What is March Madness?
Every year during March, a Division 1 college basketball tournament takes place for both men and women called March Madness. To start off, there are a total of 64 teams. The whole tournament has seven rounds. The last game is the national championship. All these teams have to have a good record to qualify for the tournament. The tournament starts on March 17th and ends on April 8th. Teams get to see what seed they get on Selection Sunday, which typically occurs the Sunday before March Madness begins. March Madness is a single elimination tournament which means if you lose a game your season is over.
What Team was Expected To Win?
For the men’s tournament, the team expected to win was Uconn. Uconn was led by number 32, Donovan Clingan, Clingan was a Sophomore and recently has been scoring around 23 points per game. UConn won the national championship in 2023 and were hoping to be back to back champions. UConn was a number one seed along with Purdue, Houston, and North Carolina. Uconn played against number 1 Purdue in the National Championship, which was April 8th at 9:20pm EST. UConn won and was crowned the National Champions.
For the women’s tournament, the team expected to win was Iowa. Iowa was led by Caitlin Clark, who is an outstanding scorer. Clark has multiple records, including Iowa’s All-Time Leading Scorer and Division 1 Basketball All-Time Leading Scorer. Iowa was also a number one seed along with South Carolina, University of Southern California, and Texas. Iowa played against number 1 South Carolina in the National Championship, which was April 7th at 3:00pm EST. South Carolina won and was crowned the National Champions.
Why Do People Create Brackets?
People all around the world create multiple brackets in an attempt to make a perfect bracket. This year 56.3 million people filled out a bracket for the men’s tournament. For the women’s tournament, there are only 3 million brackets made. Platforms people use to fill out brackets include ESPN, NCAA, and more. People could also print out a bracket and fill it out on paper. Out of all the online brackets created, none of them are perfect. Most of the people that fill out brackets do not have to pay money or lose money. Some people make brackets and pay money as well as bet on games.
Do Lower Seeds Strive in March Madness?
During March Madness, there are usually multiple upsets. An upset was when a lower ranked team beats a higher ranked team. Typically, the number 1, 2, or 3 seeds win. This year for the men’s number 11 seed NC State beat Duke who was a number 4 seed. Another upset was when number 14 Oakland beat Kentucky, who was a 3 seed. For the women there weren’t as many upsets, but one memorable one was number 11 seed Middle Tennessee beating Louisville who was a number 6 seed.
Are March Madness Tickets Expensive?
For the men’s tournament, an average price for a ticket is around $200. From the Sweet Sixteen to the National Championship, all the games were played in Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium. The women’s tournament tickets were around $100 for the National Championship for Women played in Cleveland, Ohio.
All information found at: What is March Madness: The NCAA tournament explained
