2011 NCAA Basketball March Madness Cool Facts

March 2011 is a month of top college basketball teams displaying their skills, determination and performances. The National Championship will be determined by the final four games played on April 2, at Houston, Texas.

·        Henry V. Porter first used the term "March Madness" in 1939 at an Illinois high school basketball tournament. It became an official NCAA term in 1982 after an intense legal battle.

·        The number of basketball teams playing in the 2011 NCAA tournaments jumped from 64 to 68. Because there are 68 teams this year, the final four-at-large teams and final four automatic qualifiers will play in the "First Four" round in order to move into the standard 64-team bracket.

·        Also, the round after the "First Four" will be called the "second round" which consists of 32 games. These will be followed by the "third round" of 16 games or the "Sweet Sixteen."

·        The First Four opening NCAA basketball games with be March 15-16, 2011. These games are scheduled to be played at UD Arena, University of Daytona, Dayton and OH.

·        Second and Third Round Schedules and Venues The NCAA basketball dates are March 17-19, 2011 at these venues:

·        Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.

·        McKale Center, Tucson, AZ

·        Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

·        St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL

·        March 18-20 venues:

·        Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

·        Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC

·        United Center, Chicago, IL

·        BOK Center, Tulsa, OK

·        Regionals, Final Four and National Championship These are the 2011 schedules and venues for the NCAA Regionals, Final Four and Championship basketball games.

·        March 24-26:

·        West Regional: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA

·        Southeast Regional: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA

·        March 25-27:

·        Southwest Regional: Alamodome, San Antonio, TX East Regional: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ

·        Final Four: April 2, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX

·        National Championship: April 4, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX

·        The six schools who have the most wins in the history of NCAA men's basketball are:

·        UCLA-11 championships.

·        Kentucky-won March Madness games 7 times.

·        Indiana-5 "Big Dance" victories.

·        North Caroline-outlasted all the other teams 4 times, including their 2005 championship win.

·        Duke-4 titles with a 2010 tight win over Butler.