It’s that time of year again when we stop paying attention in class, are glued to our screens and buy random college apparel. It’s March Madness.

During this exciting and competitive time, the world seems to stop around us, and average conversations turn into how the bracket has gone. Why is this?

Part of the reason is because of the tournament structure. Having 68 teams invites at minimum, 68 different fanbases, and then a surplus of sports fans whose team didn’t make it, watching in spite of another team. Or, maybe just a sports fan ready to watch some good basketball.

The bottom line is that the bracket encourages a large audience and the seeding setup is genius. The best teams at the start play the worst teams. On paper, this sounds boring. But in a tournament with 68 teams, there is bound to be an upset.

We have seen it almost every year: NC State making it to the final four last year while being an 11th seed, when number 15 Princeton went on a small run after taking down number 2 Arizona in 2023 or in 2022 when another 15th seed in St. Peters took it to number two seed Kentucky, and made it to the elite eight before losing to the number eight seed UNC, who made it to the championship. (ncaa.com)

There is nothing better than guessing the upset, like Yale over Texas A&M this year…maybe.

Another dynamic part of March Madness is the competitiveness. Sure, fantasy football has a special place in our hearts, but it’s not quite like making fun of your friends’ brackets and competing with them. 

Anyone can make a bracket since there are 9.2 quintillion outcomes; the chances of even a professional getting a perfect bracket are slim to none, so someone with little knowledge could theoretically do as well as a person who dedicated their life to it.

Also,  there is always a game. On the first and second days, there are 16 games each, all spread over close to 10 hours. This gives people the opportunity to at least tune in to one. 

This allowed March Madness to bring in an average of 9.86 million viewers across the entirety of last year’s tournament. (statista.com)

So, there are always games on, there are 68 teams participating and there are bound to be exciting upsets, you can compete against your friends and people around the world and it’s basketball. 

Why wouldn’t it be a world-stopper?