March Madness 2024

Story by Morgan Hill – Staff Reporter

 

   Over the weekend, the NCAA Basketball Committee has made its selections for which teams have made it to the postseason part of the men’s basketball season, known as March Madness.

   March Madness and the bracketology of it all have become very popular worldwide and have lots of attention on it as the best players on the best teams play in this tournament.

   Basketball fans and fans of their own favorite college teams watch intently on this tournament and its outcomes to watch and see if their favorite team can go the distance.

   Loyalty to a team can help you decide your brackets and ultimately who you root for during the month of March.

   “The University of Kansas, because my mom went there, it’s my childhood team, I’ve loved them forever, and they’re going to win it all,” Otto Moore, sophomore, said. 

   Not only basketball fans, but all types of fans fill out the brackets, some for fun, some for a point system that they can win prizes through, and some decide based on the teams themselves. 

   “I will have one that is like a biased one so like I will obviously pick Kansas, and then I will have one a legit one, who I actually think is going to win, which is usually still Kansas, and then I will do one that is upsets only, so it would have like 16 seeds in the Final Four,” Moore said. 

   Within the brackets themselves the 68 seeds are numbered 1-16, many upsets can occur via the seeding process because a lower-seeded team can beat a higher-seeded team.

   However, most predict that many upsets will not be likely this tournament.

   “I wouldn’t say a lot, I feel like there’s going to be a lot of close games but not very many upsets,” Moore said. 

   With the traditions of the tournament, a long history of certain teams not living up to their expectations can be continued through this tournament as well as surprise Cinderella stories.

   “I am looking forward to see another Purdue first-round exit and I’m looking forward to seeing all the 16 seeds moving on,” Moore said. 

   When setting biases aside, some think that only one team stands a chance at the National Championship this year.

“Genuinely, North Carolina,” Moore said. 

   With the tournament starting up soon, the excitement for basketball is next level and continues to show the excitement sports give others.