Final four

Of these teams, the two who win in the semi-final round play another single-elimination game whose winner is the tournament champion.

Previously, it was believed that the phrase "final four" first appeared in print in a 1975 article for the Official Collegiate Basketball Guide, whose author Ed Chay was a sportswriter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

[1] For example, Bill Mayer of the Kansas-based Lawrence Daily Journal World wrote in 1966, "What a great year it could be if ... KU ... could advance to the NCAA Final Four by winning the regional here.

A team must advance through multiple rounds of play—typically winning four consecutive games in a field of 64 (or 68) teams—to qualify for the Final Four.

Because the term is now a registered trademark of the NCAA in the United States, no other organizations in that country can use the phrase to refer to their tournaments.