March Madness is truly what the name suggests. If you’ve never heard of it, it is an iconic 64-team college basketball tournament that takes place every March with teams from every DI conference that ultimately determine the NCAA basketball champions. Millions of fans and betters try every year to predict the infamous March Madness bracket with the hopes of catching lightning in a bottle by correctly guessing every game of the tournament outcome. To this day no one has been successful in doing so, and that is a testament to what makes March Madness so great. In fact, there are actually many reasons why I believe this special tournament beats out everything the current-day NBA playoffs have to offer.
I remember when I fell in love with March Madness, and it was all the way back in fourth grade when I got sick during its first few rounds. I was pretty down and out, but the exciting and thrilling games were on all day back to back to back to back, and I was HOOKED. Channel Two would never show 4 NBA playoff games all back to back, and having basketball on all day is just so fun.
It’s so exhilarating to see team after team giving it everything they had for the win, no matter what conference or ranking they are. It seems like every team is dangerous in the tourney, with at least one lower-ranked team beating one of the top-seeded teams in the country every year, with some proceeding to make crazy and unexpected “Cinderella” runs.
A now iconic example of this was lesser known school Saint Peter’s University’s miraculous victory against 3rd ranked Purdue, which was their first win in a run that would take them to the final 8 teams. Another famous example is that of Loyola Chicago’s mind-blowing bid that saw them beat all the odds and make it to the Final Four. The NBA may have tournaments of their own with shocking upsets, but none can match the unexpected feel-good upsets that March Madness is built on.
“It really does have like an ‘anything can happen’ feeling to it you know.” said my friend Charles Barton
However, when NBA playoff teams have big-time generational talents like Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Luka Doncic, why would college players be more entertaining? That’s a question many people who have never experienced the legendary tournament may ask, and the answer is in my opinion, they simply play harder. In the modern-day NBA, the stars are making millions upon millions of dollars every season, not counting the brand deals they usually get. The top players also commonly sit out multiple games every year including playoff games just to rest or tend to minor injuries. College players in the NCAA tournament have so much more to play, mainly their school’s glory and their own chances to make the NBA. The students from their schools travel far and wide to root for their team as the players seem to leave it out on the court every time. This makes for super entertaining games that carry gritty, don’t hold back attitudes.
“Whether it be a 16 (seed) team trying to upset a 1 (seed), or a #1 seed doing its best to live up to their hype, the NCAA tournament brings out the best in each player.” said my dad, who is a longtime March Madness fan.
Although I have been a fan of watching the NBA playoffs for the majority of my life, I feel many can agree that its current state is nowhere near as entertaining as March Madness is every single year, time and time again. March Madness is an event where teams can cement their names in tournament history and lore, and put their school’s program on the map. It is where dreams come true, legends are born, and anything seems possible. You can feel it’s madness.
