March Madness is approaching its final days. The Final Four have been determined, and each team hopes to take home a championship title dating back to 1939. March Madness is an annual single-elimination basketball tournament to determine the Division I national champions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. From mid-March to early April, 68 teams compete in what has become the best, most accessible tournament in the country.
One of the best facets of March Madness is the idea any competing team can be the winner. Although “seeding” delineates the best and worst teams early on, a spot in the championship game is still achievable for any team.
The tournament is famous for upset victories, in which lower-seeded teams unexpectedly defeat higher-seeded teams and advance further on the bracket. ESPN documented some of the most iconic upsets of recent years, including the upset between Fairleigh Dickinson (16) and Purdue (1) in 2023 and the victory of Saint Peter’s (15) over Kentucky (2) the year before.
For these upsets to occur, each team has to play every game like it's their last. The beauty of the single-elimination system is each team has an equal opportunity to be victors, but each game could also be the last chance to earn the title. This pressure creates more interesting gameplay and keeps fans invested across dozens of matchups.
Another staple of March Madness is the bracket tournament among fans. According to the NCAA, approximately 39 million publicly available brackets were filled out across the men’s and women’s tournaments in 2025.
This overwhelming number of brackets can be reduced into smaller bracket pools across the country. Families, workplaces, friend groups and various other sports fans pit their brackets against each other with hopes of various outcomes. In a poll published by AP News, approximately 70% of people “say a reason for their participation was for the glory of winning, the chance to win money or the fact that other people were doing it.”
No matter the motivation, bracket challenges encourage friendly competition and bring groups closer together by the time a winner is crowned alongside the victorious team. The concept of deciding on a potential winning team from the beginning and watching them throughout the tournament also creates a connection between bracket-makers and certain teams.
With the U.S. boasting thousands of college and university programs, it is unlikely a person’s alma mater or university is one of the lucky 68 teams to participate. If a person’s school makes the list, the tournament encourages team loyalty and pride. If not, onlookers get to discover a team to root for through good game play and create a connection that could span years of tournaments.
One of the best parts of March Madness is participants aren’t required to be sports fanatics. There is a simplicity to the fun of filling out a bracket and competing against one's family, even if none of the team names sound remotely familiar and the rules of basketball sound completely foreign. March Madness brings out the best of championship tournaments and encourages connections across teams and competing groups, giving the month of March a little extra fun that makes it one of the best times of the year.
Sophia Rooksberry is a junior studying journalism. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Sophia know by tweeting her @sophiarooks_.
