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The NCAA basketball tournament kicks off March Madness. Here's how to fill out your bracket

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The NCAA men's basketball tournament tips off Tuesday, March 18 .

The women's tournament starts March 21 .

The men's Final Four starts April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio .

The goal for every team is to survive (i.e. win the first game on their schedule) and advance.

A total of 68 teams earn a bid to both the men's and women's NCAA tournament.

Each of the 31 Division I conferences get an automatic bid, which is awarded to the team that wins the post-season conference tourney regardless of how they may have performed during the regular season .

The teams are split into four regions ( East , South , Midwest , West ) and given a seeding with the one seeds considered to be the best teams.