It’s that time of year where college basketball fans across the country are filling out their brackets for the renowned March Madness tournament. The tournament began on March 19, and will end April 6th in Indianapolis. The contest consists of 68 teams and seven rounds. Last year, the Florida Gators, led by Walter Clayton Jr., won the entire tournament, and defeated top teams, such as the Michigan State University Spartans and the Saint John’s University Red Storm.
This year, Duke University, led by freshman Cameron Boozer, seems to be the team to beat. They currently hold the number one seed in the Eastern Conference and could possibly face tough teams such as the University of Connecticut’s Huskies and the University of Kansas’ Jayhawks. However, Cinderella runs have been made in the past, such as the 2022 Saint Peter’s University Peacocks and the 1985 Villanova University Wildcasts, for instance. These are runs defined by lower seed teams making deep pushes in the tournament series. Whoever makes a Cinderella run in this tournament is erratic, but teams such as No.11 University of Texas’ Longhorns and No.9 University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes, have made thrilling runs already, placing in the Sweet 16.
“I think that Duke will win the tournament because of they’re a well rounded team,” junior Chase Nightingale said
On the topic of brackets, every year, people across the nation fill out brackets, hoping to have a perfect sheet. Nonetheless, the chances for that to happen are 1 in 9.22 quintillion. To put it in context, you are more likely to win the Powerball Jackpot three times in a row. So, filling out a perfect bracket is next to impossible. Note, this year everyone’s bracket has already been busted. The last remaining flawless brackets lasted only up until the 2nd round.
“I don’t think anyone will ever have a perfect bracket, but who knows?” Nightingale explained.
The reason why brackets are so unpredictable to predict is because of bottom seed teams pulling an upset on teams people thought would be sure winners. For instance, this year 12th seed High Point University Panthers upset the 5th seed University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers, illustrating the erraticity of the tournament. Now, fans just wait to see which bottom seed will make the deepest run.
“I don’t think a bottom seed will make a deep run, but No.11 Texas could be a team to lookout for,” Nightingale claimed.
In all, this year’s tournament has already been thrilling, with buzzer beats, upsets and close finishes. All fans can do now is wait to see how everything plays out. With top teams like Duke competing for the trophy, and bottom teams like Iowa proving their prowess in the tournament, the tournament should demonstrate a great finish.
