2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The 80th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2018, and concluded with the championship game on April 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
| Season | 2017–18 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 68 | ||||
| Finals site | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | ||||
| Champions | Villanova Wildcats (3rd title, 4th title game, 6th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Michigan Wolverines (7th title game, 8th Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | Jay Wright (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Donte DiVincenzo (Villanova) | ||||
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During the first round, UMBC became the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed in the men's tournament by defeating Virginia 74–54. For the first time in tournament history, none of the four top seeded teams in a single region (the South) advanced to the Sweet 16. The tournament also featured the first regional final matchup of a 9-seed (Kansas State) and an 11-seed (Loyola-Chicago).
Villanova, Michigan, Kansas, and Loyola Chicago, the "Cinderella team" of the tournament, reached the Final Four. Villanova defeated Michigan in the championship game, 79–62.
Atlantic Sun Conference champion Lipscomb made its NCAA tournament debut.
The 2018 tournament was the first time since 1978 that none of the six Division I college basketball-playing schools based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area – American, Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, Howard, and Maryland – made the NCAA tournament.