March Madness is like no other, a tournament where 64 teams compete for a national championship. A time where the players go all out, the fans support their teams, and people hope their brackets come through.
“Bracketology” is a critical part of March Madness. It gives more incentive for the fans to watch all of the games. Trying to predict the outcome of each game is very difficult, but each year everyone hopes that their luck will finally show. This year is a big year for Bracketologists. According to ESPN, Warren Buffett is offering one billion dollars (yes, one billion) to anyone who achieves the incredible feat.
Now, predicting a good bracket is hard enough, but predicting a perfect bracket is just something that is considered impossible. The possibilities are practically endless. With 9,223,372,036,854,775,808.7 different ways of configuring the bracket, a perfect bracket is pretty much out of the question.
College basketball fans can’t wait until March. A team must win to move on, but no one knows what the outcome of a game could be. In the past, usually the highest seeded teams move on, but sometimes there are unimaginable upsets of mid-major teams defeating teams such as Duke, Georgetown, etc. These teams are used to winning, so the fans expect them to win. However, these teams can lose to anyone at any time.
Two years ago, for example, Lehigh (a team from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) beat the second-seeded Duke Blue-Devils, shocking all of the fans in college basketball. Another example includes Florida Gulf-Coast, a team from Fort Myers, which beat the second-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and then beat the seventh-seeded San Diego Aztecs. Although they fell short to the Florida Gators, they represented what March Madness is about, and why so many fans enjoy college basketball.
This year, the champion could be anybody. Teams such as Syracuse, Arizona, Duke and Wichita State are hoping that the national championship will come home with them. Although all four are superb teams, anyone could lose. That’s the whole point of March Madness, giving mid-major teams opportunities to shock the nation. There may not be any huge upsets this year, but for years to come there will always be the anticipation that a big named team will lose.
“I think Syracuse is going to win it. They are long, have great depth and have won all of their games this year. That will help them during the tournament,” said sophomore Johnny Bonilla.
March Madness is a way for teams to show the fans how good they are. Almost every college basketball athlete hopes for the chance to play in the NCAA tournament. March Madness is also a good time for basketball fans to have chances of winning prizes.Overall, March Madness has proved itself in the past, and will prove itself for years to come.
“I like March Madness. It’s basketball all the time, but every fan is interested in every game because a lot is on the line,” said freshman Nate Fox.