How March Madness Works
Introduction to How March Madness Works
March Madness is a phenomenon that grips the national sports psyche from the second week of March through the first week of April. March Madness is the moniker that is given to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. These tournaments determine the national champions of college basketball.
The NCAA tournaments are an American tradition that sends millions of fans into a synchronized frenzy each year. It's this chaos that gives the tournament its March Madness nickname. March Madness is the concentrated hype of 68 teams vying for college basketball's biggest prize. It's the last second, buzzer beating baskets, the euphoria of winning to play another day and the agony of losing and going home. Volunteers from the association's member schools manage the organization and make rules to ensure fairness among all intercollegiate athletics.
Among the nearly 1,300 colleges and universities that make up the NCAA, 1,066 were considered active members in 2013. According to the NCAA:
an active member is a Kareem Jackson Authentic Jersey four year college or university or a two year, upper level collegiate institution that has been accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency and duly elected to active membership under the provisions of the Association bylaws.
Active members are allowed to compete in tournaments and other championship events.
The Source of the Madness
The term March Madness, today, is synonymous with the NCAA Basketball Tournament, but the nickname was first used to describe another basketball tournament the annual Illinois High School Association tournament. Henry V. Porter is credited with coining the phrase in his 1939 article for the Illinois Interscholastic magazine, Brooks Reed Womens Jersey "March Madness."
March Madness was not used to describe the NCAA Basketball tournament until 1982, when Brent Musburger, a CBS reporter, used the term during the telecast of a tournament game. College basketball fans and the media have been using the term ever since.
Today, after a court battle over the ownership of the term, March Madness is co owned by the NCAA and IHSA through the March Madness Athletic Association. Here are some of the factors that the NCAA uses to delineate between the three divisions.
Division I These schools must sponsor at least seven sports each for men and women, or six for men and eight for women, with two team Kareem Jackson Texans Jersey sports for each gender. Men's and women's basketball teams must play all but two of their games against Division I teams, and men must play a third of their contests in their designated home arena. Schools have a minimum and maximum number of scholarships they can award. Of the three divisions, Division I is the most prominent and receives the most publicity.
Division II These schools must sponsor at least five sports each for men and women (or four for men and six for women), with at least two team sports for each Brooks Reed Elite Jersey gender. Men and women's basketball teams must play at least half of their games against Division I or Division II schools. There are no minimum home game requirements for this division.
Division III These schools must sponsor at least five sports each for men and women, with two team sports for each gender. Unlike Divisions I and II, Division III schools texansonlineprostore.com/WOMENS-DEANDRE-HOPKINS-JERSEY.html do not offer athletic scholarships.
One of the NCAA's duties is to organize the annual basketball tournament for men's and women's college basketball of each division. Each tournament is based on a single elimination format.
Since the Division I tournament is the most prominent, and the format for all of the tournaments is the same, the rest of this article focuses on the Division I tournament. In the next section, you will learn more about the tournament format.
Tickets to the Dance
In 2012 13, there were 347 men's teams and 345 women's teams in Division I college basketball, and each one begins every basketball season with one dream winning the national championship. But before these teams can win the tourney, they must make the field of teams that are invited to the tournament. Sixty eight men's teams and 64 women's teams are granted invitations.
A selection committee that comprises different university athletic directors and conference commissioners chooses teams for both the men's and women's tournaments. Each tournament has its own committee. The selection committee meets between the Thursday and Sunday before the date picked for the tournament's first game. Its job is to figure out the teams deserving of an invitation. The decisions are announced on television during Selection Sunday.
Thirty one teams receive an automatic invite to the tournament, which is their reward for winning their respective conferences. Thirty of these teams win their tournament through conference tournaments. The remaining invites, 37 for men and 33 for women, are left in the hands of the selection committee. Of the teams left in the pool, certain teams are assured texansonlineprostore.com/WOMENS-DJ-SWEARINGER-JERSEY.html a spot in the tournament, others don't make the cut, and then there's a third group, called "bubble" teams, that could go either way.
The number of teams selected for the men's tournament has grown since the first tournament in 1939, when only eight teams were invited. The men's tournament, as we know it today, began in 1985 when the field expanded to 64 teams. In 2001, a sixty fifth team was added to the field. In 2011, that number rose again to 68 teams.
On the women's side, the first tournament was played in 1982. There were 32 teams in that tournament. The tournament expanded to 48 in 1989 and then to 64 teams in 1994, which is where it stands today.