How to Follow the NCAA Playoff Schedule

With cable sports packages and the Internet readily available, it's easier than ever to follow the NCAA playoff schedule. The two most well-known playoff tournaments are the men's basketball March Madness tournament and the year-end football Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Instructions

  1. Stay On Top of NCAA Sports Playoff Schedules

    • 1

      Circle dates on your calendar. The three most popular NCAA annual events are the March Madness basketball tournament, the College World Series of baseball and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and national championship football game. Everyone knows when March Madness approaches, and the College World Series is held in mid-June. Football's big games are usually played between Christmas and New Year's Day.

    • 2

      Follow NCAA basketball closely beginning in February, when the Rating Percentage Index is first released. These numerical "scores" will determine the 64-team field for the March Madness tournament.

    • 3

      Check shortly after the conclusion of the regular season to see which basketball teams made it to March Madness and which didn't. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, the NCAA will bracket the teams and release a schedule for the first round. All rounds of the tournament are played in a single elimination format.

    • 4

      Follow the dizzying schedule of bowl games by tracking down the participants in the classic "big games": the National Championship Game, the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. Websites for newspapers, sports networks and NCAA football will be all over coverage of these games, so you won't have a hard time learning who's playing who when.

    • 5

      Check throughout the late spring into May to see what's going on with the College World Series tournament. In 1999, it was expanded to 64 teams, in 16 four-team double elimination divisions. The winners of each advance to the best-of-three "super regionals." The super regionals winners go on to play in the College World Series.

    • 6

      Follow college baseball to get more information about qualifying for the College World Series and the tournament itself. Usually, the first leg of the tournament begins in June, culminating in the double-elimination championship series in mid-to-late June, which is televised nationally.