The 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2018–19 season.

The 81st annual edition of the tournament began on March 19, 2019, and concluded with the championship game on April 8, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Virginia Cavaliers, with Virginia winning 85–77 in overtime.

Thirty-two automatic bids were awarded to each program that won their conference's tournament.

For the first time since 1970, the tournament returned to Columbia, South Carolina, with games played at the Colonial Life Arena.

[21] [21] [21] [21] Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated."

In response to criticism over TBS's handling of the selection show in 2018 (which featured an unconventional two-hour format where all the qualifying teams were first revealed in alphabetical order before the matchups were actually unveiled, and had viewership fall by 52% partly due to it also being aired on cable rather than CBS), it was announced that CBS's selection show would revert to an hour-long format, and prioritize unveiling the bracket.

CNN president Jeff Zucker, who had also become head of WarnerMedia's sports properties after a reorganization, explained that "it's a sign of understanding when things don't necessarily go as well as you would hope you change it.

"[24] The show attracted its highest viewership since 2014 and averaged a 4.0 share on Nielsen overnight ratings.

Live audio of games was available for streaming through the following means: #16 seed Gardner–Webb's season and appearance in the tournament became the subject of a documentary titled The Dancin' Bulldogs, released on October 16, 2020.