Selection Sunday 2018: Start time, TV channel for NCAA Tournament show

Selection Sunday 2018: When does the show start, and what channel is it on?

By Satchel Price

Virginia is expected to be a No. 1 seed in this year’s bracket. | Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will reveal the full bracket for this year’s men’s basketball extravaganza starting at 5 p.m. CT on TBS. The program moves to the network after appearing on CBS every year since 1982.

All 68 teams in the field for the tournament will be revealed alphabetically before the actual matchups and regions are detailed. It’s a change in process that comes along with the change in network, as we’ll apparently know every team that’s in or out within the early portion of the show.

Many of the teams already know that they’re in thanks to winning conference tournaments. Loyola won the Missouri Valley Conference to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1985, when the Ramblers lost to Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas in the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan took the Big Ten’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Other schools that have already clinched spots include Virginia (ACC), Villanova (Big East), Kansas (Big 12), Arizona (Pac-12), and Gonzaga (West Coast).

As usual, the remaining crowd is filled with obvious at-large teams that fell short in conference tournaments and bubble teams hoping to squeeze in despite resumes that lead to second-guessing. Those on the cusp of making it include Louisville, USC, Marquette, Arizona State, and Syracuse.

The broadcast starts not long after the end of the American Athletic Conference championship game between Cincinnati and Houston. The winner of that contest will receive an automatic bid along with all the other tournament winners.