Many were glued to their TV's as Selection Sunday came to a close. The pseudo-holiday is marked down by college basketball fanatics across the country.
The Louisville Cardinals took the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, also known as the "Big Dance." They're just one in a field of 68 who will compete in the single-game elimination style competition.
Louisville, which will take the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the tournament, will be joined other No. 1 seeds Gonzaga in the West, Kansas in the South, and Indiana in the east.
Last year's champions Kentucky, didn't qualify.
The conference tournaments, which take place at the end of the regular season and play a major role in Selection Sunday, was filled with drama.
Specifically, the Big East Conference held its last conference tournament on Saturday, as Louisville beat Syracuse in the final game 78-61.
The Big East will break up next season, as the "basketball-only" schools will move to form the "Catholic 7" conference. The Big East is represented by the most teams, having eight in the field of 68.
"We are ecstatic to be the No. 1 seed, particularly after finishing off one of the greatest conferences in the history of college basketball with a Big East championship," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said according to AP. "We know we will be challenged right away in one of the toughest brackets that I've seen in quite some time. I think our guys are up for the challenge."
Yahoo highlighted a statistical rarity in the tournament, Liberty Flames became the only one of two teams in the history of the tournament to dance with 20 losses. Liberty won its conference tournament, which translates to an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
The tournament begins on Wednesday.
