Lovely evening out here... looks like rain is going to stay to the west as the parent low offshore is pulling westward now. Had a little rain earlier today but missed out on the heavier rain farther west that others mentioned. Quite a bit of mid and late afternoon sun as well.
The First Four is a play-in round to make it to the real tournament. There's originally 68 colleges picked and 8 of them must play games on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week. The winners make it into the first round of 64 teams which begins on a Thursday.
Round
Teams
Remaining
Teams
Competing
Games
Week
Dates
First Four (play-in round)
68
8
4
1st
Tuesday & Wednesday
First round
64
64
32
Thursday & Friday
Second round
32
32
16
Saturday & Sunday
Sweet Sixteen (regional semifinals)
16
16
8
2nd
Thursday & Friday
Elite Eight (regional finals)
8
8
4
Saturday & Sunday
Final Four (national semifinals)
4
4
2
3rd
Saturday
Championship game
2
2
1
Monday