In my opinion, March is the turning point of the year. The weather gets warmer, the days get longer, and the Red Sox start losing games again. It’s almost like a routine, but something was missing this year…
March Madness is the name coined by the NCAA to represent the Men’s and Women’s Basketball end-of-season tournaments. It contains 64 teams split up into four sections. In each section, teams receive a seed 1 through 16 based on their overall skill level that season. And while many things can weigh into these decisions, such as strength of schedule and points allowed, the final decisions are made each year by the NCAA Selection Committee. As of the 2024-25 season, 31 teams can receive “auto-bids” to the tournament. To obtain an auto-bid, you must become the champions of your respective DI conference. Then, once you have done so, the Selection Committee is obligated to include you in the bracket. But not all auto-bids are high seeds. For example, you may win, but if you are a part of a less prestigious conference or if you have had a lackluster season up until this point, the committee will likely include you as a lower seed.
The teams are matched up in the first round based on the Highest remaining seed playing the lowest remaining seed. A 1 plays 16, 2 plays 15, 3 plays 14, and so on. Then, after that, it is set up based on the highest-seeded projected winner, and it plays the lowest-seeded projected winner. 1/16 plays 8/9, 2/15 plays 7/10, 3/14 plays 6/11, and so forth. The “projected winner” in these cases is always the higher seed of the two. The rest of the bracket then follows this formula up until the Final Four, in which the winners of each of the four sections are pitted against each other. Then, once the two winners are decided, it is the National Championship. Chances are, if you are reading this article, you already knew the majority of that. But, seeding isn’t everything. Here’s where the Madness starts. Or I guess this year, the lack thereof…
LACK OF MADNESS: UPSETS
An upset is when a team with a lower seed than their opponent wins the game. Over the entire history of March Madness, we have seen many upsets, the most common of which being 9 seeds over 8 seeds with an upset percentage of .519, and 11 over 6 with an upset percentage of .391. The least common being 16 over 1 with a .013 upset percentage, and 15 over 2 with a .071 upset percentage. The average amount of total upsets in a tournament is 8.5, which may not sound like a lot. But when tournaments like this happen, we usually see a “Cinderella story” make it pretty far. A Cinderella story is a team that makes it to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond with multiple upset wins. Some notable Cinderella stories include 1983 6 seed NC State (Champions), and 2018 11 seed Loyola Chicago (Final Four). This year, we saw eight first-round upsets. It may sound like a lot, but it’s a little disappointing when you only have one of those teams advancing past the second round.
LACK OF MADNESS CONTINUED: ELITE EIGHT + FINAL FOUR
This year’s Elite Eight was almost entirely made up of one and two seeds (St. John’s loss to Arkansas). But even though we were missing a 2 seed, the lowest seed was still a 3. It was so bad that it tied the record low sum of seeds in the Elite Eight at 13 (2007). And to make matters worse, EVERY SINGLE ONE SEED ADVANCED. Are we serious? This is the first time in 15+ years that something like this has happened (2008), not only in the Elite Eight but also in the Final Four. This is only the second time in history that this has happened. That just goes to show how disappointing this year’s bracket was.
As a casual fan, I live for the Cinderella Stories of March Madness. And to not even have one? It would be unrealistic to say I didn’t take it a little personally. Like, come on! The one High Seed that I actually thought had a chance was the ONLY ONE that got eliminated early! I knew I didn’t like you, St. John’s, but now, it’s just pure hatred. So you know what? I don’t even care anymore! Why should I? I think I can live with myself, just as long as Duke doesn’t win.
