Every year during March, a tournament of the 68 best college basketball teams in the country is held in which teams attempt to win the college basketball championship. This annual tournament is known as March Madness. During March Madness millions of people fill out brackets to predict the outcome of each round of the tournament and who will win it all. The process of filling out brackets allows fans to connect with each other through following the results of their brackets and competing against friends, families, classmates or coworkers. 

Part of what makes March Madness so popular is the upsets and Cinderella teams, one that does unexpectedly well in the tournament and makes a magical run. Although these Cinderella teams and unexpected runs ruin people’s brackets in March, it often brings fans together to support a team or group of teams they never would have expected. What makes March Madness “mad” is that you never know what to expect in this single elimination tournament. Senior Gabriel Klein who makes a bracket every year, said, “There are a lot of upsets and a lot of times a Cinderella team wins, however the one-seed usually wins the first round.”

March Madness brackets get people to watch college basketball when they would have little to no interest in the sport otherwise. March Madness includes such a large variety of colleges that someone associated in any way with a particular college in the tournament would probably follow that team regardless of if they follow basketball or not. For example, in the 2018 tournament, for the first and only time ever, a 16-seed beat a one-seed when the 16th seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers beat the one-seed Virginia Cavaliers. This is the biggest upset possible in the tournament hence why it has only happened once since the tournament expanded to 68 teams in 1985. Since UMBC is so close in proximity to our school relative to other colleges in the tournament, students and fans in the area were excited regardless of if they attended or knew someone who attended there.  

Major upsets like these that make or break one’s bracket can rally fans together and create a buzz in the community. When people correctly predict upsets in their brackets it is oftentimes lucky. However, there can be strategy behind it as well. Junior Kevin Glaser said,“Last year’s game between Abilene Christian and Texas was a memorable upset for me because I had Abilene Christian beating Texas in my bracket because of their defense and hustle.”

March Madness brackets also connect people through the common purpose of attempting to achieve the most accurate bracket possible. It is nearly impossible to get a perfect bracket. In fact you have a better chance statistically of getting struck by lightning then having a perfect bracket. Despite this, people every year enter contests with friends or online to win prizes if they have a top tier bracket. This competition is a way to build friendships or expand on current friendships. Junior Souvik Car is a college basketball fan who likes to make brackets and has first-hand experience of how hard brackets are. “I know it’s nearly impossible to get a perfect bracket but people share ideas and bond over the sport of college basketball,” Kar said.