March Madness is back in full swing, with the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s college basketball tournament which is typically held in March and April. Between the brackets, the surprises and the underdogs, the tournament keeps millions of Americans watching television for several weeks during the tournament.
The official start to March Madness, when all the college basketball teams that will be participating are disclosed is called “Selection Sunday”, which was held on March 13. This year, a total of 68 men’s and 68 women’s teams were chosen to participate and began playing on March 16.
Many students are interested in watching the games and making brackets.
“March madness is my favorite time of the year. I love watching the games and seeing former friends and teammates on screen,” said senior Brian Rice. “I made a bracket with close friends from home and then my fraternity group.”
For many people, their favorite part of participating in the brackets of March Madness is to keep up with the teams and the statistics of the games.
“I love to see which teams win and which teams lose and it’s also a really good feeling to watch the team you picked for a bracket win a game,” said sophomore James Dario. “Keeping up with the scores and small statistics is also one of the best parts about March Madness in my opinion.”
Some students believe that March Madness is such a popular event, that it might even be one of the most viewed and watched tournaments on television each year.
“I honestly do believe that it is one of the most watched events on television because March Madness involves so many schools and so many people making brackets and competing against friends and family,” said junior Kelsey Neary.
Some students have noticed the popularity of watching the tournament grow over the years.
“I think that March Madness is comparable in volume of watchers to the Super Bowl,” said Rice. “I know that the numbers came out for this week’s first game schedules, and they boosted their best viewership in about 5 years, I believe.”
The men’s tournament had averaged roughly around 3.82 million viewers per game last year, according to the sports entertainment website, The Athletic.
According to justwomeninsports.com, a total of 1.13 million viewers tuned in Monday to watch the women’s tournament kick off with UConn’s 52-47 win against UCF.
Students have said that they become more excited and look forward to watching the tournament as time moves closer to March as well as when the tournament is going on, especially during the time of the “Sweet 16” and the “final four.”
“Every year, I get excited to make my bracket and pick my team. I also personally believe that the best part to look forward to during the entire tournament is the final four because it’s getting closer to the end and we can finally see which team is going to win it all,” said sophomore Mia Marino.
Some students said they have come close to winning a bracket in the past.
“In previous years, I have come in second place with my bracket,” said Neary.
On the other hand, some students expressed how difficult they feel winning a bracket is.
“I have never won a bracket before, it is impossible,” said sophomore Tommaso Ferraresi.
