 82	RECAP
		South - Anaheim
		(11) Kentucky 66 vs. (6) Marquette 74	RECAP
		(14) Cornell 53 vs. (3) Stanford 77	RECAP
Midwest - Omaha		West - Washington DC
(16) Portland St. 61 vs. (1) Kansas 85	RECAP	(14) Georgia 61 vs. (3) Xavier 73	RECAP
(9) Kent St. 58 vs. (8) UNLV 71	RECAP	(11) Baylor 79 vs. (6) Purdue 90	RECAP
(11) Kansas St. 80 vs. (6) U So California 67	RECAP	(15) Belmont 70 vs. (2) Duke 71	RECAP
(14) Cal St. Fullerton 56 vs. (3) Wisconsin 71	RECAP	(10) Arizona 65 vs. (7) West Virginia 75	RECAP
		West - Anaheim
		(9) Texas A&M 67 vs. (8) Brigham Young 62	RECAP
		(16) Mississippi Valley St. 29 vs. (1) UCLA 70	RECAP
Kansas, Michigan St., Xavier advance Marquette, UNLV, Pittsburgh, Purdue advance. Stanford advances Duke, Washington State, Kansas State, Texas A & M advance Notre Dame, WVU, Wisconsin, UCLA advance
Friday March 21, 2008
East - Birmingham		South - Little Rock
(15) American 57 vs. (2) Tennessee 70	RECAP	(10) St. Mary's 64 vs. (7) Miami (FL) 78	RECAP
(10) South Alabama 61 vs. (7) Butler 81	RECAP	(15) Austin Peay 54 vs. (2) Texas 74	RECAP
(11) St. Joseph's 64 vs. (6) Oklahoma 72	RECAP	(9) Oregon 69 vs. (8) Mississippi St. 76	RECAP
(14) Boise St. 61 vs. (3) Louisville 79	RECAP	(16) Texas-Arlington 63 vs. (1) Memphis 87	RECAP
East - Raleigh
(16) Mt. St. Mary's 74 vs. (1) North Carolina 113	RECAP
(9) Arkansas 86 vs. (8) Indiana 72	RECAP
Midwest - Raleigh		West - Tampa
(10) Davidson 82 vs. (7) Gonzaga 76	RECAP	(12) Western Kentucky 101 vs. (5) Drake 99	OT - RECAP
(15) Maryland-Balt County 47 vs. (2) Georgetown 66	RECAP	(13) San Diego 70 vs. (4) Connecticut 69	OT - RECAP
Midwest - Tampa
(13) Siena 83 vs. (4) Vanderbilt 62	RECAP
(12) Villanova 75 vs. (5) Clemson 69	RECAP
Tennessee, Miami (FL), Davidson, Western Kentucky advance Georgetown, Butler, Texas, San Diego advance Siena, UNC, Oklahoma, Mississippi State advance

Second Round Schedule, Teams and Results

Saturday March 22, 2008 (Games may begin later based on earlier game finish times)
Denver CO - East		Denver CO - South
5 Notre Dame 41 vs. 4 Washington St. 61	RECAP	5 Michigan St. 65 vs. 4 Pittsburgh 54	RECAP
		Anaheim - South
		6 Marquette 81 vs. 3 Stanford 82	OT - RECAP
Omaha - NE - Midwest		Washington DC - West
11 Kansas State 55 vs. 3 Wisconsin 72	RECAP	7 West Virginia 73 vs. 2 Duke 67	RECAP
8 UNLV 56 vs. 1 Kansas 75	RECAP	6 Purdue 78 vs. 3 Xavier 85	RECAP
		Anaheim - West
		9 Texas A & M 49 vs. 1 UCLA 53	RECAP
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Xavier, Stanford, Washington State, Kansas, Michigan State, UCLA advance
Sunday March 23, 2008 (Games may begin later based on earlier game finish times)
Birmingham AL - East		Little Rock AR - South
(7) Butler 71 vs. (2) Tennessee 76	OT - RECAP	(7) Miami (FL) 72 vs. (2) Texas 75	RECAP
(6) Oklahoma 48 vs. (3) Louisville 78	RECAP	(8) Mississippi St 74 vs. (1) Memphis 77	RECAP
Tampa - Midwest		Tampa - West
(13) Siena 72 vs. (12) Villanova 84	RECAP	(13) San Diego 63 vs. (12) Western Kentucky 72	RECAP
Raleigh NC - Midwest		Raleigh NC - East
(10) Davidson 74 vs. (2) Georgetown 70	RECAP	(9) Arkansas 77 vs. (1) North Carolina 108	RECAP
Tennessee, Louisville, 'Nova, Davidson, Texas, Memphis, WKU, UNC advance

Sweet 16 - Regional Semi-Finals

Thursday March 27, 2008 (all times are US/ET)
Charlotte - East		Phoenix - West
4 Washington St. 47 vs. 1 North Carolina 68	RECAP	7 West Virginia 75 vs. 3 Xavier 79	OT- RECAP
3 Louisville 79 vs. 2 Tennessee 60	RECAP	12 Western Kentucky 78 vs. 1 UCLA 88	RECAP

Friday March 28, 2008 (all times are US/ET)
Detroit - Midwest		Houston - South
10 Davidson 73 vs. 3 Wisconsin 56	RECAP	3 Stanford 62 vs. 2 Texas 82	RECAP
12 Villanova 57 vs. 1 Kansas 72	RECAP	5 Michigan St. 74 vs 1 Memphis 92	RECAP

ELITE 8 - Regional Championships

Saturday March 29, 2008 (all times US/ET)
Charlotte - East		Phoenix - West
3 Louisville 73 vs. 1 North Carolina 83	RECAP	3 Xavier 57 vs. 1 UCLA 76	RECAP
Xavier and UCLA face off in Phoenix with UCLA favored. Both teams are strong or they wouldn't be still in the dance, but only one can be the champion... UCLA has a more experienced team that seems to be coming into play in the offense. The defense on both ends is strong. Bruin's Kevin Love is reading the Xavier defense and managing to get to the basket through the Musketeer's Jason Love's guard. The Bruins are turning over the ball more than usual, more than double the turnovers for Xavier, but still maintaining the lead. Ball control may factor in later in the game... Xavier is missing at the free throw line, but UCLA is deadly accurate. UCLA ends the first half with a 9 point lead. Starting the secod half, the Bruins stretch the lead to double digits... with 14:45 left in the second half UCLA is out in front by 20 points. If the Musketeers can't discover a way to connect, there will be a number one seed advancing. Xavier answers with a 9 point run, but the Bruins answer back.The Bruins move into the Final Four... UNC vs. Louisville. First score - 2 to UNC answered by the Cardinals with 5 points for the first lead over UNC in this tournament. Louisville hangs on to the lead for a few minutes, but with a little under 14 to go, the Tar Heels took it back with an 8 point run... and kept up the pressure leaving at the half with a 12 point lead over the Louisville Cardinals. With a littleover 13 minutes to go the Cradinals came to life. With 11:38 left the UNC lead is down to 3 points... with a little more than 10 the score is tied at 59. A three pointer by UNC brings their score to 71 with 4 and a half minutes no answer from the Cardinals. Cardinals sink a two pointer - 5 points down with 3 minutes to go. Louisville turnover - their 17th of the game - gives the ball back to UNC... UNC sinks a two pointer - 7 point lead UNC... 28 points - 8 in the first and 20 in the second half - and 13 rebounds for Tyler Hansbrough wrote the story of this game. Another #1, the UNC Tar Heels move into the Final 4...
Sunday March 30, 2008 (all times US/ET)
Detroit - Midwest		Houston - South
10 Davidson 57 vs. 1 Kansas 59	RECAP	2 Texas 67 vs. 1 Memphis 85	RECAP
Will Davidson and/or Texas upset the #1 seeds or will this be the first time in tournament history that all of the # 1 seeds advance? The game started with an 18 to 8 lead for Memphis and the Longhorns never managed to break the Tigers game plan. Justin Mason tried his best for Texas, but the offense couldn't keep consistant play up against the Memphis defense. Derrick Rose, "livin' the dream," found the holes in the Longhorns defense to spearhead the Memphis win with 21 points. With under 1 minute left and a double digit lead for the Tigers, it looks like the first game will advance the number one seeded Memphis. Final score Texas 67 - Memphis 85. UCLA and Memphis — both number 1 seeds — will face off on April 5 in the Final 4. Three number ones are going to the Final 4. If Kansas takes Davidson it will be the first time all number 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four... If Davidson wins it will be the first time a ten makes it to the Final Four... although lower seeds have made it through - Remember the Cinderella GMU? Davidson Wildcats (10) play the Kansas Jayhawks (1) at 5:05... does the Cinderella dream continue or is a history making double double one Final 4 coming up? Davidson makes the first basket with Kansas coming right back. This looks like it will be a tough defensive game. Shooters on both teams are a little off being pushed or blocked by the defense. Curry hasn't put one in yet, but the rest of the Davidson team is picking up the slack. The Jayhawks have heightbut haven't been able to use it to their advantage so far. Curry sinks his first three pointer followed by a two... Chalmers is sinking three pointers for the Jayhawks keeping the Wildcats from getting too far in front. The pace is fast and Kansas has a deep bench. Davidson is leading in steals and rebounds and Kansas has more turnovers. This will be an interesting game... Chalmers sinks a three to tie the score with 6:19 left in the first half. Curry has 12 points against Chalmers' 11. Kansas managed an unanswered two to end the half with a lead. Starting the 2nd half, Curry sinks 2 field goals to give the Wildcats the lead. Chalmers continues to lead the Jayhawks while Rush is not shooting well. Coming up to 12 minutes to play the Jayhawks are on a 7 point run that gives them a 6 point lead - the most space between the teams since the start of the game. Davidson answers - with 10:30 left to play, the Wildcats are back in front by 1 point a third three pointer by Barr gives Davidson the lead. 7:35 to play...Davidson up by 4.... With 6:11 to play Kansas is back in the lead by 1 point. Curry misses a three after a steal - Kansas gets two on a foul. Less than a minute left and the Wildcats trail by 6. A free throw and a three by Curry bring it within two with 36 seconds to play. Davidson defense keeps control...Kansas can't connect...16 .8 seconds to go - Davidson has possession... Curry has the ball - can't make it Kansas wins... For the first time in the NCAA Men's Div I Tournament all top seeds have advanced to the Final Four!

Final Four - April 5
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

1 UCLA 60 vs. 1 Memphis 78
RECAP

The last time these two teams faced each other was two years ago and UCLA moved on... but with one of the lowest scoring games for the normally hot handed Bruins. This time, the Bruins hit the scoreboard first and score twice before Memphis answers. Bruins hold the lead until 15:36 when Memphis moved ahead by 1... followed by another two baskets giving the Tigers a 5 point lead.With 11:36 left in the first half the Tigers are still one point ahead of the Bruins. Field goal percentages are high for both teams. With 8 minutes to go in the 1st half, Memphis has a 5 point lead. The story of the first half of this game will have to include the guards. Fast break points are going to Memphis time after time, creating scoring opportunities for the Tigers. Defense on both teams is strong, but Memphis has only one turnover with less than 5 minutes left in the half. Less than a minute to go in the first half and the Tigers lead by 5. A three pointer by UCLA ends the half with the Bruins trailing by 3. Two free throws put the first points up for Memphis in the 2nd half. Memphis is racking up fouls on some of the major players. With with 14 minutes left to play the Bruins are picking up their game, but the Tigers still lead by 7. Field goal percentages for both teams are in the low 40s the back court points and break points are the big difference. Can the Bruins come back from a ten point deficit with 8 minutes left to play? UCLA gets a free throw and a bucket to bring them within 7 with 6 minutes to go... The Tiger's Joey Dorsey has been covering Rose all night, effectively keeping one of the Bruins brightest stars from shining. With under three minutes to go the Tigers have the biggest lead of the night... No one in college basketball has ever won 38 games in a season - Memphis locked that record tonight and moves on to the championship game.

1 Kansas 84 vs. 1 North Carolina 66
RECAP

The Jayhawks win the tip and Brandon Rush puts it in. Kansas comes out strong with a quick moving, strong game. In the first 5 minutes UNC has 3 turnovers - Kansas has none. An 18 point run by the Jayhawks and the Tar Heels scoreless for 4 minutes 19 minutes left and a 22 point lead for Kansas. Self told the Jayhawks to go out and enjoy themselves... they seriously listened to their coach. With 7:32 left in the first half Kansas is starting to look unstop-able... but don't write off the Tar Heels this early in the game. If they can find their game and get the flow back - they are a formidable presence on the court. Roy Williams is shaking his head... and you know some shaking will be going on during half time in the UNC locker room. If UNC can turn it around after the half, they may still have a chance to go the distance. UNC has not had a field goal in the last 15 possessions and went over nine minutes without a basket... 3:30 left and UNC is starting to pick up some points. They've trimmed the Jayhawks lead from 28 to 21...down to 15... going into half time the Jawhawks are up by 17. If the Jayhawks can come out strong again - and hold their game together - and avoid sloppy plays as they get tired, they've set themselves up for a chance at the title. If the Tar Heels get it together during the half, they may still have a chance... UNC comes in with a 2 point play, and their defense is running a bit smoother. In the first three minutes of the second half the Tar Heels have managed to reduce the Kansas lead to 14, but they are not showing the power that it will take to return from the deficit. With a 28 to 14 run the Tar heels are making this a game. Another 2 points for the Tar Heels and the teams are 12 points apart... another 2 and the Kansas lead is cut to 10 with 14 to go. With 12:20 to go, UNC trims the Jayhawks lead to single digits... another 2 6 points separate the high and low score. A 12 -0 run by the Tar Heels and with 11:30 to go, it's anyone's game... Another 2 points for UNC - kansas lead down to 4. Jayhawks end a six minute scoreless run with a 2 pointer and another - back to 8. UNC sinks a 3 Kansas lead down to 5 with 8:30 to go. If UNC can pull this one out it will be the biggest comeback in Final Four history. A pair of free throws moves the Kansas lead to 7.Kaun drops a 2 - back up to 9. Green sinks one for UNC. Kasas gets another 2 with 6 minutes to go. UNC gets two free throws and sinks a shot. A three pointer for Kansas... 2 points for UNC... another 2 for the Jayhawks - 4:47 left and Kansas still leads by 8 points.Jackson drops a 2 - Kansas back up to 10... another 2 - the Jayhawk lead is back up to 12 with 3:40 to go. Kansas is pulling away in the final minutes - 2 minutes to go...Jayhawks lead back up to 19 with a minute left. This is the end of the UNC run. The Jayhawks move on to the championship game...

Championship - April 7
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

1 Memphis 68 vs. 1 Kansas 75
RECAP 1OT

March Madness Around the Web

Will the mayhem at the 2008 big dance live up to the past? Stick around...plus, check out a great collection of party ideas, trivia and other related fun stuff to help you celebrate another exciting, roller-coaster year of manic March Madness ...

NCAA Men's Basketball - The official site for 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.

ESPN Mens' Basketball - Cable TV network coverage featuring picture galleries, video clips, updated blogs, along with the latest college basketball headline news & scores.

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.

March Madness Trivia & Fun Facts

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 5 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 3 titles.
There are 8 teams that won twice and others who are trying to reach that goal this year...

Related Resources:

Sports Basketball

Chiff Articles & Resources:	Other Web Resources:
Best Tasting Party Snacks	Basketball Party Supplies
Buffalo Chicken Wings	March Madness Trivia
March Madness B-Ball Party	March Madness Party
Fast Game Day Meals	NCAA Basketball Party
Game Day Party Snacks	Online B-Ball Favors
Tailgate Party Ideas - Links	Online Invite Directory
Ultimate Tailgate Party

also see -> also see -> Fantasy Basketball

NBA playoffs | NBA draft | 2005 March Madness Recap

2006 March Madness Recap | 2007 March Madness Recap

Final Four - April 5 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Championship - April 7 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Final Four - April 5
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Championship - April 7
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas