The news site of Verona High School

The Fairviewer

The news site of Verona High School

The Fairviewer

The news site of Verona High School

The Fairviewer

March Madness

“March Madness and the NCAA tournament is the best time of the year.  Better than Christmas, better than my birthday, better than the Super Bowl,” exclaimed VHS junior Alex Kaslander.

Every March, sports fans and non-fans alike bond by watching hundreds of hours of men’s collegiate basketball.  This phenomenon, known as the NCAA tournament or simply “March Madness” – a term said to have been first used by announcer Brent Musburger in the early 80’s –  is a single-elimination tournament featuring the best 68 college basketball teams battling to earn the right to be deemed the best team in the nation.  The tournament may bring more stress, devastation, and excitement to fans than the actual players competing because of one piece of paper – the infamous NCAA tournament bracket.

“Without the NCAA tournament bracket I’m not sure if March Madness would be as popular,” said VHS junior Jack Yauch.  Although just a piece of paper, the iconic bracket is a symbol which embodies everything the “Big Dance” stands for.  The 68 teams that make the tournament are seeded 1-16, divided into four regions, and placed into a tournament bracket.  Then, thousands of people around the nation are faced with the daunting task of picking the winners.

There is a vast array of ways people make selections. Selecting the winners of the first round may seem simple using seeding as a guide, but the first round is actually notorious for numerous upsets.  Other than history proving that all number one seeds will advance, every other game is a potential tossup.  Some people decide the winner of the game by a flip of a coin, others choose by deciding which mascot would win in a fight, or simply choosing their Alma Mater or the most improbable picks.  Still, people should not get hung up on the process of picking a bracket because as according to USA Today the odds of choosing a “perfect bracket” are one in 9.2 quintillion.

“I have four brackets: my personal bracket, my group bracket, my upset bracket, and my bracket for my Oklahoma Sooners,” proudly explained VHS junior Tommy DeNicola. According to a random survey conducted at Verona High School, about 85 percent of guys participate in completing at least one NCAA tournament bracket while less than ten percent of girls complete one.  The average number of brackets a guy at VHS fills out is three while girls only fill out one.  People complete multiple brackets to account for what they think will happen, what they want to happen, and ultimately the main prize: for money.  Whether it be an office pool, a pool with friends, or a challenge on a sports website, March Madness brackets are often synonymous with money and gambling.

“Having red “X’s” all across your bracket is one of the worst feelings in the world,” says VHS junior Max Vasile.  The NCAA tournament consists of seven rounds, but most people report that their brackets are “busted” by round three, the “Sweet Sixteen”.  March Madness has the ability to make people jump around with pure excitement in one moment and then rip apart brackets and pull hair out in the next.  In the end, filling out a bracket and the outcome of March Madness can bring someone a fortune or complete heart break.

March Madness and the NCAA tournament for many sports fans and even ordinary people is one of the best times of the year.  Buzzer beaters, Cinderella upsets, emerging superstars; March Madness always lives up to its name.  The craziness of the tournament culminates in filling out that tournament bracket which may drive people crazy, but may also be the highlight of their spring.

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