For college basketball fans, selection show Sunday is like Christmas day.  68 teams from across the country get their ticket punched to compete in the greatest tournament in the world.  The results are announced live so that schools and fans find out at the same time the teams that made it – and the teams that didn’t.

It was on this day, March 7th, 1982, that the NCAA tournament was broadcast live on TV for the first time.  The show continued to rise in popularity each year as more and more fans became obsessed with the NCAA tournament. Adding to the excitement of the show was the use of live cameras to record the reaction of teams when they learned their fate on selection Sunday.

A unique tradition in sports was started the day the selection show was on TV for the first time.  In addition to teams learning if they made the tournament, they also discover what team they will be playing and in what city they will be traveling too.  It is truly one of the best traditions in sports, and it all started on this day in history.