The month of March can be chaotic, with the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments, called “March Madness.” The tournament officially started on Mar. 21 and Mar. 22 with the first round, the second round on Mar. 23 and Mar. 24, Sweet 16 on Mar. 28 and Mar. 29, Elite Eight on Mar. 30 and Mar. 31, and the final round, Final four on Apr. 6 and Apr. 8.
March Madness brings craze from fans. Whether supporting from the stands or watching on TV, this tournament brings fans together to celebrate the wins, losses and major upsets. Fans make brackets with friends or family to keep themselves involved in the tournament. “I chose to create a bracket so I could do something communal with my friend group and invite some friendly competition. March Madness is on at different times throughout the day so it is fun in my free time to watch and have many teams to root for,” sophomore Mia Coven said.
The first round of the men’s tournament was the “First Four,” which is played by 64 teams who can make it into the first round of the tournament. The teams that made it from the “First Four” were Wagner College, Colorado State, University of Colorado Boulder and Grambling State. The first round started on Mar. 21 with 16 games. There were upsets such as 11-seed Duquesne University beating six-seed Brigham Young University 71-67, 11-seed Oregon beating six-seed University of South Carolina 87-73, and the biggest upset this round being 14-seed Oakland University beating third-seed University of Kentucky with a close score of 80-76. On day two of this first round on Mar. 22, 16 games were played. With most of the high seeds getting their victories there were a few upsets, 12-seed Grand Canyon University beat five-seed Saint Mary’s College 75-66, 12-seed James Madison University beat five-seed University of Wisconsin 72-61 and a big upset with 13-seed Yale University beating four-seed Auburn University 78-76.
The first round of the women’s tournament was also the “First Four,” with teams continuing on to the First round of the NCAA tournament such as the University of Arizona, College of the Holy Cross, Presbyterian College and Vanderbilt University. The first round on Mar. 22 had big wins and a few upsets. One upset was 11-seed Midten beating six-seed University of Louisville with a close score of 71-6. Big victories include two-seed Ohio State University crushing 15-seed University of Maine with a score of 80-57, one-seed University of South Carolina destroyed 16-seed Presbyterian College 91-39, the one-seed University of Texas beating 16-seed Drexel almost doubling their score, with a final score of 82-42, three-seed Louisiana State University beats 14-seed Rice University 70-60, four-seed Virginia Tech took the victory over 13-seed Marshall College with a score of 92-49, along with other victories.
The second day of the first round on Mar. 23 consisted of no upsets but only the higher-ranked teams taking the victories. These teams were the University of Tennessee, the University of Connecticut, Indiana University, Kansas University, Notre Dame University, NC State, The University of Iowa, Syracuse University, Oklahoma University, University of Southern California, University of Mississippi, West Virginia University, Creighton University, Gonzaga, University of California Los Angeles, and University of Utah. “I think there is a large number of contenders this year, more than we’ve seen in the past, as well as unmasked heroes, I think that this all combines to make this one of the best tournament years,” sophomore Blake Graham said.
As the men’s tournament continued into the second round on Mar. 23 and Mar. 24 with eight games each, Many teams continued to the Sweet 16. “I made a bracket in a league with my friends and I enjoy the thrill of watching the teams I chose continue throughout the tournament win,” junior Shayan Kurup said.
As the Sweet 16 starts there are 16 teams and as eight get knocked out the leftover eight continue on to the elite eight. The Elite Eight is competitive with the best teams left competing. The men’s teams that will continue on to the final four are the University of Connecticut, University of Alabama, Purdue University and once again the underdog 11-seed North Carolina State University takes the win over four-seed Duke University. The women’s teams continuing to the final four are the University of South Carolina, North Carolina State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Connecticut and Louisiana State University. The Iowa vs. Louisiana State University game was a big competition as they compared two top women’s teams and Iowa came out with the win, though LSU won when the teams faced off before the tournament.
The final four teams are important because whichever teams win these games will continue onto the championship game. For the men’s tournament, these games will occur on Apr. 6 at 6:09 p.m. and 8:49 p.m. The teams competing will be 11-seed NC State vs. one-seed Purdue in the early game and four-seed Alabama vs. one-seed UConn in the late game. For the women’s tournament, the final four will be played on Apr. 5 with games at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. The teams competing will be three-seed North Carolina State University vs. one-seed University of South Carolina in the early game and three-seed University of Connecticut vs. one-seed University of Iowa in the late game.
The teams who continue will play in the championship game, for the men will take place on Monday, Apr. 8 time TBD and the women’s will take place on Sunday, Apr.7 time TBD. The winner of these games will become national champions.
