The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the 2021–22 season. The 83rd annual edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2022, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the Kansas Jayhawks defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels, 72–69, overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit (the largest deficit overcome in championship game history), to claim the school's fourth national title.

Big South Conference champion Longwood and Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Bryant made their tournament debuts. Bryant was eliminated in the First Four by Wright State, and Longwood was eliminated by Tennessee in the first round.

A major upset occurred on the first full day of the tournament, when 15-seed Saint Peter's upset 2-seed Kentucky, and subsequently became the third 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16 (the second consecutive year in which this occurred and third in the last nine years) and the first ever 15-seed to advance to the Elite Eight. This was the tenth time a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed overall, but it was the sixth time since 2012 this occurred. The defending champions Baylor were defeated by North Carolina in the second round, ensuring the defending champion and at least one top seed was eliminated before the regional semifinals for the fifth consecutive tournament, and at least one double-digit seed (this year, four: 15-seed Saint Peter's, 11-seeds Michigan and Iowa State, and 10-seed Miami) made the Sweet 16 for the 14th straight tournament.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams were entered into the 2022 tournament. A total of 32 automatic bids were awarded to each program that won a conference tournament (with one exception, as the tournament winner in the ASUN Conference was ineligible, due to its transition from Division II). The remaining 36 bids were issued "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.

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 bracket of the tournament.

The top four teams outside of the ranking (commonly known as the "first four out" in pre-tournament analyses) acted as standbys in the event a school was forced to withdraw before the start of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. Any recipient of an automatic bid would designate a replacement from within their own conference if they need to withdraw. Otherwise, the replacement teams were as follows, in order:

+First Four OutNETSchoolConferenceRecord58DaytonAtlantic 1023–1040OklahomaBig 1218–1544SMUAmerican23–842Texas A&MSEC23–12

Once the tournament started, any team that would have been forced to withdraw would not be replaced; the bracket would not be reseeded, and the affected team's opponent would automatically advance to the next round.

Schedule and venues

After the 2020 tournament was cancelled and the 2021 tournament was held in a single location due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was reverted to the standard format for the first time since 2019.

The sites selected to host each round of the 2022 tournament were:

First Four March 15 and 16 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds (Subregionals) March 17 and 19 Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Texas Christian University) Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: IUPUI, Horizon League) KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Canisius College, Niagara University, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Moda Center, Portland, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University) March 18 and 20 Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts: Furman University, Southern Conference) Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University) PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University) Viejas Arena, San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 24 and 26 West Regional, Chase Center, San Francisco, California (Host: Pac 12 Conference) South Regional, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio) March 25 and 27 East Regional, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pennsylvania) Midwest Regional, United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Northwestern University)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and Championship) April 2 and 4 Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Hosts: Tulane University, University of New Orleans)

New Orleans hosted the Final Four for the sixth time, having previously hosted in 2012.

Qualification and selection of teams

Automatic qualifiers ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidAmerica East Vermont8th2019American Houston23rd2021Atlantic 10Richmond10th2011ACCVirginia Tech13th2021ASUNJacksonville State2nd2017Big 12Kansas50th2021Big EastVillanova41st2021Big Sky Montana State4th1996Big South Longwood1stBig Ten Iowa28th2021Big West Cal State Fullerton4th2018CAA Delaware 6th 2014C-USAUAB16th2015HorizonWright State 4th 2018Ivy League Yale6th2019MAACSaint Peter's4th2011MACAkron5th2013MEACNorfolk State3rd2021Missouri ValleyLoyola Chicago8th2021Mountain WestBoise State8th2015NECBryant1stOhio ValleyMurray State18th2019Pac-12Arizona36th2018PatriotColgate5th2021SEC Tennessee 23rd 2021SouthernChattanooga12th2016SouthlandTexas A&M–Corpus Christi2nd2007SWACTexas Southern10th2021Summit LeagueSouth Dakota State6th2018Sun BeltGeorgia State6th2019WCCGonzaga24th2021WACNew Mexico State26th2019

Tournament seeds

The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released. This was the fifth consecutive tournament in which at least one of the four #1 seeds repeated their #1 seeding from the year before. +West Regional – Chase Center, San Francisco, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1GonzagaWest Coast26–31Automatic20212DukeACC28–68At-Large20193Texas TechBig 1225–912At-Large20214ArkansasSEC25–816At-Large20215UConnBig East23–917At-Large20216AlabamaSEC19–1321At-Large20217Michigan StateBig Ten22–1227At-Large20218Boise StateMountain West27–729Automatic20159MemphisAmerican21–1036At-Large201410DavidsonAtlantic 1027–640At-Large201811*RutgersBig Ten18–1344At-Large2021Notre DameACC22–1045At-Large201712New Mexico StateWAC26–650Automatic201913VermontAmerica East28–553Automatic201914Montana StateBig Sky27–758Automatic199615Cal State FullertonBig West21–1062Automatic201816Georgia StateSun Belt18–1063Automatic2019+East Regional – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1BaylorBig 1226–64At-Large20212KentuckySEC26–76At-Large20193PurdueBig Ten27–711At-Large20214UCLAPac–1225–713At-Large20215Saint Mary'sWest Coast25–719At-Large20196TexasBig 1221–1123At-Large20217Murray StateOhio Valley30–226Automatic20198North CarolinaACC24–930At-Large20219MarquetteBig East19–1235At-Large201910San FranciscoWest Coast24–937At-Large199811Virginia TechACC23–1243Automatic202112*WyomingMountain West25–846At-Large2015IndianaBig Ten20–1347At-Large201613AkronMAC24–954Automatic201314YaleIvy19–1156Automatic201915Saint Peter'sMAAC19–1160Automatic201116Norfolk StateMEAC24–664Automatic2021+South Regional – AT&T Center, San Antonio, TexasSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1ArizonaPac–1231–32Automatic20182VillanovaBig East26–77Automatic20213TennesseeSEC26–710Automatic20214IllinoisBig Ten22–9 14At-Large20215HoustonAmerican29–518Automatic20216Colorado StateMountain West25–524At-Large20137Ohio StateBig Ten19–1128At-Large20218Seton HallBig East21–1032At-Large20199TCUBig 1220–1234At-Large201810Loyola ChicagoMissouri Valley25–739Automatic202111MichiganBig Ten17–1442At-Large202112UABC-USA27–748Automatic201513ChattanoogaSouthern27–751Automatic201614LongwoodBig South26–655AutomaticNever15DelawareColonial22–1259Automatic201416*Wright StateHorizon21–1365Automatic2018BryantNortheast22–966AutomaticNever+Midwest Regional – United Center, Chicago, IllinoisSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall SeedBerth typeLast bid1KansasBig 1228–63Automatic20212AuburnSEC27–55At-Large20193WisconsinBig Ten24–79At-Large20214ProvidenceBig East25–515At-Large20185IowaBig Ten26–920Automatic20216LSUSEC22–1122At-Large20217USCPac–1226–725At-Large20218San Diego StateMountain West23–831At-Large20219CreightonBig East22–1133At-Large202110Miami (FL)ACC23–1038At-Large201811Iowa StateBig 1220–1241At-Large201912RichmondAtlantic 1023–1249Automatic201113South Dakota StateSummit30–452Automatic201814ColgatePatriot23–1157Automatic202115Jacksonville StateASUN21–1061Automatic201716*Texas SouthernSWAC18–1267Automatic2021Texas A&M–Corpus ChristiSouthland23–1168Automatic2007 *See First Four

Tournament bracket All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

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

West Regional – San Francisco, CA

West Regional Final

West Regional all-tournament team JD Notae – Arkansas Jaylin Williams – Arkansas Mark Williams – Duke Jeremy Roach – Duke Paolo Banchero – Duke (MOP)

East Regional – Philadelphia, PA

East Regional Final

East Regional all-tournament team Armando Bacot, North Carolina (MOP) Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter's Doug Edert, Saint Peter's Caleb Love, North Carolina Brady Manek, North Carolina

South Regional – San Antonio, TX

South Regional Final

South Regional all tournament team Jermaine Samuels – Villanova (MOP) Collin Gillespie – Villanova Caleb Daniels – Villanova Justin Moore – Villanova Jamal Shead – Houston

Midwest Regional – Chicago, IL

Midwest Regional Final

Midwest Regional all-tournament team Al Durham, Providence Kameron McGusty, Miami Christian Braun, Kansas David McCormack, Kansas Remy Martin, Kansas (MOP)

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

National semifinals

Related article: Carolina–Duke rivalry

National championship

Final Four all-tournament team Ochai Agbaji, Kansas (MOP) David McCormack, Kansas Armando Bacot, North Carolina Caleb Love, North Carolina Paolo Banchero, Duke

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 2022 tournament saw a total of 13 upsets, with six in the first round, five in the second round, one in the Sweet Sixteen, and one in the Final Four.

+Upsets in the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournamentRoundWestMidwestSouthEastRound of 64 No. 11 Michigan defeated No. 6 Colorado State, 75–63 No. 15 Saint Peter's defeated No. 2 Kentucky, 85–79 OTRound of 32None No. 11 Michigan defeated No. 3 Tennessee, 76–68 Sweet 16NoneNoneNone No. 15 Saint Peter's defeated No. 3 Purdue, 67–64Elite 8NoneNoneNoneNoneFinal 4No. 8 North Carolina defeated No. 2 Duke, 81–77National Championship None

Miscellaneous

Indiana cheerleader Cassidy Cerny signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal after teaming with fellow cheerleader Nathan Paris to rescue a ball stuck on the backboard during the Hoosiers' first-round game against Saint Mary's. The moment went viral, and Arkansas cheerleaders used the same approach when another ball was stuck on the backboard during the Razorbacks' West Regional Final against Duke.

Record by conference