Booooooom! The start of the exhilarating March Madness season has people eagerly waiting to see which team will take the crown this year. 

March Madness has been around for years now. It was obviously first introduced in March: to be exact, March 17, 1939. The event is a single-elimination tournament played between college basketball teams every year during spring. In total, there are 68 college teams that play in March Madness. The tension and curiosity as to who is going to win is nerve-racking. These games are held all around the United States, the first couple being in Dayton, Ohio. 

In the previous years, the NCAA winning teams have included Baylor (2021), Virginia (2019), and Villanova (2018). But this year is different, with many other teams striving to get first. Ones to watch this year include the Arizona Wildcats men’s team, Gonzaga’s team, and the Kansas Jayhawks. The Arizona Wildcats, in particular, have a record of 32-3 and they are fighting to keep their 7-win streak. Each team’s performance improves with every game they win, and it is clear the athletes are learning as they go.

According to the NCAA, “Gonzaga is the pick. Again.”

The first round of March Madness took place March 17-18. Teams must to win to continue – if not, then they are disqualified. With games everyday, teams are playing to see who will move on to the next round: overall, the set-up is self-explanatory, a team wins, so they move on. The Second round was from March 19 and 20 and the winners went the Sweet 16. In the Midwest, we have Iowa St. v. Miami (FL), and Kansas v. Providence, which is the Sweet 16 (March 24-25). These games are going to decide if they will move on to the Elite 8 (March 26-27). The same goes for the other regions like the West, South, and the East regions. Moving on from the Elite 8, the winners enter the National Semifinals (April 2). 

The team predicted to win this year’s NCAA tournament is Gonzaga, the most talked-about team of 2022. Many predictors strongly believe that Gonzaga has it this year thanks to their strong performance on the court.

This year’s March Madness NCAA Tournament is a must-watch: follow Gonzaga, or your favorite team, to see if they win. 

Update

Ultimately, Gonzaga did not take the win (that honor went to Kansas, an unlikely source who had not won a title since 2008) – in fact, several of the top seed teams were eliminated well before the Sweet 16 were named, allowing Kansas to surge ahead.

Fans watched as Villanova took on Kansas first, while Duke faced North Carolina. The winners of these two games were North Carolina and Kansas.

At one point in the Semifinals (April 4), Kansas had a 15-point deficit at halftime, but they managed and took the win against North Carolina with 72-69. Kansas’ victory was indeed “One Shining Moment”.