2023 NCAA’s The Vikings: What Should You Expect?
2023 NCAA’s The Vikings: What Should You Expect?
The Cleveland State Vikings men’s basketball team is the representative college basketball team of Cleveland State University. They’ve been a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I member since 1972. They are an outstanding team representing the university in various NCAA games.
This year, the Cleveland State Vikings will also appear for March Madness, a month filled with eventful games until the National Championship to determine the best team in the entire college basketball teams of the US.
2023 March Madness
If you’re new to the collegiate basketball division, March Madness is an NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament where 68 teams will be in a single-elimination competition. It’s a national championship with seven rounds to determine the 2022-23’s NCAA Division I men’s college basketball national champion.
If you’re wondering how the 68 teams are determined, teams will need to earn a bid to have a chance at the NCAA tournament. The 32 conferences from Division I will automatically receive an automatic bid if the team wins at the postseason tournament in their conference. Regardless of their record during the regular season, an outright win during the postseason guarantees you a bid directly to the NCAA tournament.
The other way teams can participate is during Selection Sunday; after all the conference games and the regular season is completed, the remaining teams are then selected for March Madness. During this day, the participating teams will be ranked by the Selection Committee from 1 through 68 with the best team in college basketball. Then, they will decide what teams will have the pedigree to be invited to the program.
Moreover, the entire postseason tournament has six official rounds and a four-team play-in to begin. To completely help you guide NCAA basketball, here are the names of the rounds that you should remember.
- First Four. The First Four consists of eight teams and the winners of this round will then make up the last four spots for the Round of 64.
- Round of 64. This round consists of 64 teams to play for the official first round of the March Madness tournament. There will be 32 matchups in the first round, and since the field is divided into four regions, there are precisely 16 teams in each region during this round. Moreover, since this is a single-elimination championship, the winners of this round will move up to the Round of 32.
- Round of 32. Round of 32 or also known as the second round, will have 16 games and 32 teams. Four games will be played between eight teams in each of the four regions.
- Sweet 16. This round is where every game gets more competitive, where the two teams in each region who won Sweet 16 will face off in the Elite Eight.
- Elite Eight. This round is also known as the regional championship, where four games will be played from one in each region, and the winners will advance to the Final Four.
- Final Four. This round eventually comes after a long round of games and is also considered the playoffs of the NCAA.
- National Championship. This is the final round of March Madness.
Roster
To make you more excited for the upcoming March Madness, here are the players you can expect to take part in the tournament.
- Tristan Enaruna
- Deshon Parker
- Cole Middleton
- Dylan Arnette
- Drew Lowder
- Yahel Hill
- Paxton Payne
- Ramar Pryor
- Jayson Woodrich
- JaMir Price
- Deante Johnson
- Tae Williams
- Chase Robinson
- Jason Drake
Schedule
The 2023 March Madness has released its complete schedule for this year, and the kick-off will be on March 14 and 15 for the first four in UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. You can participate in the Bracket Challenge Game to determine the tournament’s final winner or try your hands at March Madness betting odds on your favorite sportsbook.
However, there’s no definite date when the Cleveland Vikings are going to play their First Four. However, to give you an idea of how the March Madness tournament will flow, here’s what it looks like:
- Selection Sunday, March 12 (Sunday)
- First Four, March 14-15 (Tuesday and Wednesday)
- First Round, March 16-17 (Thursday and Friday)
- Second Round, March 18-19 (Saturday and Sunday)
- Sweet 16, March 23-24 (Thursday and Friday)
- Elite Eight, March 25-26 (Saturday and Sunday)
- Final Four, April 1 (Sunday)
- NCAA Championship Game, April 3 (Tuesday)
Rankings
As March Madness rolls in, here is the current ranking of the top 10 of the NCAA college basketball teams with their overall scores for the 2022-2023 season as of February 12, 2023.
- Alabama: 22-3, 1,523 points
- Houston 23-2, 1,503 points
- Purdue: 23-3, 1,408 points
- UCLA: 21-4, 1,302 points
- Kansas: 20-5, 1,283 points
- Texas: 20-5, 1,214 points
- Virginia: 19-4, 1,212 points
- Arizona: 22-4, 1,139 points
- Baylor 19-6, 1,072 points
- Tennessee: 19-6, 896 points
Cleveland is out of the list at the moment, but depending on how the Selection Sunday and First Four will pan out, fans can hope and look forward to how they’re going to climb to the rankings.
Final Thoughts
Like the NBA games, the NCAA college games are just as exciting. With their straightforward manner of determining the seeds and the bracket, even new fans can easily follow the schedule. Aside from that, there are really a lot of exciting things to look forward to in March Madness and to the Cleveland State Vikings. You can take this article as a guide to properly anticipate the upcoming event.
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