photo credit: Ava Boccio
March Madness is an exciting time for college basketball fans in the United States. It refers to NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, which take place every spring.
This year the tournament starts with the selection at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 16 on CBS. The first four games will be from March 18-19 and then, the Final Four will be April 5. The championship game is April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, according to the NCAA.
The men’s tournament features 68 college teams from various conferences across the country. The tournament is single-elimination, which means that if a team loses a game, they are out of the tournament.
The women’s tournament is similar to the men’s, it features 64 teams and is also single elimination. The Men’s NCAA Tournament starts on Tuesday, March 17 with the first four games. The Women’s NCAA Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 18.
Another popular part about March Madness is making brackets. The tournament is very famous for its bracket system. Lots of fans fill out brackets predicting the outcomes of each game, often participating in bracket pools with friends or family.
“I’m going to make a bracket with my friends to see who got the most right,” senior girls basketball player Nora O’Brien said.
One of the most exciting aspects of March Madness is the potential for a “Cinderella story”, which is where a lower-seeded or less favored team does better than they should in the tournament and advances further than people thought they would. Some people’s favorite Cinderella stories are 1983 N.C. State, 1985 Villanova, 1986 LSU, and 1988 Kansas, according to the NCAA.
“I think there will be a couple Cinderella stories this year because there are some every year,” junior girls basketball player Bella Callicoat said.
Watching March Madness with friends is an exciting and social experience. Typically, someone would invite their friends over and eat snacks to enjoy watching their favorite teams. Also, it makes it more fun when all your friends make a bracket and compare.
“I’m going to watch the games on TV or on the March Madness app on my phone. For the Final Four I will hang out with all my friends and maybe go to a party,” O’Brien said.
People tend to watch men and women March Madness because they are both very high levels of basketball and the best college basketball talent. It’s also unpredictable and entertaining for the men and women. Watching both men and women’s games supports gender equality in sports. “I will probably watch more of the men’s games but also watch some of the women’s games,” Callicoat said.
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