For the first time in the history of college basketball, the Division II and III men's national championships, the National Invitation Tournament semifinals and final, and the Division I Men's Final Four all will take place in the same city in the same week.
That city is Indianapolis. That week is now.
From Thursday through Monday, the sport's full breadth — from small-college programs playing in their first title games to the blue bloods of Division I — will perform in a city known for historic NCAA tournament moments.
What to know: NCAA championship weekend in Indianapolis (all times are Eastern)
- NIT semifinals: Thursday (ESPN)
- Tulsa vs. New Mexico, 7 p.m.
- Illinois State vs. Auburn, 9:30 p.m.
- Division II championship: Sunday, 1 p.m. (CBS).
- Division III championship: Sunday, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+).
- NIT championship: Sunday, 8 p.m. (ESPN2).
- Division I Final Four: Saturday (TBS, TNT and truTV — the games will also stream on NCAA March Madness Live and HBO Max).
- Illinois vs. UConn, 6:09 p.m.
- Michigan vs. Arizona, 8:49 p.m.
- Division I championship: Monday, 8:30 p.m. (TBS, TNT and truTV — the games will also stream on NCAA March Madness Live and HBO Max).
Indianapolis and the Final Four
Indianapolis is more than the host site for this historic week. It is also part of the backdrop for several of this year's Final Four storylines.
This will be the ninth time Indianapolis has hosted the Men's Final Four since 1980, the second most of any city all-time behind only Kansas City, Missouri (10). The moments it has produced include some of the most memorable in tournament history.
1991: UNLV arrived at the Hoosier Dome — the Indianapolis Colts' previous home — at 34-0, trying to win back-to-back titles a year after a 30-point win against Duke in the 1990 championship game. Duke ended the run, 79-77, in the semifinals behind 28 points from Christian Laettner. Two nights later, Laettner had 18 more as the Blue Devils beat Kansas for the title, giving Mike Krzyzewski his first national championship.
1997: Arizona beat defending champion Kentucky 84-79 in overtime in a game that featured 20 ties and 18 lead changes. Arizona defeated three No. 1 seeds during that tournament run — Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky — a feat that still stands alone. Now, Arizona is back in Indianapolis chasing its first title since that night.
2000: Tom Izzo and Michigan State won the national championship with an 89-76 victory over Florida. It remains the last time a Big Ten program won a title. Big Ten programs Michigan and Illinois arrive in Indianapolis looking to end that drought.
2010: Butler turned a hometown Final Four into one of the most memorable title-game runs in recent history. Butler, from a campus less than 7 miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, made it to the national championship game. In the final seconds, Gordon Hayward launched a half-court shot that nearly won the title. The ball struck the backboard, bounced off the rim, and missed by inches. Duke escaped 61-59. The shot remains one of the defining near-misses in March Madness history.
2015: Krzyzewski's fifth title. The two-session Final Four attendance totaled 143,387, the highest ever for Lucas Oil Stadium, and the Kentucky-Wisconsin semifinal became the most-viewed college basketball game of all time on cable.
2021: With the country still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Indianapolis did something no city had ever done, hosting the entire men's tournament from the First Four through the national championship game. Baylor won its first championship.
Division I Final Four: four teams, four unfinished stories
No. 2 UConn faces No. 3 Illinois in Saturday's first semifinal, and No. 1 Arizona meets No. 1 Michigan in the second.
UConn Huskies (33-5) — A Quest for History
This is UConn's third Final Four in four seasons. The Huskies won the national championship in each of their previous two appearances. They got here by coming back from 19 down to stun No. 1 overall seed Duke, sealed by a 35-foot buzzer-beater from Braylon Mullins, who grew up just outside Indianapolis and will return home looking for more magic.
No team has won three titles in four years since UCLA won 10 of 12 under John Wooden from 1964 to 1975. UConn is two wins from joining elite company.
Illinois Fighting Illini (28-8) — Finishing What 2005 Started
Illinois is in the Final Four for the first time since 2005, when its run ended with a loss to North Carolina in the national championship game. The program has never won a title. Head coach Brad Underwood, who played at Kansas State in the 1980s and got his first Division I head coaching job at age 49, has built the most efficient offense in the country, per KenPom ratings. With just a two-hour drive from Champaign, Illinois is the closest Final Four school to Indianapolis.
Arizona Wildcats (36-2) — Indy Repeat?
Arizona has not returned to the Final Four since 2001 and has not won a national title since 1997, when Miles Simon scored 30 points and Mike Bibby added 19 in an overtime win against Kentucky in Indianapolis. This year's team is top 10 in both KenPom's offensive and defensive efficiency. Uniquely, head coach Tommy Lloyd has built a team that wins without leaning on 3-pointers, as his team ranks 363rd in 3-point rate, shooting from beyond the arc just 26.4% of possessions, per KenPom.
Michigan Wolverines (35-3) — A Team Built in One Year
Michigan is back in the Final Four for the first time since 2018, and it has happened quickly under second-year head coach Dusty May. Four of Michigan's starters were at other schools a year ago. May assembled a Final Four roster through the NCAA Transfer Portal in less than 12 months and turned it into one of the nation's best defensive groups. The Wolverines rank first in adjusted defensive efficiency, and they proved it by outscoring Tennessee by 21 in the final 10 minutes of the first half in the Elite Eight. Michigan is in search of its second national title, with the other in 1989.
The stories beyond Lucas Oil Stadium
While the Division I Men's Final Four will draw most of the attention, three more championships will also be decided across Indianapolis this week.
Division II Championship | Sunday, 1 p.m. Eastern time | CBS
No. 5 Lander (30-5) vs. No. 3 Gannon (33-3)
Lander enters on a 15-game win streak and just knocked off the defending national champion and No. 1 overall seed Nova Southeastern, a program that entered the semifinals with a 167-6 record over the past five seasons. It is Lander's first appearance in a national final in any sport since men's tennis in 2000.
Standing in Lander's way is a Gannon program that has not played for a national title since 1987. The Golden Knights have set a program record with 33 wins this season behind a balanced offense. Five players average double figures, led by sophomore guard Pace Prosser's 18 points a game.
Division III Championship | Sunday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time | ESPN+
Emory (27-3) vs. Mary Washington (29-3)
Neither Emory nor Mary Washington has ever played in a men's basketball national championship game. That changes Sunday.
Emory reached the title game by beating Christopher Newport 72-58 in the semifinal in Fort Wayne, Indiana, behind 21 points from senior Ben Pearce and a 15-point, 14-rebound outing from junior Ethan Fauss.
Mary Washington arrived in more dramatic fashion, rallying from an 11-point deficit at the half against top-ranked and defending champion Trinity (Connecticut). Mary Washington scored the game's final 10 points in a thrilling 64-61 win. It is the first national title game appearance for any Mary Washington team since field hockey in 1993.
NIT semifinals and final | Thursday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
The NIT begins Thursday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse, one of college basketball's most historic venues, which opened in 1928.
No. 1 seeds New Mexico and No. 1 Tulsa face off at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN, followed by No. 1 Auburn against No. 4 Illinois State at 9:30 p.m.
The NIT champion will be crowned Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, closing a full day of championship basketball in downtown Indianapolis.
Get Tickets
NIT Semifinals — Hinkle Fieldhouse (Thursday).
Division II, Division III and NIT championships — Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Sunday) One ticket, $42, covers all three games.
By the Numbers
- 9 — Times Indianapolis has hosted the Men's Final Four.
- 4 — Men's postseason championships sharing Indianapolis in one week.
- 3 — Championship games scheduled for Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- 1997 — The last time Arizona won a national title, in Indianapolis.
- 2000 — The last time a Big Ten Conference team won a title, also in Indianapolis.
- 2005 — The last time Illinois was in the Final Four.
- 2018 — The last time Michigan was in the Final Four.
- 1987 — The last time Gannon played for a Division II title.
- 0 — The number of times Emory or Mary Washington has previously played in a Division III title game.
