What is March Madness?
Each year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s division 1 college basketball tournament takes place from the second week of March through the first week of April. Named for the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the competition, March Madness has featured unseen turn-arounds, such as when the No. 1 ranked team loses to the lowest seed, which is the ranking of a team in a tournament.
Furthermore, the tournament is divided into four sections: midwest, west, south and east. A total of 16 teams make up each of these four sections, ranking from one being the best to 16 being the worst in chronological order. These seeds are based off of how well the teams performed throughout the regular season, as well as their overall national ranking.
Furthermore, the top four teams in the nation’s acquires a No. 1 seed while the next four teams receives a No. 2 seed and so on. These rankings are determined by a non-biased selection committee. The tournament is single-elimination. The opening of the tournament starts out with 68 teams, beginning with two wild card games. Whichever of those four teams wins that gets a No. 16 seed in the tournament and further clinches a spot in the round of 64. From there, it goes to the round of 32, then the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and finally the National Championship. Just remember anything can happen during March Madness, so never count anyone out!
Students reveal who they think will win:
Joseph Faza, sophomore: “I think that the West Virginia Mountaineers are going to win it all in this year’s March Madness basketball tournament, because they have a very strong defense due to them having one of the best front court presses in the nation. They are are also able to move the ball and score really well.”
Junior Thomas Traczyk: “I think that Kansas will win it this year, as they have one of the best backcourts and are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation this year.”
Sophomore John Paul Faza: “I think that West Virginia Mountaineers will win this year’s national championship, because they have forced the most turnovers in the nation, due to their strong defense. They have also upset the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation by large margins.”
What the odds are: According to David McCracken of Bleacher Report, the North Carolina Tar Heels and UCLA Bruins both have a 1-6 chance of winning the tournament, followed by the Kansas Jayhawks, who have an 1-8 chance of acquiring the trophy.