What is March Madness?

Fans across America look forward to the end of March for the biggest college basketball tournament of the year known as March Madness.

March Madness is an exceptional modern sports event where the payoff is actually better than the hype leading up to it. Sixty-eight teams from universities across the country will play numerous games to win the title of “the best college basketball team in the nation.” In particular, the first few rounds feature lots of matches going on at once, and many of them finish with dramatic comebacks from preconceived losing teams. These surprise wins greatly impact a fan’s tournament bracket.

What is the hype leading up to March Madness?

Enthusiastic college students all around America prepare for March Madness with parties, face paint, and draping themselves in their school colors. These fanatical student-fan sections have dedicated marching bands and peculiar mascots all cheering on their team. There are even grown adults who go mad over March Madness.

Around NCAA tournament time:

• 14% of fans take a sick day to watch March Madness (Yahoo sports poll)
• 56% spend at least 1 hour of work following the games (MSN)
• During March and April, 60% of mobile searches have to do with college basketball (Google)

Additionally, the anticipation of filling out a winning bracket plays a huge role in sucking people into the basketball hoopla.

How do the brackets work?

College basketball enthusiasts can format tournament brackets with their predictions on who will win each game. Sometimes they bet and gamble money on the team they think will win in it all. In some instances, if you predict the winner of each match on a bracket perfectly, you can gain large sums of money. This year, an estimated 40 million people will be filling out March Madness brackets and betting approximately $9 million.

Although gambling on sports is illegal in most states and March Madness pools that you pay to enter are technically illegal as well, this law is hardly ever enforced. Official partners of the NCAA essentially provide free software to run your own betting pool.

How do you fill out a perfect bracket?

Some people say to pick the teams most favored to win. Those people believe the best chance of winning is by picking the higher-ranked teams (those with the lower numbers). But according to a new study by an assistant professor in Michigan, you may have a higher chance of having a perfect bracket just by flipping a coin for each game. Unfortunately in statistics, having a perfect bracket is less than one in five billion.

What teams are leading the pack in March Madness this year?

Kentucky is regarded as the paramount team on the college basketball scene this year. They are undefeated and have at least three players who will be selected early in the upcoming NBA draft. Coach John Calipari led them to the championship in 2012.

In different perspectives, the second-best team could be Duke, Virginia, Arizona, Wisconsin, or others.

All in all, March Madness is an entertaining and competitive experience to share with friends.