March Madness takes over the sports world every spring, turning a 68-team field into a three-week sprint where men’s and womens basketball teams see their seasons end in a single night and underdogs suddenly become the story. It can feel like chaos if you are not used to it. There are games happening all day and a bracket that seems to change by the hour. But once you break it down, the format is actually pretty simple.

The NCAA Tournament is a single-elimination bracket. Lose once and your season is over, win and you keep playing. If you have ever filled out a bracket with friends, you already understand the basic concept. 

How teams get in

Both the men’s and women’s tournaments feature 68 teams. Thirty-one of those teams earn automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments, while the other 37 are selected by a committee as an “at-large” bid. That group is chosen based on overall performance, including record, strength of schedule and quality wins. Once the field is finalized, every team is assigned a seed from No. 1 to No. 16 across four regions, with better teams earning higher seeds and, in theory, more favorable matchups early.

The First Four

Before the main bracket even begins, there are four play-in games known as the First Four. These games act as the final step into the tournament and usually feature the lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers along with the last at-large teams selected. The winners move on and officially complete the 64-team bracket. The women’s tournament now follows a similar format, with First Four games determining who advances into the main field. Georgia’s first round opponent must first play in one of these games: Arizona State and Virginia will face one another to claim a No. 10 seed in the tournament and face Georgia in the Round of 64.

The Big Dance

From there, the structure becomes easy to follow. The tournament moves from 64 teams to 32, then to 16, eight, four and finally two. Each round cuts the field in half, and there are no series or second chances. One bad night and a season that started in the fall is over.

Why seeding matters

Seeding plays a major role in shaping how the bracket unfolds. A No. 1 seed opens against a No. 16 seed, which is usually a mismatch, while games in the middle of the bracket are much more even. The No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup is often viewed as a toss-up, and that is where Georgia men’s basketball sits this year. 

The No. 8 seed Bulldogs will face No. 9 seed Saint Louis in Buffalo, New York, at 9:45 p.m. Thursday night, with the winner likely advancing to face  No. 1 seed Michigan in the second round.

On the women’s side, Georgia is a No. 7 seed and awaits the matchup between Arizona State and Virginia to learn its opponent. That game will be played in Iowa City, Iowa, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, adding another layer to how the early rounds can vary between the two tournaments.

Why location matters

Location is another factor that shapes the experience. In the men’s tournament, early-round games are held at neutral sites across the country, which can send teams far from home depending on how the bracket is constructed and how the committee seeds specific teams. The draw sent the Georgia men’s team to Buffalo, even when a region like Greenville, South Carolina, is available and more appealing to the team and fans. It is all by the committee’s decision. 

Take St. John’s, for example, the champions of the Big East. The Red Storm got a somewhat unlucky draw from the selection committee, as their first-round game will take place in San Diego, California — a more than 2,000-mile trip for a team and fanbase that just won one of the toughest conferences in college basketball. 

In contrast, the women’s tournament often gives higher-seeded teams the opportunity to host early rounds on their home court, creating a built-in advantage.

For the teams that keep winning, the path eventually leads to the Final Four. The 2026 men’s Final Four will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, while the women’s Final Four will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Mortgage Matchup Center. From there, two semifinal games determine who advances to the national championship, the final step in the tournament.

The end goal

At its core, March Madness works because of its simplicity. Its structure is what makes it easy to follow, but also what makes it so unpredictable once the games actually begin.