Every year, the The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) holds the March Madness men’s basketball tournament. College basketball teams from across the nation compete in a single elimination tournament for the title of NCAA champion. 68 teams are placed in a bracket based on record and seeding in each conference.

With March Madness comes brackets. College basketball fans can fill out a bracket to predict who will beat who and become the eventual champion. However, the odds of picking a perfect bracket are extremely low, and there are no recorded cases of a perfect bracket. Part of the “tradition” of March Madness is the details that go into picking winners and upsets on a bracket.

“Half my teams are usually underdogs because that’s how march madness works. I just guess on my picks and send it,” senior Nik Gusinsky said.

There are always the powerhouse schools that recruit the best high school players each year. Kentucky, Duke, UCLA and North Carolina are some examples of the most successful college basketball organizations of all time. These schools often end the season with great records and become a top seed in the tournament. However, The highest seeded team doesn’t always win. Part of the difficulty of creating a bracket is predicting the upsets that happen during the tournament.

“Big schools have played at such a high level for so long, they have a name for themselves. That’s why they get the best recruits and best players in the nation,” senior Carter Edens said.

March Madness is a great way to support your favorite teams and watch them compete for the championship. However, it’s also a great opportunity for marketing. The NCAA makes almost $1 billion dollars in revenue, most of which is made during the March Madness tournament. Despite the huge amount of money made by the NCAA, the athletes are not paid at all for their play. This has caused controversy in college athletics for a long time, especially basketball.

The March Madness tournament started March 15. With the “First Four” games being played by the lowest seeded teams to determine who plays the top team in the first round. The tournament was supposed to last three weeks, with the “Final Four” games being played April 4 and the championship game being played April 6.

On March 12, the NCAA unfortunately cancelled the March Madness basketball tournament due to the COVID-19 virus. No games were played before this decision was made.