Every year, millions of people watch March Madness, the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championship tournaments. The Selection Committee reveals the NCAA tournament bracket on Selection Sunday (March 16). This is a day fans wait for with anticipation.
Once the committee finalizes the 68 teams, it assigns each team a seed and places the team in one of four regions. Each region has 16 teams. It bases seeding on performance in the regular season performance and on conference tournament performance. This determines first-round matchups and the path through the tournament rounds.
This tournament is thrilling to watch because it features the best college basketball players. There’s only one game per match and a team can go out at any time. The high level of pride among participants and the passion of the fans makes it a thrilling tournament.
March Madness’ early beginnings
The first NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament was held in 1939 with only eight teams contending for the title. Oregon beat Ohio State to take the first title. It was a few decades later when the modern 64-team format began. In covering the 1982 tournament, Brent Musburger, a CBS reporter, used the term ‘March Madness’ and the name stuck.
The tournament has become very popular since its early beginnings due to its unpredictability. The one-game elimination format is intense and lower-ranked teams can cause upsets. The college fan base is a passionate one. Fans fill out brackets and try to guess the winners of each game. Cheering for chosen teams creates a sense of community where everyone is invested in the experience. In Pennsylvania sports betting has become very popular and fans will often use their March Madness picks when placing wagers on their favorite teams and players.
The tournament rounds
The tournament consists of a number of rounds. The goal for teams is to move up from one round to the next by participating in single-elimination games. Win and they move up. Lose and they go home. College basketball players who want to play at their best will use practical fitness tips to stay at peak fitness.
The First Four games take place on March 18 and 19 and determine which of the eight teams get through to the first round. The first round is on March 20 and 21 and the second round is on March 22 and 23.
The Sweet 16 is on March 27 and 28 and the Elite Eight on March 29 and 30. This round is the final game for each regional. The four winners move on to the national semi-final. This is the Final Four which takes place in April at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The NCAA championship game is on April 7 at the same venue.
Preparing for March Madness
Researching teams
In the exciting and full sports calendar of 2025, March Madness is important to fans of college basketball. To prepare for the tournament they will research the teams. They will look at conference tournament performance because teams that do well often carry the momentum into March Madness. They will take note of injuries to players and consider a team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Filling out brackets
The Bracket Challenge Game is the official challenge game of the NCAA. It opens after the announcement of the field on Selection Sunday. The brackets lock before the first game of the first round starts. Fans often practice filling out brackets. Some of them create multiple bracket drafts. They use different methods such as working backwards from their Final Four picks.
Last year, USA Today Sports offered $1 million to any contestant who correctly filled out a perfect bracket. There are often upsets and Cinderella teams who do much better than expected. This unpredictability adds to the thrill and makes it almost impossible to fill out a perfect bracket.
Fans can use the NCAA Live app to watch games and highlights. They can use the app to compete in the bracket challenge. One of the benefits is that they get daily results and personalized bracket alerts. There’s nothing to stop fans from filling out multiple brackets to improve their chances of winning.
