MADNESS ON THE RADAR

Predictions and opinions on the upcoming NCAA college basketball tournament

by Ben Psota design by Aidan Brown

1939

First Mach Madness tournament is held with only eight teams

1950s

The tournament rapidly expands to 25 teams

March Madness airs on TV for the first time

“One Shining Moment” becomes the official anthem of March Madness

The tournament expands to the current 68 teams

1969 1987 1996 2011 2020 ith the regular season of college basketball coming to a close and the month of March looming in the distance, the infamous NCAA tournament, also dubbed “March Madness,” is peeking over the horizon with many fans eager to see what the outcome will be.

1978

Kentucky defeats Duke 9488 in the highest scoring championship game

Sophomore Drew Jacobi feels that this year’s tournament might have a different outcome than what’s expected.

“I believe that for the first time since 2014, a top 2 seed won't win the championship,” Jacobi said. “I love watching Purdue basketball; they'll find a way to break my heart and lose, though.”

A very common practice amongst college basketball fans is to fill out a bracket predicting who will win

Wthe tournament overall. Senior Will Russell shares his experiences with his own bracket challenges. “When I remember to make a bracket I will participate,” Russell said. “I'm pretty bad at making predictions, but I have my favorite team, Xavier, in the final four.”

For Jacobi, his favorite team’s success hasn’t been as he hoped in the past.

“My team has never won it,” Jacobi said. “They have made it to the final four a couple of times but never have won it all.”

Similar things can be said about senior Will Russell’s favorite team. “I would be okay with a few teams going far in the tournament, but the team I want to go the farthest is Xavier University, “ Russell said. “Unfortunately, my favorite school has never won in the past couple years.”

The tournament name changes to March Madness

The tournament is canceled for the first time due to COVID-19