Championship Week (shortened to Champ Week from 2016 onward) is ESPN's annual college basketball showcase of conference tournament games in the United States, which decide NCAA bids in early-to-mid-March.
The minor and mid-major conferences typically begin Championship Week and it ends on Selection Sunday with the brackets being unveiled.
Because of the resulting genericizing, ESPN abbreviated its branding to Champ Week beginning in 2016.
On radio, Westwood One's coverage of the conference tournaments is also billed as Championship Week.
ESPN programmer Burke Magnus points out that a single change can result in a domino effect.
[3] Due to the popularity of the expanded coverage of the college basketball tournaments aired on ESPN, it was later coined Championship Week.
[11] In 2013, ESPN aired its final broadcast of the Big East men's basketball tournament after 18 years, dating back to 1996.
In 2015, ESPN aired the ACC men's basketball tournament championship game live on Saturday night for the first time.