What exactly is March Madness?
Timothy Holcombe, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Unsplash: Todd Greene
The best time of the year is finally upon us, March Madness.
For those of you who do not know what March Madness is about, it is the NCAA division I basketball tournament consisting of the best 68 division I teams in the nation. The likes of Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and many more.
There was only one team from the state of South Carolina that made it into the tournament, which was Wofford. They were able to take down Seton Hall in the first round before narrowly losing to Kentucky in the round of 32.
It was only a couple of years ago when the South Carolina men’s basketball team went on a massive run to the Final Four. That run consisted of a massive upset of Duke, a basketball powerhouse, in the round of 32. Clemson Tigers made a run in last years tournament defeating New Mexico State and Auburn University in the first and second round before losing to Kansas in the Sweet 16.
Here is how the tournament bracket works. To begin the tournament there is an event just before the start of the tournament that takes place in Dayton, Ohio. It is called “The First Four”. That is where the committee who makes the bracket sends 8 teams to Dayton and they play 1 game against another school and the winner earns their way into the round of 64 while the losers go home.
Then there are six different rounds that make up the tournament starting with the round of 64 followed by the round of 32, the Sweet 16, the Elite eight and the winners from each different bracket from the East, West, South and Midwest meet in what is know as “The Final Four.” From here, the two winners of those games meet in the National Championship.
The reason that makes this tournament so popular is that every year people fill out a bracket and try to compete across many different platforms against the world to see who has the best bracket. Another reason people watch this massive tournament is to see which underdog will upset one of the big dogs or larger programs.
For instance, as of last season a 16 seed had never beaten a number one seed in the tournament’s history. That was until last year when 16 seeded UMBC defeated the number one overall seed Virginia 74-54. Every year people try to predict which team will be the next “Cinderella” and pull off a massive upset in the tournament.
This year’s NCAA Tournament just finished the first weekend of the tournament and we head to the Sweet 16 starting this coming Thursday.
