To begin with, there are several college basketball tournaments which are held by the collegiate athletic bodies such as NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).  

Each have our differences in conferences to divide up the teams into groups. There is total three division in the NCAA which makes it clear NCAA basketball picks use to predict the team numbers. During conference play, teams are rated not just across the college basketball league, nevertheless inside the league in which they have tournament competition leading up to the NCAA tournament. 

NCAA Tournament 

NCAA can be stated as “National Collegiate Athletic Association” which was associated with other college basketball tournaments. From year to year, it had been organized in different location in America so that people do not have to travel to New York. Despite NIT was considered to be one of the prestigious than NCAA, yet its popularity become prominent in the basketball world.  

There was a great difference in the NIA and NCAA. First when teams can play both the tournaments; however, it had been ruled out by NCAA that one team can only compete in any one Competition and had a team eligibility for NCAA tournament. In the mid-1950s, NCAA overtook NIT. Over time, interest in the NCAA tournament grew as more and more teams qualified for it, eventually comprising all of the best ones. The pattern began when the field of teams was raised from 25 to 32 in 1975, to 48 in 1980, eventually 64 in the year 1985, and to 68 players in the same year. 

From Year 2011 to 2020 

After the NCAA field was increased from 68 to 64 teams in 2011, with the final eight teams vying for four spots—the first round and beyond—the field was reduced to 64. According to the current structure, the Sweet Sixteen is technically the fourth round, however it is referred to as the second round in the past. Similarly, the second round was previously named the third round. 

The field did not grow in 2016, but the round numbers did. The term “first four” currently refers to the initially scheduled four matches which included the eight remaining teams. The Sweet 16 is the third round, the Second is currently when there are 32 teams remaining, and so on. As a result, the first round begins after the first four games, rather than the second round.  

However, in 2020, due to covid -19 cancellation of the tournament led to many indecisions for the whole NCAA players. Several fans were disappointed with that and wished that play will start soon. Given that their last season was prematurely ended, the seniors on the teams were very severely impacted by this epidemic. In order for the student athletes who played winter sports, including basketball, to be eligible again for the 2021 season, the NCAA did take into consideration providing exemption.