The Maddest Month

The March Madness Bracket Was Released on March 17

Photo by Phil Roeder / CC BY 2.0

It is the time of year to make your March Madness brackets and test your luck on which NCAA college basketball team is going to win the March Madness tournament. This year, the 64 teams who made it into the March Madness tournament were released on March 17 leaving everyone glued to their T.Vs watching each game, hoping this year they will beat the odds of creating a perfect bracket.

“I like March Madness because it keeps me entertained and I will hopefully have a perfect bracket,” junior Zac Scovotto said. “I put $200 up on two brackets and $100 each against people that play at the Seminole golf course and if I win I get to take the pot of money.”

There are four conferences in the March Madness tournament; South, Midwest, East and West. Each of the four conferences have 16 teams. The teams in the same conference compete against each other until there is one team left from each conference; this is called the final four.

The bracket which came out March 17, decides which conference a team will be playing in and which team they will play against. All of this also depends on the team's ranking within the region.

This year, UConn is the number one seed in the East, North Carolina in the West, Houston in the South and Purdue in the Midwest. The number one seed in each conference plays the sixteenth seed in the conference giving the team an advantage in the tournament.

“I like everything about it [March Madness], it is like my favorite sporting event,” math teacher Katie Walker said. “I like the excitement when everyone's bracket gets busted and you just cheer for the underdogs. I have UConn to win because I think they are the best team.”

Once the selection was over, people started creating their March Madness brackets. People predict who is going to win each game and predict the winner of the March Madness tournament. The goal is to have a perfect bracket, getting all the winners correct.

“I like [March Madness brackets because I like] competing against other people and you could get a lot of money too,” senior Bella Ekk said. “I have Tennessee winning my bracket because they are a good team and play really well on the court.”