2017 NBA Finals, Background, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers finished the 2016–17 regular season with a 51–31 record, securing the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round, swept the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the Boston Celtics in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals.


2017 NBA Finals, Background, Regular season series
The Warriors and Cavaliers tied the regular season series 1–1, with each team winning its home game.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
The Warriors routed the Cavaliers 113–91 to take a 1–0 series lead. The Warriors led by only 8 points at halftime, but they opened the third quarter on a 13–0 run and never looked back. Kevin Durant had 38 points to lead the Warriors, and Stephen Curry added 28 points. The Cavaliers' LeBron James also had 28 points, becoming the first player to score 6000 career points in the postseason. James also passed Reggie Miller for second all-time in postseason three-pointers made. He grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out 8 assists, but he committed 8 of the Cavaliers' 20 turnovers.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
Golden State as a team managed only half of James' total with 4 turnovers, equaling the NBA record for fewest turnovers in an NBA Finals game. With this win, the Warriors became the first team ever to start 13–0 in the playoffs and their current 13 game win-streak is tied for the most consecutive postseason wins in NBA history. Former Cavaliers head coach and current Warriors interim head coach Mike Brown took charge of the game, with Steve Kerr still being out due to illness.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 1
The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to fail to record a steal in a game. With the loss, the Cavaliers' nine game road playoff winning streak (a streak that began when they won Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals) came to an end. James dropped to 1–7 in NBA Finals openers in his career.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
The Warriors won Game 2 over the Cavaliers, 132–113, to improve their best start in NBA playoff history to 14–0. Their fourteen-game win-streak is the longest postseason win streak in NBA history. Golden State surpassed Cleveland's thirteen game win-streak, which dated back to Game 5 of the 2016 Finals. The Warriors also hit an NBA Finals record 18 three-pointers on 43 attempts, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant hitting four threes apiece and Draymond Green connecting on a three of his own from behind the arc.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr returned from illness to coach from the sideline for the first time since April 19, 2017. In what was a high scoring affair for both teams, the Warriors held a slim three-point lead (67–64) at halftime and a four-point lead (86–82) past the midway point of the third quarter before outscoring the Cavs 35–17 through the middle of the fourth quarter. LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 29 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists, and Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving added 27 and 19 points, respectively.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
For the Warriors, Durant scored 33 points with 13 rebounds, while Curry had 32 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. With his eighth triple-double of the Finals, James moved into a tie with Magic Johnson for the most Finals triple-doubles in the league. Game 2 was the first postseason game since 1970 where two opposing players each had a triple-double. Golden State took a 2–0 series lead heading into Cleveland for Game 3.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 118–113 to extend the longest winning streak in NBA playoff history to 15 games. Golden State became the first team in the four major sports leagues in North America to go 15–0 in the postseason. The Warriors got off to a blistering start, hitting an NBA Finals record 9 three-pointers in the first quarter, resulting in an early 39-32 lead. During the quarter, the Cavaliers got a scare when LeBron James bumped into his teammate Tristan Thompson trying to guard Klay Thompson, but James stayed in the game.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
The Warriors finished the first half with 12 made three-pointers, another NBA Finals record for most threes in a half, and led 67–61. However, the Cavaliers started to show some life to start the third quarter, going on a 10–2 run to lead 71–69. They led 94–89 after three quarters of play and 113–107 with 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors scored 11 unanswered points to steal the road win and take a commanding 3–0 series lead heading into Game 4. During the game-ending run, Kevin Durant drilled the go-ahead three-pointer for Golden State with 45.3 seconds remaining and Iguodala blocked LeBron James' potential game-tying 3.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
Durant led the Warriors with 31 points, going 4-for-7 from behind the arc that included the winning basket. Klay Thompson added 30 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range, and Stephen Curry scored 26 points on 5-of-9 shooting from downtown to go along with 13 rebounds. For the Cavaliers, James had 39 points, falling one assist shy of a triple-double with 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Kyrie Irving added 38 points but struggled from beyond the arc, going 0-for-7. Despite stellar performances from both James and Irving, Cleveland finished the game a dismal 12-of-44 from three-point range, compared to the Warriors 16-of-33 performance on three point shots.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
The Cleveland Cavaliers led wire-to-wire as they avoided a Finals sweep by Golden State to rout the Warriors 137–116, ending Golden State's NBA postseason record winning streak at 15 games to start the 2017 playoffs. The game was notable for shattering a number of NBA Finals records. The Cavs scored 49 points in the first quarter, the most points of any period in a Finals game, en route to scoring 86 points for the first half, which was the most points scored in a half.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
They also hit 13 three-pointers in the first half, which broke the Finals record for most threes in a half set last game by the Warriors. The Cavaliers finished the game with 24 three-pointers, which easily broke the Finals record for the most threes in a game set by the Warriors in Game 2. Both the Cavaliers and Warriors combined to score a total of 154 points in the first half, which is another Finals record for most points by any two teams in a half.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
LeBron James tallied his ninth triple-double of the Finals (31 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists), surpassing Magic Johnson for the most triple-doubles in a championship series. His highlight reel came three minutes into the third quarter when he threw a pass off the backboard to himself, finishing with a powerful dunk. James also passed Michael Jordan for third all-time in points scored in the Finals. Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 40 points, breaking out of a shooting slump from behind the arc by going 7-for-12.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Kevin Love added 23 points on 6-of-8 from downtown, and J. R. Smith had 15 points, all on 5-of-9 from three-point range, including a deep shot from 30 feet in the second quarter to beat the shot clock buzzer. Kevin Durant scored 35 points to lead the Warriors, but their other three superstars were held to under 20 points each as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green managed 14, 13, and 16 points respectively. Cleveland trails the Finals, 3–1, as the series shifts back to Oakland.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Game 4 was also notable for a number of testy incidents. As the teams prepared for a jump ball with 1:56 left in the first quarter, Green was called for a hard foul for throwing an elbow at Iman Shumpert. Green was trying to plead his case when Warriors head coach Steve Kerr simultaneously argued with the officials, who then called a technical foul on Kerr, although it was mistakenly recorded as a foul on Green.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
With 7:19 remaining in the second quarter, Dahntay Jones was inexplicably whistled for a technical foul sitting on the Cavaliers bench for trash talking at Durant, who was on the floor. With 7:26 remaining in the third quarter, Love fouled Durant from behind on a layup attempt. Durant claimed he was hit hard in the forehead, and James exchanged words with him, leading to a double-technical on the pair as well as a type 1 flagrant foul on Kevin Love.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
About a minute later, Green picked up what appeared to be his second technical foul of the game, which would have forced an ejection. However, the officials confirmed that the first technical was on coach Kerr, not Green as originally recorded. Late in the third, Shumpert and Zaza Pachulia got involved in a mini scuffle when battling for the loose ball, with Pachulia hitting in the direction of Shumpert's groin and Shumpert retaliating. At the same time, a Cavaliers fan, charged onto the court to shout at Matt Barnes during the Warriors huddle as the officials were replaying the incident. Shumpert and Pachulia were assessed double technicals, and the fan was escorted out of the arena by security personnel.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Many in the media and on Twitter commented on the refereeing in this game, calling it "a disaster" and "a sideshow".


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers with a score of 129–120 to win the series 4–1. With this win, the Warriors 16–1 postseason record is the best winning percentage (.941) in NBA playoffs history. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving tried their best to combat the Warriors offense but were unable to overcome a bad night from Kevin Love, who only had six points and a game low minus-21 in his 29 minutes, and the Cavaliers bench, which was outscored 7 to 35 by the Warriors' bench.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
The Cavaliers did come out aggressive early while Golden State dealt with a series of turnovers. Though the Warriors trailed 41-33 with 10:14 left in the second quarter, they chipped away at that deficit and eventually were able to take a 45-43 lead. David West got tangled up with Irving while fighting for the ball with 3:08 left before halftime; after J.R. Smith pushed West from behind, Tristan Thompson entered the tussle and went face-to-face with West while each jawed at one another. West, Thompson and Smith all received technical fouls after the officials reviewed the replay.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
A 28-4 run pushed Golden State ahead, just after it looked like Durant committed his third foul on a basket by James that was not called. The Cavaliers were barely able to hold on, trailing by 11 at the end of the half. Cleveland responded in the third quarter by outscoring the Warriors 33-27 to cut the lead to five and eventually to as little as three, but could not withstand the offensive barrage by the Warriors in the fourth. Kevin Durant hit a 17-foot fadeaway over James early in the fourth quarter, then assisted on an Andre Iguodala 3-pointer the next possession as the Warriors began to pull away for good.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Kevin Durant, who was defeated in the 2012 NBA Finals when his Oklahoma City Thunder were finished off 4-1 by LeBron James' Miami Heat, returned the favor by scoring a team high 39 points in the 4-1 series defeat of James' Cavaliers while being honored as the 2017 Finals MVP. Stephen Curry added 34 points, 10 assists and six rebounds alongside Draymond Green's 12 big rebounds. Andre Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP, showed up big off the bench with 20 points.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
LeBron James finished with 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists and became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals, a feat made all the more impressive with his excellent shooting percentages of 56% from the field and 38% from behind the arc over the 5-game series, with the only blemishes being his poor free-throw shooting and turnover count. Kyrie Irving was the Cavaliers second leading scorer with 26 points on 9 of 22 from the field. However, it was the final game of Irving's career with the Cavaliers before he was traded to the Boston Celtics in the off-season. J. R. Smith scored his 2017 postseason-best 25 points while going 7 of 8 from beyond the arc.


2017 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
With the win at Oracle, the Warriors became the first Bay Area team to win a championship in their home city since the Oakland A's beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1974 World Series (the San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XIX in January 1985 at Stanford Stadium in nearby Stanford and the Oakland Athletics won the 1989 World Series in San Francisco), gaining revenge from their 2016 loss.


2017 NBA Finals, Media coverage
In the United States, the NBA Finals aired on ABC with Mike Breen as play-by-play commentator, and Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson serving as color commentators. ESPN Radio aired it as well and had Marc Kestecher and Hubie Brown as commentators. ESPN Deportes provided exclusive Spanish-language coverage of The Finals, with a commentary team of Álvaro Martín and Carlos Morales.


2017 NBA G League draft
The 2017 NBA G League Draft was the 17th draft of the National Basketball Association G League. The draft was held on October 21, 2017, just before the 2017–18 season.


2017 NBA Summer League
The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League.


2017 NBA Summer League
Eight teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 1 to 6, 2017. Each team played five games over the course of the week, with a championship day being played on the final day of the league. The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat also participated in the Las Vegas Summer League.


2017 NBA Summer League
Four teams participated in the round-robin format of the Utah Jazz Summer League from July 3 to 6, 2017. All four teams (Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs) also participated in the Las Vegas Summer League.


2017 NBA Summer League
The Las Vegas NBA Summer League is the official summer league of the National Basketball Association. It is the premier summer league of the three, with a total of 24 participating. A total of 67 games was played from July 7 to 17, 2017, at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, both located in Paradise, Nevada (near Las Vegas).


2017 NBA Summer League, Orlando Pro Summer League
Officially known as the Mountain Dew Orlando Pro Summer League for sponsorship reasons, this 20-game, week-long event will feature eight teams. Each team will play five games over the six-day event, with a championship day being played on the final day of the league. A point system will establish the standings leading up to the final day, with eight points awarded each game based on: four points for winning the game and one point for winning a quarter (in the event of a tied quarter, each team will receive 0.5 points). In the event of ties in seeding heading into championship day, three tiebreakers will be in place: 1) total point differential; 2) total points allowed; 3) coin flip.


2017 NBA Summer League, Orlando Pro Summer League, Championship day
Each team will play one game on the league's final day for either first, third, fifth or seventh place.


2017 NBA Summer League, Orlando Pro Summer League, Championship day
The seeding will be determined by a team's total points after the first five days. Eight points will be awarded in each game: four points for winning a game and one point for every quarter a team won. In the event of a tied quarter, each team is awarded half a point. If two or more teams had equal points, then the following tiebreakers applied:


2017 NBA Summer League, Orlando Pro Summer League, Championship day
Each odd-numbered seed will be paired with the team seeded immediately below it. For example, the top two seeds will play in the championship game, the third and fourth seeds will play in the third-place game, etc.


2017 NBA Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League
In its now third year, the Utah Jazz Summer League will host four teams. Each team will play each other in a round-robin format for a total of six games, with each team playing each day (July 3, 5, and 6).


2017 NBA Summer League, Las Vegas NBA Summer League
The Las Vegas NBA Summer League is the official summer league of the NBA. It is the premier summer league of the three, with a total of 24 teams participating. A total of 67 games were played from July 7 to 17, 2017, at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, both located in Paradise, Nevada (near Las Vegas). Teams will compete in three preliminary games beginning on July 7 before being seeded in a tournament that leads to the Championship Game on July 17. Each team will play at least five games in Las Vegas.


2017 NBA Summer League, Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Championship
The championship is determined by a single-elimination tournament; the top 8 teams receive a first-round bye.


2017 NBA Summer League, Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Championship
Teams are seeded first by overall record, then by a tiebreaker system


2017 NBA Summer League, Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Championship
First-round losers will play consolation games to determine 17th through 24th places based on the tiebreaker system stated above. Second-round losers will play consolation games to determine ninth through 16th places.


2017 NBA Summer League, Las Vegas NBA Summer League, Honors
The All-Summer League First and Second Teams were selected by a panel of media members in attendance at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.


2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.


2017 NBA draft
The draft lottery took place during the playoffs on May 16, 2017. The 53–29 Boston Celtics, who were also the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and reached the Eastern Conference Finals at the time of the NBA draft lottery, won the #1 pick with pick swapping rights thanks to a previous trade with the Brooklyn Nets, who had the worst record the previous season.


2017 NBA draft
The Los Angeles Lakers, who had risked losing their 2017 first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers, moved up two spots to get the Second overall pick, while Philadelphia moved up to receive the No. 3 pick due to the Sacramento Kings moving up in the draft, which activated pick swapping rights the 76ers had from an earlier trade. On June 19, four days before the NBA draft began, the Celtics and 76ers traded their top first round picks to each other, meaning the holders of the top four picks of this year's draft would be exactly the same as the previous year's draft.


2017 NBA draft
The draft class was the youngest draft class to date, with the most freshmen and fewest seniors selected in the first round; the top seven picks in the draft were college freshmen. It was the third time, and the second in a row, that three players were selected from Serbian team KK Mega Basket in the same draft (Vlatko Čančar, Ognjen Jaramaz, Alpha Kaba), with it previously occurring during the 2014 and 2016 NBA draft.


2017 NBA draft
The draft also received much media coverage from ESPN pertaining to eventual second overall pick Lonzo Ball and his outspoken father, LaVar Ball, much to the chagrin of many sports fans and even some ESPN employees. This was one of the rare occasions where a player drafted from their year did not win Rookie of the Year; the award went to 2016 first overall pick Ben Simmons, the first player since Blake Griffin in 2011 to win the award in a year he was not drafted.


2017 NBA draft, Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2017 NBA Draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants
The draft was conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its player's union. The CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants
The NBA has since expanded the draft combine to include players with remaining college eligibility (who, like players without college eligibility, can only attend by invitation).


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants
Players who were not automatically eligible for the draft had to declare their eligibility by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2017 draft, this date fell on April 23. After that date "early entry" players were able to attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. Under the CBA, a player could withdraw from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, which was 10 days before the draft. Under NCAA rules, players had until May 24 (10 days after the draft combine) to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants
A player who hired an agent forfeited his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he was drafted.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
At the time, a record-high 185 underclassed draft prospects (i.e., players with remaining college eligibility) had declared themselves for eligibility at the April 24 deadline (138 of them being from college), although college players who had not hired agents or signed professional contracts outside the NBA were able to decide to return to college by May 24, 10 days after the end of the NBA Draft Combine.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
These players have publicly indicated that they have hired agents, or had planned to do so around the start of the draft; those who hired agents immediately lost their eligibility to return to NCAA basketball in 2017–18. By the end of the May 24 deadline, 73 draft candidates from college decided to return to their respective colleges for at least another year, leaving 64 underclassmen to officially enter the draft this year.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, College underclassmen
Additionally, two more players left entry at the end of the international player deadline, meaning both Maverick Rowan from North Carolina State and Darin Johnson from Cal State Northridge would not return for college, but one player managed to enter the college underclassman deadline, thus leaving 63 entries at hand for the NBA Draft.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Early entrants, International players
International players that had declared this year and did not previously declare in another prior year can also drop out of the draft about 10 days before the draft begins on June 12. Initially, there were 46 players who originally expressed interest entering the 2017 draft. At the end of the international deadline, 36 players wound up declining entry for the draft, leaving only 10 international players staying in the NBA Draft. As a result, 73 total underclassmen entered the 2017 NBA Draft.


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2017 NBA draft, Eligibility and entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2017 NBA draft, Combine
The invitation-only NBA Draft Combine was held in Chicago from May 9 to 14. The on-court element of the combine took place on May 11 and 12. This year's event had Under Armour as its primary sponsor. A total of 67 players were invited for this year's NBA Draft Combine, with 5 more named as alternates in the event some players could not come for whatever reason. Ten invited players declined to attend for various reasons, including three players completely on the international scale.


2017 NBA draft, Combine
Eighteen more players that were guaranteed invitations were also players testing out their draft stocks during the event. Eleven players participating in the event were seniors, the lowest number ever of combine participants who had exhausted their college eligibility. During the event, six different players were deemed injured either before or during this year's Draft Combine. At the end of the May 24 college deadline, eight players who originally declared for the NBA Draft and were invited to the Draft Combine this year, including potential "none-and-done" Kentucky freshman redshirt Hamidou Diallo, ultimately returned to college for at least one more season.


2017 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The 2017 NBA draft lottery was held on May 16.


2017 NBA draft, Draft lottery
^ 1: The Boston Celtics exercised the option to swap first-round picks with the 20–62 Brooklyn Nets on April 3, 2017. They traded the pick to the Philadelphia 76ers four days before the draft began. ^ 2: The Philadelphia 76ers exercised the option to swap first-round picks with the Sacramento Kings after the names of the top three teams were revealed. It was then used to swap their own pick with Boston four days before the draft began. ^ 3: The New Orleans Pelicans' first round pick was conveyed to the Sacramento Kings because it fell outside of the top three.


2017 NBA draft, Invited attendees
The NBA annually invites around 15–20 players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. When their names are called, the player leaves the room and goes up on stage. Other players who are not invited are allowed to attend the ceremony. They sit in the stands with the fans and walk up on stage when (or if) they are drafted. 10 players were invited to the 2017 NBA draft on June 8, with three more of them being invited two days later. Seven more players would be invited to complete the green room listing on June 14, bringing the total invite list to 20. The following players (listed alphabetically) were confirmed as invites for the event this year.


2017 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Pre-draft trades
Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.


2017 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Draft-day trades
Draft-day trades occurred on June 22, 2017, the day of the draft.


2017 NBA playoffs
The 2017 NBA playoffs  began on April 15, 2017. It concluded with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, their third consecutive meeting at the Finals. Kevin Durant was named the NBA Finals MVP in his first year on the team.


2017 NBA playoffs
The Warriors set the record for the longest playoff winning streak (15) and the best record (16–1) in NBA playoff history.


2017 NBA playoffs, Overview, NBA Finals
The Golden State Warriors began the finals with a playoff record of 12–0. The first two finals' games were blowouts by Golden State, game three was closer, but the Warriors still came out victors, going up 3–0 bringing them to 15–0 in the playoffs, the best ever start in NBA playoff history. The Cavs countered beating the Warriors 137–116 in Game four, with 86 points in the first half, setting an NBA Finals' record. On June 12, the Warriors bounced back and won game five at home 129-120, clinching the organization's fifth championship.


2017 NBA playoffs, Overview, NBA Finals
Golden State's 16–1 record is an NBA playoff record since 2003 for fewest games attempted to achieve an NBA championship. The title was all-star forward Kevin Durant's first and all-stars Stephen Curry's, Klay Thompson's, and Draymond Green's second in three years. Durant, who scored over 30 points in each of five games (the first player to do so since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 with Los Angeles), was the recipient of the 2017 Bill Russell NBA Finals' MVP award.


2017 NBA playoffs, Format
Within each conference, the eight teams with the most wins qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record.


2017 NBA playoffs, Format
Each conference's bracket is fixed; there is no reseeding. All rounds are best-of-seven series; the team that has four wins advances to the next round. As stated above, all rounds, including the NBA Finals, are in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. Home court advantage in any round does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead to the team with the better regular season record. If two teams with the same record meet in a round, standard tiebreaker rules are used. The rule for determining home court advantage in the NBA Finals is winning percentage, then head to head record, followed by record vs. opposite conference.


2017 NBA playoffs, Playoff qualifying
The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot on March 19, 2017.


2017 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home court advantage are shown in Italics.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Chicago Bulls
After trailing 2-0 in the series, the Celtics came back to tie the series as Rajon Rondo was ruled out indefinitely after breaking his right thumb in Game 2, and Al Horford scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in Game 3, and Isaiah Thomas scorched the Bulls for 33 points in Game 4. The Celtics' win in Game 5 would be the only home game victory of the series, and Avery Bradley scored 23 points in Game 6 as the Celtics eliminated the Bulls.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Chicago Bulls
Notably, this series began one day following the death of Chyna Thomas, younger sister of Isaiah, in a one-car accident. Thomas played all six games of the series, before returning to the state of Washington for her funeral on April 29. Game 6 also marked the final game of Jimmy Butler's tenure as a Bull.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Chicago Bulls
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first four meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Indiana Pacers
In Game 1, LeBron James scored 32 points in a close battle; the Pacers came back in the 4th quarter, but C.J. Miles missed a game-winning three, giving the Cavaliers the win. But after winning Game 2, the Cavs were down by as many as 26 points in the first half of Game 3. The Pacers were in control until the Cavs led by James' triple-double of 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists came roaring back in the second half and took the lead late in the fourth quarter.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Indiana Pacers
They would end up winning Game 3, 119-114, as they made it one of the largest comebacks in NBA playoff history. With the Pacers holding a 2-point lead with over a minute left in Game 4, James hits the three over Myles Turner, giving the Cavs a one-point lead. Later, Kyle Korver's free throws increases the lead to three. The Pacers had a chance to extend the game, but Paul George missed the three, and James gets the rebound. He would make 1 of the 2 free throws to seal the Cavs' 4-game sweep over the Pacers. Game 4 would be George's final game as a Pacer.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Indiana Pacers
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pacers winning the first meeting.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Toronto Raptors vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks
This was the first meeting in the playoffs between the Raptors and Bucks.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Washington Wizards vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Wizards/Bullets winning three of the first five meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with Golden State winning the first meeting in 2016.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Memphis Grizzlies
In game 4, Marc Gasol hits the game winning shot with 0.7 seconds left in overtime.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Memphis Grizzlies
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with San Antonio winning three of the four meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Houston Rockets vs. (6) Oklahoma City Thunder
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Thunder/SuperSonics winning six of the first seven meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (5) Utah Jazz
In Game 1, Joe Johnson hits the game-winner at the buzzer.


2017 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (5) Utah Jazz
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning the previous two meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Washington Wizards
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning two of the first three meetings. Memorably, during the first quarter of Game 1, Isaiah Thomas was struck in the mouth by the elbow of Otto Porter, immediately knocking out one tooth, and causing further damage to his mouth. As Porter prepared to shoot a pair of free throws, Thomas calmly retrieved and pocketed his fallen tooth, then hit two three-point field goals in the following two minutes, before being pulled from the game for medical attention. Thomas went on to play the entire seven-game series, including a 53-point effort to lead his team to an overtime victory in game 2, all while wearing temporary protection in his mouth. He underwent extensive oral surgery after the playoffs to mitigate the damage.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Toronto Raptors
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with Cleveland winning the first meeting in 2016.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Golden State Warriors vs. (5) Utah Jazz
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Warriors winning two of the first three meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Houston Rockets
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Rockets winning the first three meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Cleveland Cavaliers
This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first six meetings.


2017 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Golden State Warriors vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series. San Antonio led by as many as 25 points in game 1 before Kawhi Leonard had to leave the game and the series after he landed on Zaza Pachulia's foot, re-aggravating his existing ankle injury.


2017 NBA playoffs, 2017 NBA Finals: (E2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (W1) Golden State Warriors
This was the third meeting in the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Cavaliers with each team winning one series.


2017 NBA playoffs, Media coverage, Television
ESPN, TNT, ABC, and NBA TV broadcast the playoffs nationally in the United States. In the first round, regional sports networks affiliated with the teams can also broadcast the games, except for games televised on ABC. Throughout the first two rounds, TNT televised games Saturday through Thursday, ESPN televised games Friday and Saturday, and ABC televised selected games on Saturday and Sunday, usually in the afternoon. NBA TV has aired select weekday games in the first round. TNT televised the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was televised on ABC, while Games 2 through 4 were televised on ESPN. ABC had exclusive television rights to the NBA Finals for the 15th consecutive year.


2017 NBL Finals
The 2017 NBL Finals was the championship series of the 2016–17 NBL season and the conclusion of the season. Perth Wildcats defeated Illawarra Hawks in three games (3-0) to claim their eighth NBL championship.


2017 NBL Finals, Format
The 2016–17 National Basketball League Finals were played in February and March 2017 between the top four teams of the regular season, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and one best-of-five final series, where the higher seed hosted the first, third and fifth games.


2017 NBL Finals, Qualification, Seedings
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win-loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.


2017 NBL Finals, Semi-finals series, (2) Cairns Taipans vs (3) Perth Wildcats
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 323-317 points differential to Perth:


2017 NBL Finals, Grand Final series, (3) Perth Wildcats vs (4) Illawarra Hawks
Tied 2–2 in the regular season series; 336-330 points differential to Perth:


2017 NBP President's Cup
The 2017 NBP President's Cup was the first edition of NBP President's Cup. The tournament was sponsored by National Bank of Pakistan in 2017, as there was no footballing activity in Pakistan since 2016 PFF Cup. The tournament commenced on 17 January and concluded on 26 January.


2017 NBP President's Cup
Khan Research Laboratories won the tournament after defeating WAPDA 1–0 in finals. K -Electric won the third place match after defeating Sui Southern Gas 1–0.


2017 NBP President's Cup, Teams
The 12 teams participating in the tournament are as below:


2017 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 2017 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolfpack played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Dave Doeren. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Atlantic Division. They received a bid to the Sun Bowl where they defeated Arizona State.


2017 NC State Wolfpack football team, Previous season
The Wolfpack finished the 2016 season 7–6, 3–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They received an invite to the Independence Bowl where they defeated Vanderbilt 41–17.


2017 NC State Wolfpack football team, Schedule
NC State announced its 2017 football schedule on January 24, 2017. The 2017 schedule consisted of six home games, five away games, and one neutral site game in the regular season. The Wolfpack hosted ACC foes Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina, and Syracuse, and traveled to Boston College, Florida State, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest.


2017 NC State Wolfpack football team, Schedule
The Wolfpack hosted two of the four non-conference opponents, Furman from the Southern Conference and Marshall from Conference USA, and traveled to Notre Dame, who competes as an independent. NC State met South Carolina from the Southeastern Conference at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.


2017 NC State Wolfpack football team, 2018 NFL Draft
The Wolfpack had seven players selected in the 2018 NFL draft, which is a school record.


2017 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team
The 2017 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team represented North Carolina State University during the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Wolfpack were led by head coach George Kiefer, in his first season. They played home games at Dail Soccer Field. NC State finished the season with an overall record of 8–6–4 and an ACC record of 3–3–2, earning the team their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2009.


2017 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team, MLS Draft
The following members of the 2017 NC State Wolfpack men's soccer team were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.


2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship
The 2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship was the second annual tournament deciding the NCAA championship of beach volleyball, which competition is open to women only. It took place May 5-7 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It was a double elimination tournament, with a single championship match. The USC Trojans won their second consecutive national title, defeating the Pepperdine Waves 3-2 in the championship match.


2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, Qualification
The tournament is open to teams from Divisions I, II, and III. The top three teams each in the East and West Regions will qualify automatically, and two additional teams will be selected at large. Selections were announced on April 30 on NCAA.com.


2017 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, Broadcast
As in 2016, the tournament was streamed on NCAA.com and broadcast on TruTV and TBS. NCAA.com streamed matches 1-5, 9, & 13, TruTV televised matches 6-8 & 10-12, and TBS the championship match.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on June 1, 2017 as part of the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2017 College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska. The CWS started on June 17 and ended on June 27.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 64 participating NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 299 teams. Thirty-one teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conferences, and 33 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
Teams were divided into sixteen regionals of four teams, which conducted a double-elimination tournament. Regional champions then faced each other in Super Regionals, a best-of-three-game series, to determine the eight participants in the College World Series.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, National seeds
The following eight teams automatically host a Super Regional if they advance to that round:


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, National seeds
Bold indicates College World Series participant† indicates teams that were eliminated in the Regional Tournament‡ indicates teams that were eliminated in the Super Regional Tournament


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals
Bold indicates winner. Seeds for regional tournaments indicate seeds within regional. Seeds for super regional tournaments indicate national seeds only.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals, College Station Super Regional
Hosted by Texas A&M at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, College World Series
The College World Series is held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, College World Series, Bracket
Seeds listed below (in the column before each team's name) indicate national seeds only


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, College World Series, All-Tournament Team
The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Record by conference
Nc is non–conference records, i.e., with the records of teams within the same conference having played each other removed.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Media coverage, Radio
NRG Media provided nationwide radio coverage of the College World Series through its Omaha station KOZN, in association with Westwood One. It was streamed at  westwoodonesports.com, on TuneIn, and on SiriusXM. Kevin Kugler and John Bishop called all games leading up to the Championship Series with  acting as the field reporter. The Championship Series was called by Kugler and Scott Graham with Bishop acting as field reporter.


2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Media coverage, Television
ESPN carried every game from the Regionals, Super Regionals, and College World Series across its networks. During the Regionals and Super Regionals ESPN offered a dedicated channel, ESPN Bases Loaded (carried in the same channel allotments as its "Goal Line" and "Buzzer Beater" services for football and basketball), which carried live look-ins and analysis across all games in progress.


2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships was the 79th annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 37th annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the United States. In all, four different titles will be contested: men's and women's individual and team championships.


2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Held on November 18, 2017, the combined meet was hosted by the University of Louisville at E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky. The distance for the men's race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) while the distance for the women's race was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles).


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Two human polls and a committee's selections comprised the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. One additional poll, the College Football Playoff (CFP) ranking, is released midway through the season after the ninth week.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2017 and ended on December 9, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs played in the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime 26–23.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The UCF Knights also claim a national championship for this season after finishing 1st in the Colley Matrix poll, which was officially recognized by the NCAA. UCF finished the season as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I FBS and defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl. Auburn had defeated College Football Playoff national champion Alabama and runner-up Georgia during the season.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes, Game rules
The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2017 season:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes, Game rules
The committee left the current targeting rules unchanged for the 2017 season, despite discussions to modify the rule to eject a player for targeting only if the call is confirmed, not if the call stands due to lack of "indisputable video evidence" to overturn the ruling on the field.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes, Game rules
Points of emphasis this season include speeding up games by:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
Coastal Carolina was in the second year of its FBS transition. It was counted as an FBS opponent for scheduling purposes, with full FBS membership and bowl eligibility following in the 2018 season.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
The UAB football team returned after a two-year absence. The program was shut down by school administrators following the 2014 season but was reinstated less than a year later. UAB resumed its place as a full football-sponsoring member of Conference USA.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Upcoming changes
Idaho and New Mexico State played their final seasons as football members of the Sun Belt Conference. Idaho also played its last season at the FBS level; following the decision of the Sun Belt to not extend its football membership agreements with the two schools after their expirations in 2017, Idaho announced that it would downgrade to FCS and add football to its standing membership in the Big Sky Conference. New Mexico State reverted to FBS Independent status for 2018 and beyond.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Updated stadiums
Several other schools debuted major improvements to their existing venues for 2017:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Kickoff games, "Week Zero"
A recent rule change allows Hawaii, and teams that have a scheduled game at Hawaii, to play during the "Week Zero" kickoff weekend in late August. This change better accommodates the long-standing "Hawaii rule" that allows schools which travel between Hawaii and the mainland (including schools based in Hawaii) to schedule an extra game each season. Four schools took advantage of the extra week, opening the 2017 FBS season on Saturday, August 26:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Kickoff games, Week 1
The vast majority of FBS teams opened the season during the official Week 1 (as usual, held the weekend before Labor Day). Additionally, several neutral-site "kickoff weekend" games were held:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 10 and beyond will list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that fail to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
Through the 2015 season, conferences were required to have a minimum of 12 football members to play a conference championship game outside of the NCAA limit of 12 regular-season games. The NCAA removed this requirement effective with the 2016 season. At that time, all FBS conferences except the Big 12 and Sun Belt Conferences held championship games for football. The Big 12 reinstated its championship game for the 2017 season, while the Sun Belt determined its 2017 football champion solely by regular-season records before launching a championship game starting in 2018.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were played.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Postseason, Bowl selections
There were 39 post-season bowl games, with two teams advancing to a 40th – the CFP National Championship game. Normally, a team is required to have a .500 minimum winning percentage during the regular season to become bowl eligible. If there are not enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records may be chosen to fill all 78 bowl slots. Additionally, on the rare occasion in which a conference champion does not meet eligibility requirements, they are usually still chosen for bowl games via tie-ins for their conference. For the 2017 season, no team with a losing record was chosen for a bowl game. Three bowl-eligible teams, including one with a winning record, were denied bowl bids.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Postseason, Bowl selections, Bowl eligible teams
An asterisk (*) indicates the team did not receive a bowl bid.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Postseason, Bowl selections, Bowl eligible teams
As there were more bowl-eligible teams than berths available, three bowl-eligible teams did not receive an invitation:


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Postseason, Bowl selections, Bowl ineligible teams
* Ole Miss, who finished their regular season with a 6–6 record, is under a self-imposed two-year bowl ban that applies for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Postseason, College Football Playoff
Since the 2014–15 postseason, six College Football Playoff (CFP) bowl games have hosted two semifinal playoff games on a rotating basis. For this season, the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl hosted the semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Coaching changes, Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2017. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2017, see 2016 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Coaching changes, End of season
This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Awards and honors, Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.


2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Television viewers and ratings, Most watched regular season games
All times Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Poll before (10/31) and the CFP Rankings thereafter.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
The 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) football rankings comprises two human polls, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), college football's governing body, the NCAA, bestows the national championship title through a 24-team tournament. The following weekly polls determine the top 25 teams at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level of college football for the 2017 season. The STATS poll is voted by media members while the Coaches' Poll is determined by coaches at the FCS level.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Championship Game was played on January 6, 2018, in Frisco, Texas. The North Dakota State Bison beat the James Madison Dukes, 17–13, to capture their sixth title in seven years.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference changes and new programs, Membership changes
In addition, this was the final year for Campbell in the Pioneer Football League. In November 2016, the school announced that it would transition to scholarship football, and would add the sport to its existing membership in the Big South Conference in 2018.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference changes and new programs, Membership changes
This was the final season for Idaho as a football member of the Sun Belt Conference, and was also Idaho's final FBS season. Following the 2016 decision of the Sun Belt not to extend its football membership agreements with Idaho after their 2017 expiration, Idaho announced that it would downgrade to FCS football, adding the sport to its full but non-football membership in the Big Sky Conference. This is the first time in Division I that a school has voluntarily descended from FBS to FCS.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference changes and new programs, Membership changes
It was also the final season for Liberty in the Big South, and also potentially the final season for Hampton in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football (see below).


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference summaries, Other conference winners
Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Postseason, NCAA Division I playoff bracket
* Home team    WinnerAll times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)


2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Coaching changes, In-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2017. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2017, see 2016 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.


2017 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
The 2017 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship is the 37th annual tournament organized by the NCAA, to determine the national champion of Division I women's college field hockey in the United States.


2017 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
The semifinals and championship match will be played at Trager Stadium at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky from November 17 to 19, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
The 2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game that determined a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision for the 2016 season. It was played at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on January 7, 2017, with kickoff at 12:00 noon EST, and was the culminating game of the 2016 FCS Playoffs. With sponsorship from Northwestern Mutual, the game was officially known as the NCAA FCS Football Championship Presented by Northwestern Mutual.


2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams
The participants of the 2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game were the finalists of the 2016 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 24-team bracket. No. 4 seed James Madison and unseeded Youngstown State qualified for the final by winning their semifinal games. James Madison was the designated home team for the final game.


2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, Youngstown State Penguins
Youngstown State finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (6–2 in conference). In the FCS playoffs, they defeated Samford, Jacksonville State, Wofford, and second-seeded Eastern Washington to reach the finals. The Penguins entered the championship game with a 4–2 record in prior FCS/Division I-AA finals, contested during the 1991 through 1999 seasons.


2017 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, James Madison Dukes
James Madison finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (8–0 in conference). Their only loss was to North Carolina of the FBS, 56–28. In the FCS playoffs, they defeated New Hampshire, Sam Houston State, and top-seeded North Dakota State to reach the finals. The Dukes entered the championship game with a 1–0 record in prior FCS/Division I-AA finals, having defeated Montana for the 2004 season title.


2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships
The 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 53rd NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 36th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas near the campus of the host school, the Texas A&M University. In total, thirty-four different men's and women's indoor track and field events were contested from March 10 to March 11, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the final game of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. It determined the national champion for the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 3, 2017, at University of Phoenix Stadium, now known as State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona between the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina defeated Gonzaga, 71–65, to win its sixth men's basketball national championship.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
This was the first national championship game to be played in a state in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones since the 1995 game, which was held at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. North Carolina was playing in its second consecutive title game (and eleventh overall), after losing to Villanova at the buzzer the previous year. Meanwhile, Gonzaga was playing in its first-ever title game. It was the second national title game in three years – and the eighth overall – to be played between two No. 1 seeds.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
In his seventeenth year at the helm, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few led the team to its first Final Four and national championship game in school history, following a sweet sixteen appearance the year before. The team opened the season winning their first two games prior to competing in the AdvoCare Invitational. The Bulldogs beat Quinnipiac and Florida in order to reach the championship game versus Iowa State. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and held it through half time, reaching eighteen points in the second-half.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
However, with four minutes to go the Cyclones rallied to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one at 70-69. Gonzaga won the game 7271 as Iowa State missed a potential three-point shot as time expired to leave. This was their third time winning the event after previously doing so in 2008 and 2012. Following their defeat of South Dakota, Gonzaga entered their conference season with an undefeated record and broke the school record for most consecutive wins to start a season with twelve.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
After a 29–1 regular season and winning the 2017 West Coast Conference regular season championship, Gonzaga beat Pacific and Santa Clara en route to the 2017 West Coast Conference Tournament Finals, where they defeated Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs were the #1 seed in the West Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
In the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, after a tightly contested first half against South Dakota State, Jordan Mathews' 16 points and Przemek Karnowski's three consecutive baskets built a 20-point lead with 5 minutes left, helping Gonzaga to come away with a 66–46 win. In the second round game against Northwestern, Wildcat head coach Chris Collins, trailing by five with five minutes left – after trailing by as many as 22 in the second half – stomped onto the court when a goal-tending call was missed. Collins subsequently drew a technical foul, thereby dooming Northwestern's chances of winning the game, as Gonzaga would prevail to win 79–73.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
In Gonzaga's Sweet 16 game against West Virginia, Mathews hit a go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute remaining to give Gonzaga a 60–58 lead. Gonzaga won the game 61–58 and advanced to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, led by Nigel Williams-Goss' 23-point performance, Gonzaga routed Xavier 83–59 to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Gonzaga
Gonzaga defeated South Carolina 77–73 in the Final Four led by 23 points from Williams-Goss and 27 points from Gonzaga's big men. A Josh Perkins foul preventing Sindarius Thornwell's game-tying three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left enabled the Bulldogs to advance to the championship game.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, North Carolina
After a 26–6 regular season, North Carolina beat Miami (FL) in the ACC Tournament before losing to Duke in the semifinals. Despite the loss, North Carolina was selected as the top seed in the South regional as an at-large.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, North Carolina
In the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Justin Jackson broke out of a shooting slump and led North Carolina with 21 points to a 103–64 win over Texas Southern. In the second round against Arkansas, after blowing a 17-point first half lead and trailing 65–60 with under three minutes remaining, Kennedy Meeks led a North Carolina comeback with 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds remaining to put UNC ahead 68–65 as they survived to win 72–65, and advance to the Sweet 16.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, North Carolina
In the Sweet 16, Joel Berry II and Jackson led North Carolina to a 92–80 win over Butler with 26 and 24 points, respectively, to advance to the Elite Eight for the 26th time in program history. In an Elite Eight showdown between two college basketball blue bloods, North Carolina beat Kentucky 75–73 on a jump shot by Luke Maye with 0.3 seconds left, advancing to its second consecutive appearance – and record-setting 20th overall appearance – in the Final Four.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, North Carolina
Maye's shot is additionally remarkable for its similarities to Duke player Christian Laettner's shot against Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight 25 years earlier. Both Maye and Laettner wore the number 32; both games involved a No. 1 seed blue-wearing team from North Carolina playing against No. 2 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight; and both scored a long two-pointer at or near the buzzer to win the game. Laettner himself noted the similarities in a tweet.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, North Carolina
Next, North Carolina defeated Oregon 77–76 in the Final Four to advance to the championship game. Meeks led the Tar Heels with a double-double – a career-high 25 points and 14 rebounds – including an important offensive rebound of a Berry missed free throw with 4.0 seconds left to clinch the victory.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Media coverage
The game was televised in the United States by CBS. ESPN International had the media rights outside of the United States.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Background, Media coverage
Radio coverage in the United States was provided by Westwood One.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Starting lineups
Selected in an NBA Draft (number corresponds to draft round)


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary
Gonzaga led North Carolina at the half, 35–32. North Carolina outscored Gonzaga in the second half, 39–30, to win the championship. Gonzaga was up two points with 1:52 remaining, but North Carolina came back and clinched the victory in the closing minutes.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary
North Carolina won despite a poor (4-for-27) conversion rate of 3-point shots, and the Tar Heels made more points from free-throw conversions (15-for-26). The game included a total of 44 fouls. Overall, there were 26 free-throws for each side, leading the Associated Press report to deride the game as merely a free-throw contest.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Criticism
In contrast to the positive reaction to the previous year's title game—in which UNC lost to Villanova at the buzzer—many criticized the quality of play in the 2017 championship. North Carolina head coach Roy Williams did so as well, commenting during the trophy presentation ceremony that "neither team played very well."


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Criticism
The media generally blamed officiating for the game's low quality. Both teams were in the bonus eight minutes into the second half. The Associated Press labeled the game "unwatchable." Mark Tracy of the New York Times declared it a "sluggish slog of a national title game." Myron Medcalf, writing for ESPN, wrote that the game was blighted with "an abundance of foul calls, poor offense and a sleep-inducing rhythm." Chris Chase of Fox Sports lamented how the referees had "ruined" the contest through a combination of incorrect foul calls, missed calls, and superfluous use of instant replay. Tom Ley of Deadspin condemned the game as "memorably disgusting."


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Criticism
Multiple prominent current and former basketball players vocalized their distaste for the game's quality of officiating on social media, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, James Worthy, and Jay Williams.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2016–17 season. The 79th edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2017, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game was the first to be contested in a Western state since 1995 when Seattle was the host of the Final Four for that year.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
In the Final Four, North Carolina beat Oregon (making their first Final Four appearance since 1939) while Gonzaga defeated South Carolina (both making their first ever Final Four appearance). North Carolina then defeated Gonzaga 71–65 to win the national championship.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
A total of 68 teams entered the 2017 tournament, with all 32 conference tournament winners receiving an automatic bid. The Ivy League, which previously granted its automatic tournament bid to its regular season champion, hosted a postseason tournament to determine a conference champion for the first time. In previous years, had the Ivy League had two schools tied for first in the standings, a one-game playoff (or series as was the case in the 2002 season) determined the automatic bid. On March 10, 2016, the Ivy League's council of presidents approved a four-team tournament where the top four teams in the regular season would play on March 11 and 12 at Philadelphia's Palestra.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
The remaining 36 teams received "at-large" bids which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. On January 24, 2016, the NCAA announced that the Selection Committee would, for the first time, unveil in-season rankings of the top four teams in each division on February 11, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—played in the First Four (the successor to what had been known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
The committee's selections resulted in two historic milestones. The Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference made their first-ever NCAA Tournament in school history, officially becoming the last "power conference" school to make the tournament. (This fact is ironic considering that Northwestern hosted the first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1939). The Wildcats' First Round opponent, the Vanderbilt Commodores of the Southeastern Conference, also made history: with a record of 19–15, they set the mark for the most ever losses for an at-large team in tournament history.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedures
Four conference champions also made their first NCAA appearances: North Dakota (Big Sky Conference), UC Davis (Big West Conference), Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference), and first-year Division I school Northern Kentucky (Horizon League).


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2017 tournament


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and selection
Eight teams, out of 351 in Division I, were ineligible to participate in the 2017 tournament due to failing to meet APR requirements, self-imposed postseason bans, or reclassification from a lower division. Hawaii had previously been banned from entering the tournament as a penalty for infractions, but the NCAA later reversed its ban.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and selection, Automatic qualifiers
The following 32 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2017 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket
All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)* – Denotes overtime period


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Final Four
During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Villanova's East Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Gonzaga's West Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Kansas's Midwest Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (North Carolina's South Region).


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Television
CBS Sports and Turner Sports held joint U.S. television broadcast rights to the Tournament under the NCAA March Madness brand. As part of a cycle beginning in 2016, CBS held rights to the Final Four and championship game. As CBS did not want its audience to be diffused across multiple outlets, there were no localized "Team Stream" telecasts of the Final Four or championship games on Turner channels as in previous years.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Television
Following criticism of the two-hour format of the 2016 edition, the Selection Sunday broadcast was shortened to 90 minutes. CBS Sports executive Harold Bryant promised that the unveiling of the bracket would be conducted in an "efficient" manner, and leave more time to discuss and preview the tournament.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Radio
Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. For the first time in the history of the tournament, broadcasts of the Final Four and championship game were available in Spanish.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Internet, Video
Live video of games was available for streaming through the following means:


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Internet, Audio
Live audio of games was available for streaming through the following means:


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 68 teams enter the tournament. Thirty two of the teams earn automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The remaining 36 teams are granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeds the entire field from 1 to 68.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams, Automatic bids
Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Conference championship runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship was the 79th annual tournament to determine the national champions of NCAA Division I men's golf. It was contested from May 26 to 31 at the Rich Harvest Farms course in Sugar Grove, Illinois and hosted by Northern Illinois University. Oklahoma defeated defending champions Oregon, 3.5–1.5 and Braden Thornberry of Mississippi won the individual competition.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Team competition, Leaderboard
Remaining teams: Arizona State (872), Alabama (873), Iowa State (875), North Carolina (875), Stanford (879), Kent State (881), Duke (888),  Mississippi (888), Penn State (891), Lipscomb (891), Jacksonville (892), New Mexico (892), Purdue (902), Kennesaw State (904), Clemson (905).


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Team competition, Leaderboard
After 54 holes, the field of 30 teams was cut to the top 15.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Individual competition
The field was cut after 54 holes to the top 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on a top 15 team. These 84 players competed for the individual championship.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2017 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States, held from March 24 - April 8, 2017. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to determine the national champion at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the highest level of competition in college hockey. The tournament's Frozen Four – the semifinals and finals – was hosted by the University of Notre Dame and the Chicago Sports Commission at the United Center in Chicago.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Denver defeated Minnesota-Duluth 3–2 to win the program's 8th NCAA title.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
The tournament is composed of four groups of four teams in regional brackets. The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2017 regionals:


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
The winner of each regional advanced to the Frozen Four:


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 19. Hockey East had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, NCHC had four teams receive a berth, ECAC Hockey had three teams receive a berth, Big Ten Conference had three teams receive a berth,  and one team from the Atlantic Hockey, and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) received a berth.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Television
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament for the thirteenth consecutive year. ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, or ESPN3 and streamed them online via WatchESPN.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Television
In Canada, the tournament was broadcast by TSN and streamed on TSN Go.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Radio
Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the Frozen Four and will air both the semifinals and the championship.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was played on Memorial Day weekend in May 2017 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
This was the 47th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national championship for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
Seventeen teams competed in the tournament, based upon their performance during the regular season. For nine teams entry into the tournament was by means of a conference tournament automatic qualifier, eight teams received at-large selections.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
Maryland won their 3rd NCAA title, defeating Ohio State 9-6. This was Maryland's first national title since 1975.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game was the final game of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, determining the national champion for the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The match was played on December 10, 2017 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, a soccer-specific stadium that is home to the Major League Soccer club Philadelphia Union. The match was contested between Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference and Indiana of the Big Ten Conference.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game
After 90 scoreless minutes, the match was decided in the second period extra time on a golden goal from Stanford's Sam Werner. The win gave Stanford their third consecutive NCAA Division I Men's Soccer title, making them the second ever program to threepeat in the tournament, and the first program to do so since Bruce Arena's Virginia teams did so in 1994. Additionally, the victory gave Stanford an unprecedented 115th NCAA overall team title, moving ahead of UCLA. With the women's team also winning the Women's College Cup the week before, the title makes Stanford the first Division I school to win national titles in both men's and women's soccer in the same season.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final
The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1959, when it was an eight-team tournament. Since then, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, in which every Division I conference tournament champion is allocated a berth. It was Indiana's first appearance since 2012, which they won. Stanford entered the final as the two-defending champion, winning their first ever national title in their third NCAA final appearance. It was the Cardinal's fifth NCAA championship appearance, finishing as runners-up in 1998 and 2002.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
The Hoosiers entered the 2017 season with an NCAA-record 42 consecutive seasons qualifying for the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, qualifying for every NCAA Tournament since 1976. The Hoosiers were coming off an unexpectedly early exit from the NCAA Tournament, where they earned an at-large berth and reached the Round of 16, before losing to Virginia Tech on penalty kicks. During the 2016 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season, the Hoosiers were tied for second in the regular season with Wisconsin. In the 2016 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, the Hoosiers reached the semifinals before losing, again on penalties, to Wisconsin.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an undefeated record, being the only program in the nation to achieve such an accomplishment. During the regular season, the Hoosiers finished 13-0-4 and 5-0-3 in conference play. They finished second in the Big Ten behind Michigan, and were seeded second in the 2017 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. There, the Hoosiers defeated Penn State and Ohio without giving up any goals. In the championship game, the Hoosiers faced Wisconsin, the same program that had eliminated them from the previous year's Big Ten Tournament.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
After a scoreless draw, the Badgers got the better of the Hoosiers in a penalty shoot-out, giving the Badgers the Big Ten title. Despite failing to win the Big Ten title, Indiana earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, where they were given the number two-overall seed. This afforded the Hoosiers a first-round bye, where they hosted the winner of the Old Dominion (2017 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament champions) vs. NC State (ACC 9th-place finishers) match in the second round. Old Dominion won the match 2-0, meaning the Hoosiers hosted the Monarchs in Bloomington on November 19, in the second round. Goals from Lillard, Toye and Panchot were enough for Indiana, as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Old Dominion.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
In the third round, or "sweet sixteen" of the tournament, Indiana hosted the 20th-ranked, New Hampshire (2017 America East Men's Soccer Tournament semifinalists). Thomas opened the scoring for the Hoosiers in the 10th minute, while Moore scored the game-winning goal in the 65th minute, giving Indiana a 2-0 lead over New Hampshire. The Wildcats' Jacob Gould would notch one back in the 76th minute, creating a nervy final quarter hour for the Hoosiers.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
Despite this, Indiana would hold on to win the match, and advance to their 25th NCAA quarterfinal ("elite eight") and their first since their national championship run in 2012. In the quarterfinals, Indiana was pitted against their conference foes, the seventh-seed Michigan State. The match, played at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington was sold out, with a capacity crowd of 5,450. In the match, the Spartans would score a stunning 2nd-minute goal to put the Hoosiers in an early hole. Michigan State left winger Ken Krolicki served a cross to Ryan Sierakowski, who headed it in the bottom left corner.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
It was Ryan Sierakowski's ninth goal of the season. The Spartans would hold on to the lead through the first half and through a third of the second half of play. In the 60th minute, Indiana's Swartz headed an inswinging corner kick to tie the match, 1-1. The score would remain gridlocked through the remainder of regulation and the two overtime periods. In penalty kicks, Indiana prevailed over Michigan State 3-2, giving the Hoosiers their 19th College Cup appearance.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Indiana
In the national semifinals, Indiana took on a familiar college soccer powerhouse, North Carolina. The cagey match featured a lone goal from Gutman, who scored off a loose ball in the penalty box off a deflected corner kick. This lone 50th-minute goal was enough to send Indiana to its 15th NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Stanford
The Cardinal began the season as the two-time defending NCAA Champions, and the three-time defending Pac-12 Champions. The program had nine of its starters from 2016 return for 2017. One of the program's major losses entering 2017 was senior defender, Brian Nana-Sinkham, who graduated and signed a pro contract with United Soccer League outfit Seattle Sounders FC 2, the reserve team of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders. Notable returnees included Drew Skundrich, Corey Baird and Foster Langsdorf, who had been central pieces of Stanford's team since their 2015 championship. During the regular season into the NCAA Tournament, the three led the team in points and in goals. Langsdorf specifically led the team with 34 points on the season, from 14 goals and 6 assists. Baird led the team with 7 assists.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Stanford
During the 2016-17 offseason, it was speculated that midfielder Baird would forgo his senior season and sign a homegrown contract with MLS's Real Salt Lake for playing in their academy before college. Baird committed during the spring that he would return for a senior season at Stanford.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Road to the final, Stanford
During preseason, it was predicted that the Cardinal would again win the Pac-12 title. The Cardinal were ranked first in numerous preseason national rankings including United Soccer Coaches, TopDrawerSoccer.com, CollegeSoccerNews.com, Hero Sports and Soccer America.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Pre-match, Venue selection
The National Collegiate Athletic Association determined the host of the final in 2015. Since the foundation of the NCAA Tournament, the venue for the College Cup semifinals and national championship have been played at a predetermined neutral site. It was the first time since 2013 that the state of Pennsylvania hosted the NCAA Men's College Cup and the third time ever that the state hosted the College Cup.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Pre-match, Venue selection
Tickets went on pre-sale for Philadelphia Union season ticket holders on August 24, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Pre-match, Analysis
Ahead of the match, CollegeSoccerNews.com said the match should "be dandy" given the explosive offense Stanford brings and Indiana's strong defense. The staff article published by CSN did not favoritism towards either Stanford or Indiana, but instead took pieces of what could give the Cardinal or Hoosiers a national championship. The prediction included that Stanford's specialty in set pieces and athleticism might not favor the Hoosiers, while the Cardinal also have had experience of playing in the two previous title games.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Pre-match, Analysis
Indiana was seen as a potential victor due to never losing a single match in regulation at all during the season. Predictions, however, that slightly favored Stanford, said that Indiana's Mason Toye, the true freshman with 10 goals on the season, would need to have an impact on the match in order for the Hoosiers to see it through. Some critics and analysts favored Indiana because of their experienced back line that featured center backs Grant Lillard and Andrew Gutman.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Pre-match, Analysis
Predictions that favored Stanford stated that Stanford striker Foster Langsdorf, who had been with the team for the 2015 and 2016 finals, would need to have a big match in order to secure a victory for Stanford.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship Game, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Danny Thornberry (United States)Tom Felice (United States)Fourth official:Chris Penso (United States)


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament (also known as the 2017 College Cup) was the 59th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's collegiate soccer. The first, second, third, and quarterfinal rounds were held at college campus sites across the United States during November and December 2017, with host sites determined by seeding and record. The four-team College Cup finals were played at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania on December 8 and 10.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
The Stanford Cardinal defended their 2016 title by defeating Indiana in golden goal overtime, 1–0, to claim the 2017 championship.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Qualification
As in previous editions of the NCAA Division I Tournament, the tournament features 48 participants out of a possible field of 203 teams. Of the 48 berths, 24 are allocated to the 21 conference tournament champions and to the regular season winners of the Ivy League, Pac-12 Conference, and West Coast Conference, which do not have tournaments. The remaining 24 berths are supposed to be determined through an at-large process based upon the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of teams that did not automatically qualify.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Qualification
The NCAA Selection Committee also names the top sixteen seeds for the tournament, with those teams receiving an automatic bye into the second round of the tournament. The remaining 32 teams play in a single-elimination match in the first round of the tournament for the right to play a seeded team in the second round.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Qualification
Of the 24 schools that had previously won the championship, 13 qualified for this year's tournament.


2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships were contested from March 22-25, 2017 at the Indiana University Natatorium at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana at the 94th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of Division I men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 96th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 36th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the fifth consecutive year at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on the campus of the University of Oregon. In total, forty-two different men's and women's track and field events were contested from June 7 to June 10, 2017.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament
The 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament was held from May 18 through June 7, 2017 as the final part of the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 14, 2017. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2017 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma would repeat as National Champions, defeating Florida in 2 games and 17 innings in the first game. Oklahoma became the lowest seeded team to ever win the National Championship, winning as the 10 seed.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Automatic bids
The Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular-season champion. All other conferences have the automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National seeds
16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show Sunday, May 14 at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. The 16 national seeds host the Regionals. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advance to Women's College World Series.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National seeds
1. Florida2. Arizona3. Oregon4. Florida State5. UCLA6. Washington7. Auburn8. Tennessee


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National seeds
9. Texas A&M10. Oklahoma11. Utah12. Ole Miss13. LSU14 . Kentucky15. Baylor16. Alabama


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals
The Regionals took place May 18–21. One regional, Salt Lake City, took place May 18–20 because of BYU's no-Sunday-play policy; all other regionals occurred May 19–21. The Super Regionals took place from May 25–28.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series will be held June 1 through June 7, 2017, in Oklahoma City.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, All-tournament Team
The following players were members of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, F, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semi-Finals, Finals, and National Champion.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Media coverage, Radio
Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of the championship series. It was streamed online at westwoodsports.com, through TuneIn, and on SiriusXM. Kevin Kugler and Leah Amico provided the call for Westwood One.


2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Media coverage, Television
ESPN holds exclusive rights to the tournament. They aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN3 and Longhorn Network. For the first time in the history of the women's softball tournament ESPN covered every regional.


2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
The 2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships will be the men's and women's tennis tournaments played concurrently from May 18 to May 29, 2017 in Athens, Georgia at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia. It will be the 72nd edition of the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship* and the 36th edition of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship. * It will be the 12th time that the men's and women's tournaments were held at the same venue. It will consist of a men's and women's team, singles, and doubles championships.


2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, Men's Team Championship, National Seeds
1. Wake Forest (Quarterfinal)2. Virginia (National Champions)3. Ohio State (Semifinal)4. USC (Round of 16)


2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, Men's Team Championship, National Seeds
5. UCLA (Quarterfinals)6. TCU (Quarterfinals)7. Baylor (Round of 16)8. California (Round of 16)


2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, Men's Team Championship, National Seeds
9. North Carolina (Runner-up) 10. Texas (Quarterfinals)11. Oklahoma State (Second Round) 12. Texas A&M (Round of 16)