How many teams are in March Madness? Seeds, regions & more to know about 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket

Are you ready to fill out your March Madness bracket? For the many teams lucky enough to reach the NCAA Tournament, a mad scramble to the Final Four in Houston is about to begin. 

With dozens of teams in the field and plenty of parity around college basketball, predicting the Final Four teams is as difficult as ever for even the sport's most dedicated fans.

If recent history is any indication, there will be at least one team nobody expected still standing in Houston. From George Mason to VCU, Loyola-Chicago, and even UCLA, double-digit seeds have proven they're capable of making a run. 

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As you make your picks, here's what you need to know about the NCAA Tournament field in 2023 including the number of teams and how they're seeded in the bracket. 

How many teams are in the March Madness bracket?

There are 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament bracket. 32 teams in the field won their conference tournament and clinched an automatic bid, while the other 36 were chosen by the selection committee based on their total body of work from this season.

By the time the first round starts, there will only be 64 teams remaining. The four lowest-seeded automatic bids and four lowest-seeded at-large teams play in the First Four, taking four teams out of the field before most bracket challenges lock. 

The NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and moved to 68 teams in 2011. 

How teams qualify for March Madness 2023

Teams can qualify for the NCAA Tournament by either winning their conference tournament or earning an at-large bid. By winning its conference tournament, a team no longer has to rely on the selection committee to decide whether it's in the field of 68. Although, what seed a team is designated as could make all the difference in their road to a potential championship.

The committee only selects 36 teams, choosing the group of 36 at-large berths based on several factors. Rather than just looking at win-loss record, the committee also considers strength of wins, strength of losses, and analytical metrics including the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). That's why you might see a team with 19 wins from a major conference chosen over a team with 27 wins from a smaller conference. 

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While winning a conference tournament is the stress-free way to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, some teams enter their conference tournaments with no fear of missing the field of 68.

For example, Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Kansas State, and others entered this year's Big 12 Tournament fully expecting to reach the NCAA Tournament regardless their performance in the conference tournament.

Teams less certain about whether they will reach the tournament are considered "on the bubble."

How teams are seeded for March Madness 2023

Once the 68 teams are decided, the selection committee ranks them 1-68 based on their total body of work. The top four are all No. 1 seeds, but the rest of the bracket isn't filled out so easily.

First, the committee has to account for location. The No. 1 overall seed chooses which region to lead and which location to play their first two games. 

The committee then attempts to put top four seeds close to their "area of natural interest," though history indicates that's easier said than done. For example, No. 2 seed Duke (with a North Carolina campus) was seeded in the West Region last year while No. 4 seed UCLA (with a California campus) was seeded in the East and played its first two games in Philadelphia. Still, location may affect where the teams fall in the bracket.

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There are also rules regarding games between teams in the same conference.

If two teams played each other once in the regular season, they can't play each other until the Round of 32. If they played each other twice, they can't meet until at least the Sweet Sixteen. If they played each other three times (twice in the regular season and once in the conference tournament), they can't meet until at least the Elite Eight.

The committee has to look ahead at all potential Round of 32 and Sweet Sixteen matchups when placing teams in the bracket, and teams can get moved around easily.

The NCAA says the committee is permitted to move a team up or down one seed to accommodate these rules. While going from the lowest No. 8 seed to the highest No. 9 seed might not make much of a difference, it's different than simply ranking all 68 teams and seeding them accordingly.

Lowest seed to win NCAA Tournament

Villanova shocked Georgetown and won the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed in 1985. While March Madness has become synonymous with miraculous runs, no double-digit seed has ever won the tournament.

Still, double-digit seeds have come very close. Six double-digit seeds have reached the Final Four, including three in the last six tournaments. 

Here's a full list of double-digit seeds that have reached the Final Four.

No double-digit seed has ever reached the national title game, but each March makes it feel like that that day is coming soon. 

UConn won the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed in 2014, while North Carolina played in the title game as a No. 8 seed last season.