Facts About the NCAA Tournament

Liam Rump, Journalist

                   The NCAA Tournament, better known as March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament of the 64 best D-1 college basketball teams. The 64 teams are split up into four regions and are seeded 1 to 16. There is a men’s and a women’s tournament but the men’s tournament is more popular. The NCAA Tournament was founded in 1939 and has become one of the most well-known sporting events in the US. Millions of people fill out March Madness brackets each year, and they all are hoping to get a perfect bracket. The odds of getting a perfect bracket are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. That is about 9.2 quintillion. If by chance, you do get a perfect bracket, BetMGM will award you $2 million if you fill out your bracket online and not on paper. No one has ever gotten a perfect bracket in the 82 years that March Madness has been happening. This year in the tournament, eight teams remain in both the men’s and the women’s tournament. In the men’s tournament, #1 seed Gonzaga will face off against #6 seed USC in the West region, #1 seed Michigan will face off against #11 seed UCLA in the East region, #1 Baylor will face off against #3 Arkansas in the South region, and #12 seed Oregon State will face off against #2 seed Houston in the Midwest region. In the women’s tournament, #1 seed Stanford will face off against #2 Louisville in the Alamo region, #1 South Carolina will face off against #6 Texas in the Hemisfair region, #1 Uconn will face off against #2 Baylor in the RiverWalk region, and #4 Indiana will face off against #3 Arizona in the Mercado region. The men’s and the women’s Elite Eight will be played today, March 29, and tomorrow, March 30.