“They don’t call this month madness for no reason,” said LSU freshman of the year, Flau’jae Johnson. March Madness has many flaws in the tournament for the women’s and men’s divisions, but there is a bunch more to this month than just the tournament.
Throughout the years in college basketball, there has always been a tournament amongst the top colleges that have been picked, just like this year’s March Madness. This year was so exciting having so many “do or die” situations, and a bunch of upsets between March 19 and April 8. Since 1939, the colleges in this tournament have qualified for it. Each year colleges in their division play against each other to make it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four, and the most important game ever played: the Championship. The phrase “March Madness” was coined in 1939 by Henry V. Porter, an Illinois High School Association official that used the phrase as a reference to basketball at the college level.
“No matter how much I try to stay away from watching basketball during this month, it always finds a way to tell me who won which game and who’s advances to the next round” said Isaiah Buffaloment, a student from UNM Academy. Well, that quote is very true, because no matter how much you try and avoid these games or highlights, there will always be a point where social media will give you information on each game. This is also a big reason why college basketball is growing because of how much it gets advertised. There’s also another reason why it’s such a big deal–it’s all because of these wonderful players such as Nika Muhl, Catlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Jared McClain, Gabbie Marshal, Kate Martin, Hanna Stuelke, Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith and so many more athletes that make the game so exciting to watch. College basketball is so much bigger than anyone could have ever imagined.
Well, who else would you have won the chip this year? About 90 percent of High Schoolers chose South Carolina winning against Iowa. Even the same percentage of people chose Purdue winning against Uconn. It turns out they were wrong because Purdue came up short against Uconn, and they won the championship against Purdue. Both games were outstanding and heartbreaking for Iowa losing. Although some teams that people wanted to win lost, it’s alright. All the teams that have participated in this tournament were very excited. Each year, it never fails–there will always be an upset, whether it’s your team or the team you’re playing against.
“Personally, I think March Madness embraces everyone’s competitive side of their personality,” said Audrey Riley a student at Crownpoint High School. This could be true, but it could also be false because if you do play sports, you can either be very competitive or not really care about winning or losing. This plays a big role in March Madness because it comes down to your team advancing to the next round, or your team is out of the tournament. This year there were a bunch of upsets and a bunch of people bringing out their competitive side during games like SC vs Iowa, to Purdue vs Uconn. Sadly, Iowa and Purdue came up short in both championship games, but congratulations to both South Carolina and Uconn for winning the championship games of 2024!
There was also a very intense game between two teams in the women’s division which was Iowa vs Uconn. Coming down to last seconds, could it come down to the last shot or the last call? The answer, a call in the last seconds: an offensive foul called on Aaliyah Edwards, power forward for Uconn. Many people, about 90 percent of the high schoolers, agreed the call wasn’t correct but, in my opinion, I firmly believe that she did move on her screen for Paige Bueckers, to get the ball and get a shot off. Overall, it was such an intense game, and I will continue to watch it forever to be able to relive that moment.
All this that was previously said about March Madness is so true and has so much to offer every single year, it’s always different than the last. No matter how much you love the game basketball, you will always find a way to know who’s advancing to the next round or who got out in each round. In all honesty, March Madness will always be the time of year anyone should look forward to because it is such an exciting tournament to watch. March Madness will always prove how much people love basketball. Maybe after watching this tournament, you’ll love basketball, or if you don’t, that’s alright.
