March Madness: Who will the Georgia State Panthers face in the NCAA tournament?

ATLANTA - The Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team is headed back to the NCAA tournament for the third time in the last 5 years.

On March 7, Georgia State won the Sun Belt Conference tournament for the fourth time in eight years, defeating Louisiana 80-71. The win gave the Panthers an automatic bid into the "Big Dance".

Now, the Panthers will go up against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first round of the tournaments' west regionals bracket.

The Panthers enter the tournament as a 16th seed.

Georgia State will travel to the Moda Center in Portland on March 7 to play No. 1 Gonzaga. Tip off is schedule for 4:15 p.m.

WILLIAMS CARRIES GEORGIA ST. OVER ARKANSAS IN SUN BELT TOURNAMENT

Whichever team comes out on top will then face the winner of No. 8 Boise State and No. 9 Memphis on March 19.

Here’s what you need to know about the tournament:

2022 NCAA Tournament number one seeds:

Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas and defending champion Baylor all earned number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament. 

2022 NCAA Tournament schedule

Early round games in the 68-team tournament start Tuesday with the First Four. 

First Four: 

March 15, 16 — UD Arena (Dayton)

First round:

March 17, 18 — KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indianapolis), Dickies Arena (Fort Worth), Moda Center (Portland), Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee), PPG Paints Arena (Pittsburgh), Viejas Arena (San Diego)

Second round:

March 19, 20 — KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indianapolis), Dickies Arena (Fort Worth), Moda Center (Portland), Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee), PPG Paints Arena (Pittsburgh), Viejas Arena (San Diego)

Sweet 16:

March 24, 25 — AT&T Center (San Antonio), Chase Center (San Francisco), United Center (Chicago), Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)

Elite Eight:

March 26, 27 — AT&T Center (San Antonio), Chase Center (San Francisco), United Center (Chicago), Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)

Final Four/National Championship:

April 2, 4 — Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)

Where to watch 2022 NCAA Tournament games

First Four in games:

Tuesday, March 15 — 6:30 p.m. start (truTV)

Wednesday, March 16 — 6:30 p.m. start (truTV)

First round

Thursday, March 17 — Noon start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)

Friday, March 18 — Noon start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)

Second round

Saturday, March 19 — Noon start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)

Sunday, March 20 — Noon start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)

Sweet 16

Thursday, March 24 — 7 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)

Friday, March 25 — 7 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)

Elite Eight

Saturday, March 26 — 6 p.m. start (TBS)

Tuesday, March 27 — 2 p.m. start (CBS)

Final Four

Saturday, April 2 — 6 p.m. start (TBS)

National Championship

Monday, April 4 — 9 p.m. (TBS)

2022 NCAA Tournament Extras

March Madness 2022 marks the return to the first "normal" tournament since 2019, with teams scattering to jam-packed arenas in eight cities for the first weekend, then to four different destinations for Sweet 16 before the fun ends in the Big Easy for the semifinals and title game.

The tournament was scratched in 2020 due to the then-erupting COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, all the teams played in front of limited crowds in a makeshift bubble in and around Indianapolis. One thing that remains the same: Last year's finalists, Gonzaga and Baylor, are top seeds, with the Zags favored to win the title. 

The Associated Press and the FOX TV Digital Team reporting from Washington, D.C. contributed to this story.

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