NCAA tournament selection show switches format for bracket announcement

A.J. Perez | USA TODAY

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Sunday’s NCAA March Madness Selection Show will break with tradition this year, as the TBS broadcast will first announce the 68 tournament teams, then reveal the brackets.

The change drew some grumbles on social media after it was announced Tuesday morning, since in previous years, the teams and brackets have been announced at the same time.

“I don’t know why there’d be an uproar,” Harold Bryant, executive producer and senior vice president of production at CBS, told USA TODAY Sports. “Everyone will know early in the broadcast who’s in, and then they’ll find out who they’re going to play.”

Bryant said the teams, many already locked in after winning conference titles, will be announced in the first 15 minutes of the 6 p.m. ET show on Sunday. Within the first hour, all of the brackets will be announced.

“Our decision came down to, No. 1, getting the information out there as fast as possible,” Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer at Turner Sports, told USA TODAY Sports. “The second part was really to have an impact on the first segment. It’s been something we’ve been talking about since we began the partnership (in 2011).”

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The change potentially robs some of the drama as brackets were announced over the first hour.

"We will see," Barry said. "I think teams will appreciate getting the information as fast as possible. If that means we lose one or two reaction shots from teams, that's a small price to pay for doing what's best for the viewer and the teams in the tournament. Whenever you make a change, there's always some risk."

CBS and Turner Sports actually did that over 90 minutes two years ago, which drew a tremendous outcry from viewers.

"That was a big lesson," Barry said.

The final hour of the two-hour show will focus on analysis of the brackets.