March Madness 2017: Selection Sunday scores and news leading into NCAA bracket announcement

Bracket busted? That’s ok. We love you so much that we still have printable brackets for you to take and fill in with all the right matchups to make your friends and family think you’re much smarter about basketball than you really are.

The tournament to this point has been kind of a dud, unfortunately, but we’re hoping for a big second round with great games after a first round that didn’t produce many compelling finishes.

No team considered a serious contender for the national championship has experienced a turnaround as dramatic as the UCLA Bruins. A year ago, UCLA missed the NCAA tournament at 15-17. This season, the Bruins are a national powerhouse, in large part because of freshman point guard Lonzo Ball.

When the Bruins are at their best, no team is more entertaining. They proved it on Friday with this sequence in their first round matchup against the Kent State Golden Flashes:

If you don’t know about the Wichita State Shockers, then you better ask somebody. That No. 10 seed next to their name is a little bit of a misnomer because these guys can play. The Dayton Flyers figured that out in their 64-58 loss.

The Shockers now head to the second round of the tournament with a continued underdog mentality thinking the committee didn’t believe in them and that they were undervalued and underseeded. Wichita State has won at least one game in the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

It’s been awhile since the NCAA’s played tournament games in South Carolina, and one could assume that with the time off there would be some kinks to iron out. Or, maybe “sand out” is the better term.

The reason for the sanding appears to be a loose board in the floor that has since been fixed.

The Rhode Island Rams are still dancing after beating the Creighton Bluejays, 84-72, in the first round. The Rams are a No. 11 seed, but they didn’t look anything like one, controlling most of the game against the Jays. It’s their first NCAA tourney win since 1998, and alum Lamar Odom was even on hand to watch it.

This is a relatively neutered Creighton squad, to be frank. After losing their best player (guard Maurice Watson) early on in the season, the Jays haven’t been the same after a red-hot 17-1 start.

After beating SMU, 66-65, in dramatic fashion, add the USC Trojans to an interesting list of teams with a distinction of not succumbing to what could be seen as an impediment.

USC overcame a 12-point deficit to tie the game initially, then went down nine in the second half yet still came back to win. That’s in addition to the 17-point hole they dug out of to beat Providence. But it’s the second NCAA tournament game they’ve played in the last 48 hours after the First Four win over the Friars.

Rhode Island is back in the NCAA tournament after an 18-year absence, and they had a special guest in the stands.

The last time the Rams played in the Big Dance, Odom had a big part to play in getting them there. In the conference tournament final against Temple back in 1999, Odom’s pull-up jumper at the buzzer propelled the Rams to the tourney.

Steve Alford is a legend at Indiana. That’s not an exaggeration. From 1983-1987, Alford was the point guard who powered the golden era of the program under Bobby Knight. As a senior, Alford led the Hoosiers to the 1987 national championship. The program hasn’t won it all since.

On Thursday, Indiana’s head coaching position became open. Tom Crean was fired after nine years following a dismal season that saw a talented team dragged down by injuries and uninspired play. It only makes sense that Alford’s name will be at the top of Indiana’s list, along with coaches like Gregg Marshall of Wichita State and Archie Miller of Dayton.

The NCAA tournament’s field of 68 was unveiled Sunday night. They’ll have a fight on their hands, but Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs are the West region’s top seed.

You can check out the full bracket right here, and find a printable bracket here.

The NCAA tournament bracket has been set, and the East region is topped by the Villanova Wildcats this year. Last year’s tournament champion lost just three games this year on the way to conference regular season and tournament titles, and Jay Wright’s club is primed to make a repeat appearance in the Final Four, if not win the whole shebang outright.

The Duke Blue Devils, after running roughshod through the ACC tournament and becoming the first team to win four games in four days at that conference tilt, grabbed up the East’s No. 2 seed, and they’ll meet No. 15 Troy in the opening round. Duke went through something of a weird season, losing seven in-conference games during the regular season, but the Blue Devils rallied in the conference tournament to blast through the field and top Notre Dame on Saturday Night in the Barclays Center. Mike Krzyzewski and company will certainly hope that momentum continues into the Big Dance.

For the 13th time, the Kansas Jayhawks are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

KU earned the top seed in the Midwest region after finishing their season with a 28-4 record and yet another regular season Big 12 championship (the 13th one in a row.) The Jayhawks didn’t win the conference tournament, but they still ruled the roost in the conference, only losing twice in conference play.

They say the real NBA season doesn’t begin until the playoffs. The same can be said about the college basketball season and the craze that surrounds March Madness.

The conference tournaments are nearly finished, and that means the 2017 NCAA Tournament is almost upon us. But before we can get to the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four or the championship game, we’ve got to see how the bracket pans out on Sunday’s Selection Show airing on CBS and streaming on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. ET.

The 2017 SEC men’s basketball tournament ended without much of a surprise — the Kentucky Wildcats are the champions yet again.

The Wildcats earned their 30th SEC tournament championship with a 82-65 victory over Arkansas. This is Kentucky’s third title in a row.

The Michigan Wolverines will meet the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament final. It’s the Badgers’ third finals appearance in the past five years, while Michigan searches for its first Big Ten title after losing the final to rival Michigan State in 2014.

Both teams could be factors in the tournament. Check out our full NCAA bracket, updating live throughout March Madness. You can find a printable bracket here.

No. 1 seeded Kentucky got past a pesky No. 5 Alabama team in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, advancing to the championship game for the third consecutive season. The Wildcats were led by true freshman guard De’Aaron Fox, who lit up the scoreboard in the second half, scoring 19 points, along with a nine-straight scoring run. Fox finished with 28 points on the day, a career record in points for the freshman.

Alabama trailed by just four at halftime, but the Crimson TIde’s defense had no answer for Fox on offense in the second half.

For two hours on Sunday, CBS will unveil the 68 teams destined for March Madness. There will be jubilation for the teams that hear their names called and heartbreak for those who aren’t extended an invite.

But who is in charge of selecting and seeding those 68?

The most exciting day of the college basketball season is finally here: Selection Sunday. This is the day the 68-team bracket is revealed, and it’s the start of one of America’s finest sporting events.

Check out our full NCAA bracket, updating live throughout March Madness. You can find a printable bracket here.