NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship facts for kids

The University of Dayton Arena, which has hosted all First Four games since the round's inception in 2011, as well as its precursor, the single "play-in" game held from 2001 to 2010. As of 2017, the arena has hosted 115 tournament games, the most of any venue.

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, or NCAA Tournament is a single-elimination (if you lose a game, you stop playing) college basketball tournament with 68 college teams playing each other. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) created it in 1939. When it was started in 1939, it only had eight teams. It has grown slowly, but steadily.

The tournament is played from mid-March to early April, so basketball around that time is sometimes called "March Madness".

There are two ways to get in. You can win your conference (a group of about 8 to 12 basketball teams) championship, or get voted in by the NCAA. At first, only one team was allowed in from each conference, but now more can come from each conference.

Layout

The tournament is split into four groups called regionals. Each regional has 17 teams, seeded (numbered from best to worst) 1 through 17. The 16 and 17 seeds play each other at the beginning. Then the 1 seed plays the 16 seed, the 2 seed plays the 15 seed, and so on. Then the winners advance to the next round. There are six rounds.

List of NCAA Tournament champions

Team	Wins	Years won
UCLA	11	1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995
University of Kentucky	8	1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012
University of Indiana	5	1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987
University of North Carolina	5	1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009
Duke University	4	1991, 1992, 2001, 2010
University of Connecticut	4	1999, 2004, 2011, 2014
University of Kansas	3	1952, 1988, 2008
University of Louisville	3	1980, 1986, 2013
University of Cincinnati	2	1961, 1962
University of Florida	2	2006, 2007
Michigan State University	2	1979, 2000
North Carolina State University	2	1974, 1983
Oklahoma State University	2	1945, 1946
University of San Francisco	2	1955, 1956
University of Arizona	1	1997
University of Arkansas	1	1994
University of California	1	1959
CCNY	1	1950
Georgetown	1	1984
College of the Holy Cross	1	1947
La Salle University	1	1954
Loyola University Chicago	1	1963
Marquette University	1	1977
University of Maryland	1	2002
University of Michigan	1	1989
Ohio State University	1	1960
University of Oregon	1	1939
Stanford	1	1942
Syracuse University	1	2003
UNLV	1	1990
UTEP	1	1966
University of Utah	1	1944
Villanova	1	1985
Wisconsin	1	1941
University of Wyoming	1	1943

Images for kids

A ticket from the 1988 tournament held in Kansas City, Missouri
The 2017 NCAA Final Four in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale
Rank #1 vs. other ranks
NCAA Tournament % Wins per rank