March Madness is here, and it’s drawing in millions of viewers from all over the country. The tournament is full of surprises, and upsets can bust many brackets on the first day. The odds of getting a perfect bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion, or nearly impossible.
About 60-100 million people create a bracket every year, with this number still rapidly increasing. This is thanks to online brackets, where a person can make up to 25 brackets with the click of a button. As the tournament progresses, viewership numbers continue to fluctuate, with the men’s Elite Eight experiencing a 10% decline from last year, while the first two rounds of March Madness reached a 32-year high in viewership, showcasing the appeal of college basketball’s biggest stage.
As the Elite Eight comes to a close and teams from each region have clinched a spot in the Final Four, the question of who will win it all has come up. For the first time in 17 years, every one seed has advanced to the Final Four.
Freshman Sonny Hebbard, who participated in Westhampton Beach’s March Madness bracket this spring, has been making brackets for over five years and calls March Madness the highlight of his spring. Sonny said his favorite moment in March Madness history was in 2016. He said, “The Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater in 2016 to win the National Championship was electric.”
Sophomore David Meyers, who favors Oregon, went with the two top seeds to win the whole tournament. He said, “I have Duke winning it all, and I have them beating Auburn.” Unfortunately for David, both teams were knocked out in the Final Four.
In one of the most shocking ends in Final Four history, Houston came back to beat Duke in the last 30 seconds of the game. The collapse of the favored team left Florida and Houston in the National Championship. Florida came out to win, 65-63, after two costly turnovers in Houston’s last possessions.
