The first round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s March Madness tournament tips off in a couple of hours, and that means the 14th (!) edition of the TVNewser Men’s March Madness Bracket Challenge has arrived!
That first year—2009—we had nine players from seven networks. ABC News’ Rick Klein was crowned the champ that year. He tweeted it was “among my prouder accomplishments.” Fast forward to 2022, and that number ballooned to 40 participants across 12 news outlets.
Bloomberg Radio News anchor Michael Barr won the 2022 challenge. We’ll see if Barr—who also hosts the news outlet’s sports business radio show and podcast—can defend his title, or if another TV newser will have his or her “one shining moment.”
There has been no true dominant team in D1 men’s college basketball this 2022-2023 season, which should make this tournament extra spicy. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament for the first time in school history, but the top overall seed hasn’t cut down the nets in a decade — since the University of Louisville did so in 2013. We’ll see if Alabama can end the drought (or turn the … Tide).
Purdue University, the University of Houston and defending national champion University of Kansas join Alabama as No. 1 seeds in the other regions, while UCLA, Texas, Arizona, Marquette and UCONN are other teams worth keeping a close eye on.
As is our custom, we’ll keep you updated on who’s leading throughout the tourney.
CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV will provide live coverage of all March Madness contests. CBS has the Final Four on Saturday, April 1 along with the national championship on Monday, April 3, both from Houston. NCAA March Madness Live will provide live streaming access to the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Men’s tournament with all 67 games being aired live online.
A major television business storyline is this will be the final time CBS Sports broadcasting legend Jim Nantz will be on the mic for the NCAA Division I Men’s Final Four. A University of Houston alumnus, it would certainly be a thrill for Nantz—who is being inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame on May 3—to see his alma mater cut down the nets in person early next month.
Let the games begin!