Making Sense
of March
Madness
Get the scoop on the NCAA Men’s
Division 1 Basketball Tournament before
the first game starts in mid-March.
By Christopher Bobo
The NCAA Men’s Division I
Basketball Tournament, better
known as March Madness, is an
annual college basketball tournament
that has grown into one of the most
popular sporting events in the country.
The first game is on March 17, and the
tournament will end with the championship
game in Atlanta on April 6.
Each year, 68 teams are chosen
to take part in this single-elimination
tournament. The 32 champions of the
Division I conferences are automatically
entered, while the other 36 teams
are granted at-large bids. This means
the selection committee looks at the rest
of the Division I teams and picks who
they see as tournament-ready.
From there, the teams are split
into four regions: East, South, Midwest
and West. They play throughout
six rounds. The tournament officially
begins on Selection Sunday,
which is always the Sunday before
the first game. At that time, the
selection committee announces regional
brackets and gives every team
a seed number from one to 16. A
team with a one is the highest-ranking
team in the region while a team
with a 16 is the lowest. Each region
has its own seed ranking.
There are, however, several
games played before the traditional
tournament begins. The lowest
seeded teams compete in four playin
games, known as the First Four,
for placement in the regular tournament
bracket.
After that, it’s on. The regional
semi-final teams are called the Sweet
Sixteen, and from there they fall into
the Elite Eight and Final Four. The
two winners from there move into
the National Championship.
The University of Oregon was
the first-ever national champion
for college basketball, beating Ohio
State University 46-33 on March 27,
1939. When the tournament first
started, only eight teams were invited.
Over the years, that number continued
to grow until 2011 when the
NCAA settled on 68 teams. Though
looking at history, that number is
likely to only grow, especially since
the organizers were looking to include
96 teams in 2010.
The tournament has also become
popular for those looking to make a
bet, from single games to entire brackets,
and it’s believed to be second only to
the Super Bowl. The American Gaming
Association estimated that 47 million
American adults would wager $8.5
billion in 2019.
Beyond betting, filling out a bracket
has grown into a fun and common
practice in offices across the country.
This new cultural touchstone goes from
workplace chatter to pop culture competition.
In the past, former-president
Barack Obama released his own brackets
while in office and Warren Buffett
offered $1 billion to anyone with a perfect
bracket several years ago.
This year, Central Florida Lifestyle
Magazine, along with the Masson
Spine Institute, are providing a chance
to win up to $25,000 in the College
Playoff Bracket Challenge. Free brackets
are available for participants through
noon on March 19 at LifestyleCollegePickEm.
com.
+ SPORTS & Recreation
6 Central Florida Lifestyle | March 2020