Here is the official, printable NCAA key for the 2020-21 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, also known as March Madness.
🚨 You can click or tap here to open the March Madness bracket as a .PDF in a new window.
NCAA 2021 support: March Madness Printable support
This year’s tournament will be held entirely in Indiana because of the pandemic. There are some minor changes to how the bracket will be propagated. The first four seeds will be treated in the same way, as well as the First Four. The changes will come in the way the rest of the support is completed. Teams will be placed in brackets based on classifications, without the usual geography considerations. This is called an “S curve” to fill the bracket. There will be 37 general selections (one more than normal) and 31 automatic qualifiers (one less than normal).
The Selection Committee will follow its classification principles, such as not combining teams from the same conference with each other in the first rounds. You can read the NCAA statement on grouping principles here and our conclusions about what it means here.
We will also keep track of the perfect verifiable keys for all major key games throughout the tournament. The bar is high – Gregg Nigl chose the first 49 games correctly in 2019, before his first mistake. Nigl was playing the Bracket Challenge game on NCAA.com, which you can sign up to play here.
Virginia was the champion that year and is still the champion since the 2020 tournament was canceled. Here’s a look at 2019 support:
2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Support
Here is a quick guide to how teams win a spot in the NCAA tournament.
How are March Madness teams selected?
There are two ways for a team to win a bid for the NCAA tournament. All 32 Division I conferences receive an automatic bid (there will be 31 in 2021), which each assigns to the team that wins the post-season conference tournament. Regardless of a team’s performance during the regular season, if they are eligible to play in the postseason and win the conference tournament, they will be selected to receive an offer for the NCAA tournament. These teams are known as automatic qualifiers.
The duplicate for an invitation is a general bid. The selection committee (more about them in a second) meets on Selection Sunday, after all regular season and conference tournament games are played, and decides which 36 teams (37 in 2021) are not automatic qualifiers have the pedigree to receive an invitation to the tournament.
What is the March Madness selection committee?
The 10-member NCAA Division I Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting, distributing and classifying the field for the NCAA Tournament. School and conference administrators are appointed by their association, serve five-year terms and represent a cross section of Division I members.
How do they decide which teams will receive a general bid?
There are a multitude of statistics and classifications that the Selection Committee takes into account, but there is no defined formula that determines whether a team receives a general bid or not.
What is this thing called an NCAA assessment tool?
The NCAA assessment tool, or NET, is a tool for the committee to assess the strength of individual teams. It replaces the RPI and was approved after months of consultation with the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, leading experts in basketball analysis and Google Cloud Professional Services. It includes game results, schedule strength, game location, scoring margin (limited to 10 points per game) and offensive and defensive network efficiency.
What is the importance of sowing in March Madness?
The men’s college basketball tournament consists of 68 teams. On Selection Sunday, before any tournament game is played, these teams are ranked from 1 to 68 by the Selection Committee, with the best college basketball team – based on regular season and conference tournament performance – occupying the position number 1. Four of these teams are eliminated in the opening round of the tournament (known as the First Four), leaving us with a field of 64 for the first round.
These 64 teams are divided into four regions of 16 teams each, with each team being ranked from 1 to 16. This ranking is the seed of the team.
In order to reward the best teams, matches in the first round are determined by pitting the best team in the region against the last (No. 1 vs. No. 16). Then the next biggest vs. the next smallest (No. 2 vs. No. 15), and so on. In theory, this means that the 1 seed has the easiest opening match to win in the key.
What is a Cinderella?
Much like the titular character in the fairy tale, a Cinderella team is one that is much more successful than expected. The examples in March would be the race for the championship of Villanova in 1985, when the eighth Wildcats became the team with the lowest number of heads of all time, defeating the great favorite Georgetown.
Who won all the NCAA tournaments?
Thirty-five different teams have won a championship, but no team has won more than UCLA, which has 11, 10 of which took place over a 12-year period from 1964 to 1975.
Past March Madness winners
Here is the list of all national men’s basketball championships since the beginning of the NCAA tournament in 1939:
| YEAR | CHAMPION (RECORD) | HEAD COACH | PUNCTUATION | VICE-CHAMPION | PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2020 | N / D | N / D | N / D | N / D | Atlanta, GA. |
| 2019 | Virginia (35-3) | Tony Bennett | 85-77 (OT) | Texas Tech | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 2018 | Villanova (36-4) | Jay Wright | 79-62 | Michigan | San Antonio, Tex. |
| 2017 | North Carolina (33-7) | Roy Williams | 71-65 | Gonzaga | Phoenix, Arizona. |
| 2016 | Villanova (35-5) | Jay Wright | 77-74 | North Caroline | Houston, Texas |
| 2015 | Duke (35-4) | Mike Krzyzewski | 68-63 | Wisconsin | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2014 | Connecticut (32-8) | Kevin Ollie | 60-54 | Kentucky | Arlington, Texas |
| 2013 | Louisville (35-5) * | Rick pitino | 82-76 | Michigan | Atlanta, GA. |
| 2012 | Kentucky (38-2) | John Calipari | 67-59 | Kansas | New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 2011 | Connecticut (32-9) | Jim Calhoun | 53-41 | Butler | Houston, Texas |
| 2010 | Duke (35-5) | Mike Krzyzewski | 61-59 | Butler | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2009 | North Carolina (34-4) | Roy Williams | 89-72 | Michigan State | Detroit, Mich. |
| 2008 | Kansas (37-3) | Bill Self | 75-68 (OT) | Memphis | San Antonio, Texas |
| 2007 | Florida (35-5) | Billy Donovan | 84-75 | Ohio State | Atlanta, GA. |
| 2006 | Florida (33-6) | Billy Donovan | 73-57 | UCLA | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 2005 | North Carolina (33-4) | Roy Williams | 75-70 | Illinois | St. Louis, Mo. |
| 2004 | Connecticut (33-6) | Jim Calhoun | 82-73 | Georgia Tech | San Antonio, Texas |
| 2003 | Syracuse (30-5) | Jim Boeheim | 81-78 | Kansas | New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 2002 | Maryland (32-4) | Gary Williams | 64-52 | Indiana | Atlanta, GA. |
| 2001 | Duke (35-4) | Mike Krzyzewski | 82-72 | Arizona | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 2000 | Michigan State (32-7) | Tom Izzo | 89-76 | Florida | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 1999 | Connecticut (34-2) | Jim Calhoun | 77-74 | Duke | St. Petersburg, Florida. |
| 1998 | Kentucky (35-4) | Tubby Smith | 78-69 | Utah | San Antonio, Texas |
| 1997 | Arizona (25-9) | Fight Olson | 84-79 (OT) | Kentucky | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 1996 | Kentucky (34-2) | Rick pitino | 76-67 | Syracuse | East Rutherford, NJ |
| 1995 | UCLA (31-2) | Jim Harrick | 89-78 | Arkansas | Seattle, Wash. |
| 1994 | Arkansas (31-3) | Nolan Richardson | 76-72 | Duke | Charlotte, NC |
| 1993 | North Carolina (34-4) | Dean Smith | 77-71 | Michigan | New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 1992 | Duke (34-2) | Mike Krzyzewski | 71-51 | Michigan | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1991 | Duke (32-7) | Mike Krzyzewski | 72-65 | Kansas | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| nineteen ninety | UNLV (35-5) | Jerry Tarkanian | 103-73 | Duke | Denver, Colorado. |
| 1989 | Michigan (30-7) | Steve Fisher | 80-79 (OT) | Seton Hall | Seattle, Wash. |
| 1988 | Kansas (27-11) | Larry Brown | 83-79 | Oklahoma | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1987 | Indian (30-4) | Bob Knight | 74-73 | Syracuse | New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 1986 | Louisville (32-7) | Denny Crum | 72-69 | Duke | Dallas, Texas |
| 1985 | Villanova (25-10) | Rollie Massimino | 66-64 | Georgetown | Lexington, Ky, |
| 1984 | Georgetown (34-3) | John Thompson | 84-75 | Houston | Seattle, Wash. |
| 1983 | North Carolina State (26-10) | Jim Valvano | 54-52 | Houston | Albuquerque, NM |
| 1982 | North Carolina (32-2) | Dean Smith | 63-62 | Georgetown | New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 1981 | Indian (26-9) | Bob Knight | 63-50 | North Caroline | Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1980 | Louisville (33-3) | Denny Crum | 59-54 | UCLA | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 1979 | Michigan State (26-6) | Jud Heathcote | 75-64 | Indiana State | Salt lake city |
| 1978 | Kentucky (30-2) | Joe Hall | 94-88 | Duke | St. Louis, Mo. |
| 1977 | Marquette (25-7) | Al McGuire | 67-59 | North Caroline | Atlanta, GA. |
| 1976 | Indian (32-0) | Bob Knight | 86-68 | Michigan | Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1975 | UCLA (28-3) | John Wooden | 92-85 | Kentucky | San Diego, California |
| 1974 | North Carolina State (30-1) | Norm Sloan | 76-64 | Marquette | Greensboro, NC |
| 1973 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 87-66 | Memphis state | St. Louis, Mo. |
| 1972 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 81-76 | Florida State | Los Angeles, California |
| 1971 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 68-62 | Villanova | Houston, Texas |
| 1970 | UCLA (28-2) | John Wooden | 80-69 | Jacksonville | College Park, Md. |
| 1969 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 92-72 | Purdue | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1968 | UCLA (29-1) | John Wooden | 78-55 | North Caroline | Los Angeles, California |
| 1967 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 79-64 | Dayton | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1966 | UTEP (28-1) | Don Haskins | 72-65 | Kentucky | College Park, Md. |
| 1965 | UCLA (28-2) | John Wooden | 91-80 | Michigan | Portland, Oregon. |
| 1964 | UCLA (30-0) | John Wooden | 98-83 | Duke | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1963 | Loyola (Ill.) (29-2) | George Ireland | 60-58 (OT) | Cincinnati | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1962 | Cincinnati (29-2) | Ed Jucker | 71-59 | Ohio State | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1961 | Cincinnati (27-3) | Ed Jucker | 70-65 (OT) | Ohio State | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1960 | Ohio State (25-3) | Fred Taylor | 75-55 | California | Daly City, California |
| 1959 | California (25-4) | Pete Newell | 71-70 | West Virginia | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1958 | Kentucky (23-6) | Adolph Rupp | 84-72 | Seattle | Louisville, Ky. |
| 1957 | North Carolina (32-0) | Frank McGuire | 54-53 (3OT) | Kansas | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1956 | San Francisco (29-0) | Phil Woolpert | 83-71 | Iowa | Evanston, Ill. |
| 1955 | San Francisco (28-1) | Phil Woolpert | 77-63 | LaSalle | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1954 | La Salle (26-4) | Ken Loeffler | 92-76 | Bradley | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1953 | Indian (23-3) | Branch McCracken | 69-68 | Kansas | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1952 | Kansas (28-3) | Phog Allen | 80-63 | Saint John | Seattle, Wash. |
| 1951 | Kentucky (32-2) | Adolph Rupp | 68-58 | Kansas State | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 1950 | CCNY (24-5) | Nat Holman | 71-68 | Bradley | New York, NY |
| 1949 | Kentucky (32-2) | Adolph Rupp | 46-36 | Oklahoma A&M | Seattle, Wash. |
| 1948 | Kentucky (36-3) | Adolph Rupp | 58-42 | Baylor | New York, NY |
| 1947 | Santa Cruz (27-3) | Doggie Julian | 58-47 | Oklahoma | New York, NY |
| 1946 | Oklahoma State (31-2) | Henry Iba | 43-40 | North Caroline | New York, NY |
| [1945 | Estado de Oklahoma (27-4) | Henry Iba | 49-45 | NYU | Nova York, NY |
| 1944 | Utah (21-4) | Vadal Peterson | 42-40 (OT) | Dartmouth | Nova York, NY |
| 1943 | Wyoming (31-2) | Everett Shelton | 46-34 | Georgetown | Nova York, NY |
| 1942 | Stanford (28-4) | Everett Dean | 53-38 | Dartmouth | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1941 | Wisconsin (20-3) | Bud Foster | 39-34 | Estado de Washington | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1940 | Indiana (20-3) | Branch McCracken | 60-42 | Kansas | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 1939 | Oregon (29-5) | Howard Hobson | 46-33 | Estado de Ohio | Evanston, Ill. |
* A participação de Louisville no torneio de 2013 foi posteriormente cancelada pelo Comitê de Infrações.