Every year millions of people fill out a bracket for March Madness, in hopes of predicting the winning team and having a perfect bracket. Nobody has done it. Chances of a perfect bracket are slim, extremely slim, odds of getting one if you guess or flip a coin for each game is 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 according to the official NCAA website, 1 in 120.2 billion if you know “a little something about basketball”. Why is it so difficult? After all, the best teams should win every time, right? Wrong. March Madness has earned the title because of the wild upsets, Cinderella runs, and crazy endings to games.
Anyone can make a bracket, you don’t have to be a basketball genius to have fun. Many people make brackets where they choose what team will win based on the names, colors, logos. There are many competitions or challenges that have a prize or reward for the person who creates the best bracket. Strength and conditioning teacher Megan Burns does a competition in her classes to see who can make the best bracket. The winner gets free pizza for lunch.
Last year the Final Four was all of the number one seeds. This is, believe it or not, actually a rare occurrence, and the last time it happened was 2008. This year is shaping up to be as unpredictable as ever, with only one current undefeated team (Miami of Ohio) and they haven’t played any tough competition; in fact, they barely rank in the top 25 (19). Currently the Big 12 and Big Ten have separated themselves as the best conferences with multiple teams ranked in the top 15. Mathematics teacher Drew Fuller, believes that Duke, Texas Tech, Purdue, and Uconn all have good chances to win it all this year. Fuller’s favorite March Madness memory is going to watch the final four in Arizona in 2024.
There is nothing like watching a march madness game while your teacher talks in the background. Across the country students tune into the college basketball games instead of learning about fractions or reading a book about a mockingbird. Some students may even try harder on making their bracket than they do on any school assignment all year! Senior Coen Braham says that his favorite memory of March Madness is freshman year in Earth Science with Isaac Ramirez, watching Furman hit a buzzer beater. While this may be somewhat disruptive to class and distract students, it is also very fun. Burns will put March Madness games on during class.
Undoubtedly, March Madness brings excitement to people all over. Not only is it a very exciting tournament but it also marks the beginning of the “Home Stretch” of the school year, bringing warmer weather and brighter days. March Madness will always be a highlight of the spring with all of the fun and exciting games, and will continue to be one of the greatest tournaments in sports, year after year.
