Tourney berths revealed early on Sunday show
The 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament will be revealed in the first 10 minutes of the selection show Sunday, and then the brackets and pairings will be unveiled one region at a time.
On Tuesday, CBS and Turner announced the tweak to the selection show. The show will air on TBS for the first time since CBS and Turner Sports began partnering on NCAA Tournament coverage in 2011. The two-hour show will come from a new studio in Atlanta and in front of a live audience.
CBS and Turner executives said Tuesday the bracket will be revealed in the first 45 minutes. The twist comes in the first 10 minutes when the automatic bids will be announced in alphabetical order by conference. Then at-large selections will be revealed in alphabetical order. Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson will co-host.
In 2016, CBS extended the selection show to two hours and was criticized for taking too long to unveil the entire bracket. CBS and Turner executives looked at the move to TBS and Atlanta as an opportunity to make some changes.
“We tried some new stuff two years ago, that took too long,” said Craig Berry, executive vice president and chief content officer for Turner Sports, said during a media event. “What would be a great kind of open and reveal for Selection Sunday? Oh, if you knew automatically what 68 teams were in the fray. That’s what I would want to know.”
Men Gonzaga tops BYU for WCC men’s bid
Killian Tillie scored 22 points and No. 6 Gonzaga raced to its sixth straight WCC tournament title with a 74-54 victory over BYU on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Gonzaga (30-4) appeared as if it would lock into a defensive struggle with BYU (24-10). The Zags turned it into a title-game rout with a 36-6 run for their 17th WCC title.
“That’s probably as good a run I’ve been a part of in 28 years at Gonzaga, definitely in 19 years as head coach,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. “Fantastic defense that led to great offense. It was just a thing of beauty to see.”
Zach Norvell Jr. had 17 points and the Bulldogs held BYU to 35 percent shooting to win their 17th straight conference-tournament game.
BYU’s Yoeli Childs had 20 points to cap a stellar tourney.
Automatic (26-7) rallied NCAA from 17 bids: points Charleston down in the second half to win the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in North Charleston, S.C., beating Northeastern 83-76 in overtime to earn its first NCAA berth in 19 years . ... Joel Hernandez had 32 points and seven rebounds, and LIU-Brooklyn (18-16) shocked New York City rival Wagner 71-61 in New York to win the Northeast Conference tournament title . ... Grant Benzinger had 19 points and nine rebounds to help Wright State (25-9) beat Cleveland State 74-57 in the Horizon League tournament title game in Detroit for its first NCAA bid since 2007 . ... David Jenkins scored 29 points, Mike Daum had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and South Dakota State (28-6) beat South Dakota 97-87 in Sioux Falls, S.D., to win the Summit League tournament championship and clinch a third straight NCAA berth.
Women
WCC Player of the Year Jill Barta scored 32 points and hit six free throws in the final 43 seconds, helping Gonzaga beat San Diego 79-71 to repeat as WCC tournament champion.
Gonzaga (27-5) shut down San Diego in the third quarter on its way to a 16-point lead, but had trouble breaking the Toreros’ press late. San Diego (17-15) cut the lead to 73-66 with a 9-0 run but ran out of time.
Maya Hood scored 23 points for the Toreros. Automatic Williams UConn 19th-ranked American (32-0) scored Athletic NCAA South to 19 a tournament 70-54 points bids: Florida Gabby victory to to lead win in over No. the 1 Uncasville, Player of the Conn Year . ... Macy Summit Miller League had 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and South Dakota State snapped rival South Dakota’s 20game winning streak with a 65-50 victory in Sioux Falls, S.D., for the tournament championship and its eighth NCAA bid in 10 seasons . ... Allie Leclaire scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Jessica Lindstrom had her 41st career double-double and No. 22 Green Bay (29-3) beat Wright State 62-44 for its fourth straight Horizon League tournament title . ... Amarah Coleman scored a career-high 27 points and second-seeded DePaul (26-7) routed top-seeded Marquette 98-63 in Chicago for the Big East title.