What is March Madness?

March Madness, the moniker given to the Division I men's basketball tournament by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, is a single-elimination event that takes place in the United States to determine the national champion in men's collegiate basketball.

First played in March, the competition has 68 teams and was held for the first time in 1939. Known for upsetting favourite teams, it has become one of the largest annual sporting events in the United States.

The 32 Division I conference winners make up the tournament teams in addition to the 36 schools that receive at-large berths. These "at-large" teams are announced on Selection Sunday, a nationally televised event, subsequent to their selection by an NCAA selection committee.

A total of 37 different schools have won the event. UCLA has won the most championships with 11, while their coach, John Wooden, has won the most of any coach with 10.

The University of Kentucky holds eight championships, followed by the University of North Carolina with six, Duke with five, the University of Connecticut with five, Indiana University with five, the University of Kansas with four, and Villanova University with three. Seven universities are tied for two national titles, while 22 teams have won one each.

How does March Madness work?

March Madness features 68 teams competing in a single-elimination bracket over seven rounds. A total of 36 teams receive an at-large bid based on their season performance, while 32 teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament, which is held during the two weeks leading up to the tournament.

The Sunday before the tournament, known as Selection Sunday by the media and fans, is when the Selection Committee makes public the decisions on the at-large bids, ranks all of the teams from 1 to 68, and arranges the teams in the bracket. There isn't any reseeding during the competition, and the bracket determines the pairings for each successive round. Four regions, consisting of 16 to 18 teams each, make up the event; they vary annually.

Three weekends are allocated for the tournament, with two rounds taking place each weekend. Eight teams participate in the First Four to go to the first round prior to the first weekend. The lowest-ranked at-large qualifiers and conference champions are paired in two games each.

The national semifinals and championship game take place on the third weekend, whereas the first and second rounds, regional semifinals, and regional finals take place on the first and second weekends, respectively.

According to the number of teams left at the start of the round, the regional stages are called the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, while the third weekend is called the Final Four. Every match, including the First Four, is arranged to give teams one day off in between. Since 2011, this structure has been followed, with a few minor adjustments made to the timetable in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What year did March Madness start?

In 1939, the first-ever NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament took place. Eight teams participated. Oregon defeated Ohio State to win the inaugural NCAA tournament. In 1951, there were 16 participants in the NCAA tournament; in 1975, that number doubled to 32; and in 1985, the field swelled to 64 teams. In 2001, one opening-round match was added. In 2011, the first-ever First Four saw the addition of three more games to that round.

Henry V. Porter, a high school official in Illinois, coined the phrase "March Madness" for basketball in 1939. It wasn't until Brent Musberger coined the phrase during coverage of the 1982 tournament that March Madness became linked with the NCAA tournament. The March Madness anthem, One Shining Moment, debuted after the 1987 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

It may surprise you to learn that the NIT (1938) was established prior to the NCAA tournament. As the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed, UMBC pulled off the largest upset in March Madness history.

In the history of the NCAA tournament, Duke has had the greatest comeback and the second-largest lead blown. Even though they trailed Seton Hall by 18, Duke's 1989 team lost, whereas the 2001 Blue Devils rallied to defeat Maryland after falling behind by 22 points. With 407 points, Christian Laettner of Duke is the all-time top scorer in the NCAA tournament. In March Madness, just nine players have more than 300 points.

Austin Carr of Notre Dame is not one of the nine, but he does own the record for most points scored in a single game in the NCAA tournament—61 points in a 1970 match versus Ohio. Among the three highest-scoring games in NCAA tournament history is the one against Loyola Marymount. The highest-scoring March Madness match was won by the Lions over Michigan in 1990, 149-115.

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When did March Madness start?

The term "March Madness" for basketball was first used in 1939 by Henry V. Porter, an Illinois high school official. But it was the 1982 competition that established the connection between March Madness and the NCAA tournament. One Shining Moment, the March Madness anthem, made its premiere following the 1987 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

There were just eight teams competing in the first NCAA basketball tournament, and Ohio State lost to Oregon in the championship game in 1939. The field of 16 teams entered the NCAA tournament in 1951; it expanded to 32 in 1975; and it grew to 64 teams in 1985. One match in the opening round was added in 2001. There were three more games added to the first-ever First Four in 2011.

How long is a March Madness game?

The average length of an NCAA Tournament game is two hours. Naturally, that changes based on the final score and whether overtime is used in the match. A game lasts 40 minutes altogether, divided into two 20-minute halves. Five minutes are allotted for overtime. There are sometimes a lot more timeouts in close games because coaches need time to plan plays in pressure-filled scenarios or manage the clock.

In addition, there are far more foul-related stops in play since teams purposely foul to lengthen the game and halt the clock. Teams in the tournament will continue to foul even when the game is probably out of reach because they are desperate to keep their seasons going. Games in tournaments are therefore longer than those in the regular season.

March Madness also means more ads, which means that the television broadcasts run longer throughout the game. Referees seeing the instant replay of a foul call or an out-of-bounds call also slow down play during video reviews.

Each team is also granted three 30-second and one 60-second timeouts. More specifically, the true time duration of an NCAA Tournament game averages two hours and ten minutes. The 1956 match between Canisius and North Carolina State was the longest in the history of the tournament. Canisius prevailed by a single point after four overtimes in the match.

What is the First Four in March Madness?

The First Four of the NCAA Tournament is regarded as the unofficial (play-in games) beginning of March Madness, the greatest postseason in American sports history. After Selection Sunday, the First Four teams play on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the first round starting on Thursday.

Eight teams compete in the current First Four format: four automatic bids from the lowest seed and four at-large bids from the lowest seed. Two of the four games involving those teams are at the 16-seed line, and the other two are at the 11- or 12-seed line.

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