2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament


The 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball national champion for the 2016–17 season. The 79th edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2017, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game was the first to be contested in the Western United States since the 1995 tournament when Seattle was the host of the Final Four.
In the Final Four, North Carolina beat Oregon in Oregon's first Final Four appearance since the inaugural tournament in 1939, while Gonzaga defeated South Carolina in both teams' first ever Final Four appearance. This was the first NCAA tournament since 1979 to see two first-time Final Four participants. North Carolina then defeated Gonzaga 71–65 to win their 6th national championship, and 3rd under Roy Williams.
After being the only longstanding Power Five team to never make the tournament, Northwestern from the Big Ten finally made the tournament for the first time in program history. North Dakota, UC Davis, Northern Kentucky, and Jacksonville State also all made their tournament debuts.

Tournament procedures

A total of 68 teams entered the 2017 tournament, with all 32 conference tournament winners receiving an automatic bid. The Ivy League, which previously granted its automatic tournament bid to its regular season champion, hosted a postseason tournament to determine a conference champion for the first time. In previous years, had the Ivy League had two schools tied for first in the standings, a one-game playoff determined the automatic bid. On March 10, 2016, the Ivy League's council of presidents approved a four-team tournament where the top four teams in the regular season would play on March 11 and 12 at Philadelphia's Palestra.
The remaining 36 teams received "at-large" bids which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. On January 24, 2016, the NCAA announced that the Selection Committee would, for the first time, unveil in-season rankings of the top four teams in each division on February 11, 2017.
Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—played in the [|First Four]. The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.
The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.
The committee's selections resulted in two historic milestones. The Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference made their first-ever NCAA Tournament in school history, officially becoming the last "power conference" school to make the tournament.. The Wildcats' First round opponent, the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference, also made history: with a record of 19–15, they set the mark for the most ever losses for an at-large team in tournament history.
Four conference champions also made their first NCAA appearances: North Dakota, UC Davis, Jacksonville State, and first-year Division I school Northern Kentucky.

Schedule and venues

The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2017 tournament
First Four
First and Second Rounds
Regional semifinals and Finals
National semifinals and championship
  • April 1 and 3
  • *University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

    Qualification and selection

Eight teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2017 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division. Hawaii had previously been banned from entering the tournament as a penalty for infractions, but the NCAA later reversed its ban.

Automatic qualifiers

The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.
ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bid
America EastVermont6th2012
AmericanSMU12th2015
Atlantic 10Rhode Island9th1999
ACCDuke41st2016
ASUNFlorida Gulf Coast3rd2016
Big 12Iowa State19th2016
Big EastVillanova37th2016
Big SkyNorth Dakota1stNever
Big SouthWinthrop10th2010
Big TenMichigan27th2016
Big WestUC Davis1stNever
CAAUNC Wilmington6th2016
C-USAMiddle Tennessee9th2016
HorizonNorthern Kentucky1stNever
Ivy LeaguePrinceton25th2011
MAACIona12th2016
MACKent State6th2008
MEACNorth Carolina Central2nd2014
Missouri ValleyWichita State14th2016
Mountain WestNevada7th2007
NECMount St. Mary's5th2014
Ohio ValleyJacksonville State1stNever
Pac-12Arizona34th2016
PatriotBucknell7th2013
SECKentucky57th2016
SouthernEast Tennessee State10th2010
SouthlandNew Orleans5th1996
SWACTexas Southern7th2015
Summit LeagueSouth Dakota State4th2016
Sun BeltTroy2nd2003
WCCGonzaga20th2016
WACNew Mexico State23rd2015

;Notes

Tournament seeds

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1GonzagaWCC32–1Auto4
2ArizonaPac-1230–4Auto6
3Florida StateACC25–8At-Large10
4West VirginiaBig 1226–8At-Large15
5Notre DameACC25–9At-Large19
6MarylandBig Ten24–8At-Large23
7Saint Mary'sWCC28–4At-Large25
8NorthwesternBig Ten23–11At-Large32
9VanderbiltSEC19–15At-Large33
10VCUAtlantic 1026–8At-Large40
11XavierBig East21–13At-Large41
12PrincetonIvy League23–6Auto50
13BucknellPatriot26–8Auto51
14Florida Gulf CoastAtlantic Sun26–7Auto56
15North DakotaBig Sky22–9Auto62
16South Dakota StateSummit League18–16Auto64

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1KansasBig 1228–4At-Large2
2LouisvilleACC24–8At-Large8
3OregonPac-1229–5At-Large9
4PurdueBig Ten25–7At-Large16
5Iowa StateBig 1223–10Auto20
6CreightonBig East25–9At-Large24
7MichiganBig Ten24–11Auto27
8Miami ACC21–11At-Large30
9Michigan StateBig Ten19–14At-Large35
10Oklahoma StateBig 1220–12At-Large37
11Rhode IslandAtlantic 1024–9Auto44
12NevadaMountain West28–6Auto47
13VermontAmerica East29–5Auto53
14IonaMAAC22–12Auto58
15Jacksonville StateOhio Valley20–14Auto61
16*North Carolina CentralMEAC25–8Auto66
16*UC DavisBig West22–12Auto65

SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeOverall rank
1North CarolinaACC27–7At-Large3
2KentuckySEC29–5Auto5
3UCLAPac-1229–4At-Large11
4ButlerBig East23–8At-Large13
5MinnesotaBig Ten24–9At-Large18
6CincinnatiAmerican29–5At-Large22
7DaytonAtlantic 1024–7At-Large28
8ArkansasSEC25–9At-Large31
9Seton HallBig East21–11At-Large34
10Wichita StateMissouri Valley30–4Auto38
11*Kansas StateBig 1220–13At-Large46
11*Wake ForestACC19–13At-Large43
12Middle TennesseeConference USA30–4Auto48
13WinthropBig South26–6Auto54
14Kent StateMAC22–13Auto57
15Northern KentuckyHorizon24–10Auto59
16Texas SouthernSWAC23–11Auto63

*See First Four