March Madness | NCAA basketball tournament, supports and history

Mars madnessinformal term which refers to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Division I and Women basketball Championship tournaments and the interest of fans that result from it – and the media coverage of events. The single elimination tournaments begin every March and consist of fields of 68 teams that qualify either by winning their conference title or by being chosen as an entry in general by the NCAA selection committee.

The first male tournament took place in 1939, but it was overshadowed during most of the first two decades of its existence by the National invitation tournament (Nit), which was considered more prestigious and generally presented the best teams in the country. The NCAA tournament has gradually started drawing the best teams and more television income and, when the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), began its record for seven consecutive titles in 1967, the tournament was firmly established as a series of basketball championships at the first college in the series UNITED STATES.

The size of the tournament area went gradually from 8 teams in 1939 to 64 teams in 1985. A 65th team and a corresponding “game game” were added in 2001, when a new conference with a champion of automatic qualification was created and that the NCAA did not want to reduce the number of high profile schools it could invite to the tournament. In 2011, the NCAA added three additional opening games on the field, bringing the field to 68 teams. The first female tournament was an event of 32 teams held in 1982, and extended to 64 in 1994 and 68 in 2022.

The format of the male tournament (not counting the game games) consists of four sub-assemblies called regions, each containing 16 teams which are seeded 1 to number 16 by the selection committee, then matching by Seed, with seed number 1, number 16, number 2, etc. (The selection committee generally understand The university sports directors and the conference commissioners.) Two of the four first-round games set out the four least low teams (often the champions of the smallest conferences of the NCAA) against the other to determine two of the 16 heads of standard, while the two other first-round games present the last four At-Large teams, which are traditionally 11 or 12 seeds.

The second and third round games take place later in the first week of the tournament on eight geographically dispersed sites, and the 16 teams that pass in the second week (after winning their second and third round matches) are called “Sweet Sightteen”. These remaining teams then take place on four regional sites and are also winner to an “Elite Eight” and a “Final Four”, the last of which advances to another place for the national semi-finals and the finals of the third week of the competition.

The considerable field often produces pairs of grandes écoles from very popular conferences with smaller automatic qualifications which can lead to first -round upheavals, which can then lead to oppressed teams (called “Cendrellas”) advancing far in the tournament. In the 2018 male tournament, the University of MarylandBaltimore County, has become the first seeded number 16 to upset a number one seed, Virginia.

It is a common practice for fans to fill the tournament supports With their predictions before the start of the event and enter their supports in office (or Internet) pools with friends and colleagues. Studies have shown that American workers are becoming less productive during March’s madness, because a large number of basketball fans frequently monitor the status of their supports or discuss the tournament (or even watch games) during work.

Did you know?

It is estimated that during March Madness, companies lose more than $ 16 billion due to unproductive employees. Conversely, the NCAA earns approximately $ 1 billion in income for the tournament.