Every year when March rolls around, all people can talk about is college basketball and the March Madness tournament. 64 teams enter and after each game the number of teams dwindles and fans refuse to miss a single moment. For the two weeks of the tournament, fans set aside whatever they are doing to tune in and make sure to not miss a second of the madness.
Senior Noam Halpern said that he is a massive fan of March Madness, and he likes the suspense that it has.
“I love March Madness. It’s my favorite sports event of the year, it’s extremely high stakes, just one game elimination,” Halpern started. “College football’s like this too, that they’re not as good, which makes it more fun.”
According to sophomore Ben Otis, students want to experience the tournament so much that they will go so far as to watch the games on their chromebooks during class for the duration of the tournament.
“A lot of games happen during the day. It’s tough to watch, but people are watching them on their Chromebooks,” Otis said. “Everyone likes to fill out the brackets and try to get a perfect bracket, which is really, really hard. There’s just so many games, so it’s fun to watch.”
According to History and economics teacher Scott Miller, people love the tournament because of the entertainment that it brings, and it is something people look forward to.
“People enjoy March Madness because it adds excitement at a time when we’re all tired of winter,” Miller said. “It also gives us a purpose to watch TV, have fun, and it’s a great time for everyone.”
According to Halpern, it’s fair that kids get so into the tournament and people feel they have to follow it so closely.
“People get so wrapped up in March Madness because it’s so high stakes, there’s so much involved with it online,” Halpern said. “There’s a 0.0001, whatever chance of getting a perfect bracket, so everyone’s invested to see if maybe they could be the one to get it.”
Otis said people love March Madness due to the brackets people create and why people enjoy it so much.
“I think everyone likes to try to get a perfect bracket, which is really, really hard,” Otis stated. And there’s just so many games which are just so fun to watch.”
Miller said kids are so into March Madness because of the social aspects and why it’s so appealing at this time of the year.
“People will oftentimes participate just to, you know, have bragging rights with friends who has the best bracket,” Miller said. “You give people a purpose, and we’re watching sports with a long season, so you’ve been watching teams play all winter. It’s fun to see it all kind of culminate with an end to surprises.”
