Selection Sunday Countdown

Selection Sunday — expected March 14, 2027 — is when the NCAA tournament committee reveals the 68-team March Madness bracket. Within an hour, tens of millions of brackets are underway. This countdown targets the reveal show.

How many days until Selection Sunday?

Selection Sunday is on Sunday, March 14, 2027, which is 226 days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.

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Selection Sunday records

Most all-time No. 1 seedsNorth Carolina has been awarded a No. 1 seed 18 times, the most of any program in tournament history, ahead of Duke (16) and Kansas (15)

Most bids by one conferenceThe SEC placed a record 14 of its 16 teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field, breaking the previous mark of 11 teams set by the Big East in 2011

Highest-rated Selection Sunday broadcastThe 2014 Selection Show remains the CBS ratings benchmark at roughly 6.76 million viewers (4.1 rating); the 2026 show's 6.41 million was the closest any year has come since

Most bracket entries ever recordedESPN's Men's Tournament Challenge set an all-time bracket-pool record with 26.6 million completed brackets in 2026, its fourth consecutive record-setting year

Longest-tenured Selection Sunday hostGreg Gumbel hosted CBS's Selection Sunday broadcast for 26 straight years, from 1998 through 2024

The bracket that ate America

An estimated 60–100 million brackets are filled out each March, and the odds of a perfect one are about 1 in 9.2 quintillion with a coin flip. Nobody has ever verifiably done it — the longest tracked streak died at 49 straight games in 2019.

Bubble watch

The reveal's real drama is the bubble: the last few at-large teams sweating the committee's decision live on camera. One school's celebration is another's season ending in a conference room.

Quick facts

The 68-team bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday
Tens of millions of brackets are filled out each year
A perfect bracket has never been verifiably recorded
The First Four games tip off within 72 hours of the reveal

How to watch Selection Sunday

Selection Sunday airs live on CBS, typically from 6-7 p.m. ET on the Sunday that closes out conference tournament play in mid-March, when the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee unveils the full bracket. The broadcast simulcasts on Paramount+, and once tournament play tips off, NCAA March Madness Live streams every game.

NCAA.com: Selection Sunday schedule & TV times Paramount+: March Madness streaming schedule

Learn more

NCAA Wikipedia

Selection Sunday — frequently asked questions

When is Selection Sunday?

Selection Sunday is on Sunday, March 14, 2027.

How many days until Selection Sunday?

Selection Sunday is on Sunday, March 14, 2027, which is 226 days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.

Fact-checked July 15, 2026 · Updated July 2026 · alarm-clock.org

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