2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The 80th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2018, and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

During the first round, UMBC became the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the men's tournament by defeating Virginia 74–54. For the first time in tournament history, all four top-seeded teams in a single region (the South) failed to make the Sweet 16. The tournament also featured the first regional final matchup of a 9-seed (Kansas State) and an 11-seed (Loyola–Chicago).

Villanova (returning after their 2016 national championship), Michigan (making their first appearance since their runner-up finish in 2013), Kansas (returning after their runner-up finish in 2012), and Loyola–Chicago (the "Cinderella team" of the tournament, and the fourth 11-seed to reach the Final Four, after VCU in 2011), all reached the Final Four. Villanova defeated Michigan in the championship game, 79–62.

The 2018 tournament was the first time since 1978 that none of the six Division I college basketball-playing schools based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area – American, Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, Howard, and Maryland – made the NCAA tournament.

Atlantic Sun Conference champion Lipscomb made its NCAA tournament debut.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams entered the 2018 tournament. 32 automatic bids were awarded, one to each program that won their conference tournament. The remaining 36 bids were "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

Eight teams (the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four (the successor to what had been popularly known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.

The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

Schedule and venues

The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2018 tournament:

First Four March 13 and 14 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds March 15 and 17 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University) Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas (Host: Wichita State University) American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference) ExtraMile Arena, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University) March 16 and 18 Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte) Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan (Host: University of Detroit Mercy) Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Ohio Valley Conference) Viejas Arena, San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 22 and 24 West Regional, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California (Host: Pepperdine University) South Regional, State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) March 23 and 25 East Regional, TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Boston College) Midwest Regional, CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) March 31 and April 2 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)

The state of North Carolina was threatened with a 2018-2022 championship venue boycott by the NCAA, due to the HB2 law passed in 2016. However, the law was repealed (but with provisos) days before the NCAA met to make decisions on venues in April 2017. At that time, the NCAA board of governors "reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting". Therefore, Charlotte was eligible and served as a first weekend venue for the 2018 tournament.

Qualification and selection

Four teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2018 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements: Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Savannah State, and Southeast Missouri State. However, the NCAA granted the Savannah State Tigers a waiver which would have allowed the team to participate in the tournament, but the team failed to qualify.

Automatic qualifiers The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid. ConferenceTeamRecordAppearanceLast bidAmerica East UMBC24–102nd2008American Cincinnati30–432nd2017Atlantic 10 Davidson21–1114th2015ACC Virginia31–222nd2017ASUN Lipscomb23–91stBig 12 Kansas27–747th2017Big East Villanova30–438th2017Big Sky Montana26–711th2013Big South Radford22–123rd2009Big Ten Michigan28–728th2017Big West Cal State Fullerton20–113rd2008CAA Charleston26–75th1999Conference USA Marshall24–106th1987Horizon League Wright State25–93rd2007Ivy League Penn24–824th2007MAAC Iona20–1313th2017MAC Buffalo26–83rd2016MEAC North Carolina Central19–153rd2017Missouri Valley Loyola–Chicago28–56th1985Mountain West San Diego State22–1012th2015Northeast LIU Brooklyn18–167th2013Ohio Valley Murray State26–516th2012Pac-12 Arizona27–735th2017Patriot League Bucknell25–98th2017SEC Kentucky24–1058th2017Southern UNC Greensboro27–73rd2001Southland Stephen F. Austin28–65th2016SWAC Texas Southern15–198th2017Summit League South Dakota State28–65th2017Sun Belt Georgia State24–104th2015West Coast Gonzaga30–421st2017WAC New Mexico State28–524th2017

Tournament seeds The tournament seeds were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process. The seeds and regions were determined as follows:

+South Regional, Philips Arena, Atlanta, GeorgiaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1VirginiaACC31–21Auto20172CincinnatiAmerican30–48Auto20173TennesseeSEC25–810At-large20144ArizonaPac-1227–716Auto20175KentuckySEC24–1017Auto20176Miami (FL)ACC22–922At-large20177NevadaMountain West27–727At-large20178CreightonBig East21–1130At-large20179Kansas StateBig 1222–1134At-large201710TexasBig 1219–1439At-large201611Loyola–ChicagoMissouri Valley28–546Auto198512DavidsonAtlantic 1021–1148Auto201513BuffaloMAC26–851Auto201614Wright StateHorizon25–957Auto200715Georgia StateSun Belt24–1060Auto201516UMBCAmerica East24–1063Auto2008+West Regional, Staples Center, Los Angeles, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1XavierBig East28–54At-large20172North CarolinaACC25–105At-large20173MichiganBig Ten28–711Auto20174GonzagaWCC30–415Auto20175Ohio StateBig Ten24–820At-large20156HoustonAmerican26–723At-large20107Texas A&MSEC20–1225At-large20168MissouriSEC20–1232At-large20139Florida StateACC20–1138At-large201710ProvidenceBig East21–1335At-large201711San Diego StateMountain West22–1045Auto201512South Dakota StateSummit League28–649Auto201713UNC GreensboroSouthern27–752Auto200114MontanaBig Sky26–756Auto201315LipscombAtlantic Sun23–959AutoNever16*North Carolina CentralMEAC19–1567Auto2017Texas SouthernSWAC15–1968Auto2017+East Regional, TD Garden, Boston, MassachusettsSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1VillanovaBig East30–42Auto20172PurdueBig Ten28–67At-large20173Texas TechBig 1224–912At-large20164Wichita StateAmerican25–714At-large20175West VirginiaBig 1224–1018At-large20176FloridaSEC20–1221At-large20177ArkansasSEC23–1126At-large20178Virginia TechACC21–1131At-large20179AlabamaSEC19–1536At-large201210ButlerBig East20–1333At-large201711*St. BonaventureAtlantic 1025–742At-large2012UCLAPac-1221–1141At-large201712Murray StateOhio Valley26–550Auto201213MarshallConference USA24–1054Auto198714Stephen F. AustinSouthland28–658Auto201615Cal State FullertonBig West20–1161Auto200816*LIU BrooklynNEC18–1666Auto2013RadfordBig South22–1265Auto2009+Midwest Regional, CenturyLink Center Omaha, Omaha, NebraskaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1KansasBig 1227–73Auto20172DukeACC26–76At-large20173Michigan StateBig Ten29–49At-large20174AuburnSEC25–713At-large20035ClemsonACC23–919At-large20116TCUBig 1221–1124At-large19987Rhode IslandAtlantic 1025–728At-large20178Seton HallBig East21–1129At-large20179NC StateACC21–1137At-large201510OklahomaBig 1218–1340At-large201611*Arizona StatePac-1220–1143At-large2014SyracuseACC20–1344At-large201612New Mexico StateWAC28–547Auto201713CharlestonCAA26–753Auto199914BucknellPatriot25–955Auto201715IonaMAAC20–1362Auto201716PennIvy League24–864Auto2007

*See First Four

Regional brackets All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

First Four – Dayton, Ohio The First Four games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

South Regional Final

South Regional all tournament team Ben Richardson (Sr, Loyola–Chicago) – South Regional most outstanding player Clayton Custer (Jr, Loyola–Chicago) Donte Ingram (Sr, Loyola–Chicago) Xavier Sneed (So, Kansas State) Barry Brown Jr. (Jr, Kansas State)

West Regional – Los Angeles, California

West Regional Final

West Regional all tournament team Charles Matthews (So, Michigan) – West Regional most outstanding player Moritz Wagner (Jr, Michigan) Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (Sr, Michigan) Phil Cofer (Sr, Florida State) Terance Mann (Jr, Florida State)

East Regional – Boston, Massachusetts

East Regional Final

East Regional all tournament team Jalen Brunson (Jr, Villanova) – East Regional most outstanding player Omari Spellman (Fr, Villanova) Eric Paschall (Jr, Villanova) Carsen Edwards (So, Purdue) Keenan Evans (Sr, Texas Tech)

Midwest Regional – Omaha, Nebraska

Midwest Regional Final

Midwest Regional all tournament team Malik Newman (So, Kansas) – Midwest Regional most outstanding player Trevon Duval (Fr, Duke) Gabe DeVoe (Sr, Clemson) Marvin Bagley III (Fr, Duke) Devonte' Graham (Sr, Kansas) Gary Trent Jr. (Fr, Duke)

Final Four During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Loyola-Chicago's South Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Michigan's West Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Villanova's East Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (Kansas' Midwest Region).

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas

Kansas vacated 15 wins, including all NCAA tournament wins from the 2017–18 season after an investigation into the eligibility of Silvio De Sousa. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Kansas removing the wins from its own record.

National semifinals

National Championship

Final Four all-tournament team Donte DiVincenzo (So, Villanova) – Final Four Most Outstanding Player Mikal Bridges (Jr, Villanova) Jalen Brunson (Jr, Villanova) Eric Paschall (Jr, Villanova) Moritz Wagner (Jr, Michigan)

Game summaries and tournament notes

Upsets Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated."

The 2018 tournament saw a total of 11 upsets, with five in the first round, five in the second round, and one in the Sweet Sixteen.

+Upsets in the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournamentRoundSouthWestEastMidwestRound of 64 None No. 13 Marshall defeated No. 4 Wichita State, 81–75 No. 11 Syracuse defeated No. 6 TCU, 57–52Round of 32 None No. 11 Syracuse defeated No. 3 Michigan State, 55–53Sweet 16None No. 9 Florida State defeated No. 4 Gonzaga, 75–60 NoneElite 8 NoneFinal 4 NoneNational Championship None

Record by conference