Caitrina Mullally '25
For those of you who don’t know what March Madness is, it is a college basketball tournament held by the NCAA throughout March. It all started 84 years ago and still is one of the biggest entertainment events in the sports industry. It starts with 64 teams, then goes to 32, then the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, the Final Four, and finally the National Championship. Not only is it one of the most intense times for the teams and players, but the fans feel the intensity and pressure just as much.
NCAA March Madness brackets are one of the most intriguing things to fans throughout the entire tournament. Everyone brings together friends and family to bet against each other, guessing who will win from the beginning of the tournament to the end. Some people base their brackets on statistics, research, and the games they have personally watched. Others, however, put in their answers solely off the team(s) they have loved forever or just straight guesses and hoping for some luck.
March Madness 2023 has especially been interesting. Considering the Sweet 16 is coming up very soon and a lot of people’s brackets already sank along with their money in the first round, March Madness has made people go mad.
Jack Mullally, Division I Basketball Player, at Fairfield University which is in the MAAC conference said, “With the COVID year giving every player an extra year of eligibility, the parity in the NCAA is as great as ever. More teams have more experienced players and this has led to more upsets.”
Evidence of the upsets can be found in Purdue’s loss to FDU. Purdue ran as the number one seed and FDU was Number 16 this truly shows that no one actually knows what will happen and who will have their worst or best game that day. At this time of year, the coaches are thinking about everything: every play, focusing on their players all of the time. The players are practicing hard, using every minute of practice to their advantage. The fans are worrying about their money and hoping sure it doesn’t float down the drain with a team that they love.
However, there are a couple of things all of these people have in common and those are the feelings of intensity, pressure, and the all-around love for basketball.
[Editor’s note: this article was written on March 18, before the later rounds of the tournament.]
Comments