Plot Synopsis

Each year since 1939, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I basketball teams compete in a season-ending, single-elimination tournament, culminating in the NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. For the first decade of the NCAA basketball championship, the tournament included only eight teams, one selected from each NCAA region. The NCAA expanded the tournament to include 16 teams in 1951 and then 24 in 1954. The field continued to grow, reaching 32 in 1975, then 48 in 1980, 64 in 1985, 65 in 2001, and finally 68 in 2011. This championship game was first televised by NBC on Saturday, March 20, 1954 at 11:10 ET, featuring a game between La Salle and Bradley, immediately following the non-televised consolation game between Penn State and Southern Cal. NBC annually televised the championship game from 1969 through 1981, after which CBS purchased the rights and presented the game every year from 1982-2015 until Turner Sports began showing the game in 2016 on TBS with team-stream simulcasts on TNT and truTV. Since 2016, the championship has alternately aired on CBS (odd years) and TNT/tbs/truTV (even years).
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The 2023 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME featured UConn and San Diego State battling for the national title in NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, with live coverage on Monday, April 3, 2023 starting at 9pm ET/6pm PT on CBS -- with tipoff scheduled for 9:20pm ET/6:20pm PT. Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, and Bill Raftery called the game in the booth, while Tracy Wolfson provided reports from the sidelines. This is the eighth straight Tournament they have called the Final Four together. Nantz is calling his 32nd and last Final Four as lead play-by-play announcer.