Redemption: Virginia beats Texas Tech in OT thriller for first NCAA tournament title

Virginia has completed the ultimate redemption arc, winning its first NCAA championship, 85-77 in overtime, against Texas Tech on Monday in Minneapolis.

Just one year ago, the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed. Now the Cavaliers are NCAA champions.

De'Andre Hunter scored 27 and Kyle Guy added 24 for Virginia in the first national title game to go to overtime since Kansas beat Memphis in 2008. Virginia, which went 12-for-12 on free throws in overtime, is also the first first-time champion since Florida in 2006. Both Virginia and Texas Tech were playing in the NCAA final for the first time. Brandone Francis led the Red Raiders with 17 points.

Virginia-Texas Tech: Score, updates

 

2019 NCAA tournament bracket

Click or tap here for a printable bracket.

2019 NCAA tournament: Schedule, scores

2019 NCAA tournament: Teams

Here is the complete list of teams in the tournament. They are listed in alphabetical order:

Abilene Christian

Arizona State

Auburn

Baylor

Belmont

Bradley

Buffalo

Cincinnati

Colgate

Duke

Fairleigh Dickinson

Florida

Florida State

Gardner-Webb

Georgia State

Gonzaga

Houston

Iona

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Liberty

Louisville

LSU

Marquette

Maryland

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Montana

Murray State

Nevada

New Mexico State

North Carolina

North Carolina Central

North Dakota State

Northeastern

Northern Kentucky

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Old Dominion

Ole Miss

Oregon

Prairie View A&M

Purdue

Saint Louis

Seton Hall

St. John’s

St. Mary’s

Syracuse

Temple

Tennessee

Texas Tech

UC Irvine

UCF

Utah State

VCU

Vermont

Villanova

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Washington

Wisconsin

Wofford

Yale

Who won the first March Madness?

The inaugural tournament had just eight teams, and saw Oregon beat Ohio State 46-33 for the title in 1939:.

Who has won every NCAA tournament?

In the 80 years since the tournament’s inception, 35 different teams have won a championship, but no team has won more than UCLA, which has 11, 10 of which came a span of 12 years from 1964 to 1975.

Here is the list of every men’s basketball national championship since the NCAA tournament first started in 1939:

*Louisville’s participation in the 2013 tournament was later vacated by the Committee on Infractions.

What were the most memorable championship games in March Madness history?

Some recent classics include the 1989 title game, when No. 3 Michigan defeated No. 3 Seton Hall, 70-69 in overtime and the 2016 national title game when Villanova beat North Carolina, 77-74, on a shot at the buzzer by Kris Jenkins.

You can read more about classic NCAA games here and watch them all on .

How are March Madness teams selected?

There are two ways that a team can earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. The 32 Division I conferences all receive an automatic bid, which they each award to the team that wins the postseason conference tournament. Regardless of how a team performed during the regular season, if they are eligible for postseason play and win their conference tournament, they receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. These teams are known as automatic qualifiers.

The second avenue for an invitation is an at-large bid. The selection committee (more on them in a second) convenes on Selection Sunday, after all regular season and conference tournament games are played, and decides which 36 teams that are not automatic qualifiers have the pedigree to earn an invitation to the tournament.

Who is on the March Madness Selection Committee? 

School and conference administrators are nominated by their conference. Those who are selected serve five-year terms and represent a cross-section of the Division I membership. 

Currently, the chair of the committee is Bernard Muir, the director of athletics at Stanford. 

Here are the rest of the committee members: 

• Mitch Barnhart, director of athletics, University of Kentucky 
• Tom Burnett, commissioner, Southland Conference 
• Janet Cone, director of athletics, University of North Carolina Asheville 
• Bernadette McGlade, commissioner, Atlantic 10 Conference 
• Michael O’Brien, vice president and director of athletics, University of Toledo 
• Jim Phillips, vice president for athletics and recreation, Northwestern University 
• Chris Reynolds, vice president for intercollegiate athletics, Bradley University 
• Craig Thompson, commissioner, Mountain West Conference 
• Kevin White, director of athletics, Duke University 

What is the importance of seeding?

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is made up of 68 teams. On Selection Sunday, before any tournament game is played, those teams are ranked 1 through 68 by the Selection Committee, with the best team in college basketball — based on regular season and conference tournament performance — sitting at No. 1. Four of those 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.

Those 64 teams are split into four regions of 16 teams each, with each team being ranked 1 through 16. That ranking is the team’s seed. 

In order to reward better teams, first-round matchups are determined by pitting the top team in the region against the bottom team (No. 1 vs. No. 16). Then the next highest vs. the next lowest (No. 2 vs. No. 15), and so on. In theory, this means that the 1 seeds have the easiest opening matchup in the bracket.