For some, March may be the time for Spring cleaning and Leprechauns. Junior Carmen Vercillo says, “Spring is when school gets harder and people look forward to the end of the year”. However, for many Old Saybrook High School students, March is the time for the best college basketball of the year. The term “March Madness” was brought to the NCAA tournament in 1982 when broadcaster Brent Musburger said it on air during tournament time. In the tournament, containing 68 teams, fans around the country create brackets, which predict the winner of each game. However, there is a 1 in 120.2 billion% chance of predicting each game correctly. Despite these odds, millions of people, basketball fans or not, fill out these brackets each March.
One of the biggest questions to decide when filling out a bracket is who will win the National Championship, the final game in the Tournament. Will you go for the 1 seed? Or will you take a risk and go for a 4 seed? Students at OSHS had varying feelings surrounding the winning team..
The team with the most votes for becoming Men’s National Champions by OSHS students is Duke University, which has a current record of 32-2 (As of 3/16). Others are backing up different contenders. Keegan Dobratz, Brandon Flores, and Griffin Cadley voted for the team in their home state, UConn. On the other hand, some picked the second seed overall for the tournament, Arizona. To continue, there were outliers within the predictions, with Jack Tapley’s selection of the BYU Cougars. With so many different predictions, it’s clear that anything can happen once the tournament begins.
Out of all the different teams and predictions, almost all of the students also believed that there would be a “Cinderella Team.” To put it simply, a Cinderella Team is a low ranked team who makes a run in the tournament. These teams quickly pick up fame online and become sensations. When asked which team might surprise everyone this year, students had some interesting picks. Sophomore Liam Laurie believes the Long Island Sharks could shock people, while Freshman Max Parakilas thinks McNeese State could pull off an upset. Additionally, Annalise Sarette wonders if the University of Arkansas ranked number 16 overall can be the team that shocks the bracket. Past tournaments have already produced some unforgettable Cinderella stories and left students with many favorite games. For example, a common favorite was the Loyola Chicago Ramblers, who entered the tournament as an 11 seed and advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2018. Moments like these are exactly what makes the tournament so exciting.
Beyond the crazy upsets and bracket chaos, lots of OSHS students say the real magic of March Madness is the experience of watching it together. Senior Casey DeAngelo explained, “It brings people together. Watching the games during school with my friends is a nice way to get through the four weeks of March.” Another student, Junior, Felicia Lombard states “March Madness is so much fun because any team can win on any night, so every game is just extra exciting.” The unpredictability and thrills is why the tournament is so memorable.
Whether you’re filling out a bracket, cheering on your favorite team, or hoping for a Cinderella run, March Madness continues to capture the attention of fans everywhere. As history has shown no prediction is ever safe once the tournament tips off. Sophia Kolesnik, a sophomore basketball player for OSHS says, “Smaller schools get opportunities to prove themselves against bigger competitors which is why this time is so inspiring.”
