By: Amarah Stevenson
The month of March can be very eventful for a lot of people. It’s some college students’ spring break, St. Patrick’s Day and the return of the Shamrock Shake at McDonalds. But for college basketball fans, the month of March takes on a whole new meaning. The March Madness basketball tournament starts this week, and the competition is already starting to heat up.
March Madness first started in 1939 and only eight teams participated with Oregon being the first team ever to win a title beating out Ohio State. Now we fast forward to 2023 and we have a much larger participation with over 64 teams duking it out for a shot at the national title.
Now if you’re a huge fan and follow college basketball closely, you may create a bracket. A bracket is basically you choosing who’s going to win out of the games that are played all the way to the championship game. And if you happen to have a perfect bracket, meaning you chose every team correctly, you can win up to $10,000 in prize money.
Blake Jones, a student here at GRCC, is a die hard Duke fan.
“I’ve been following the Blue Devils since I was a kid. Me and my dad watch the games together all the time,” he said.
Ashley Washington says that she looks forward to seeing how far her Michigan State Spartans can make it in the tourney.
“I really hope my Spartans can pull out a few upsets and go far,” Washington said. “Even if they don’t make it far, I’m just glad we made it to the tournament.”
While most people typically only pay attention to the men’s tournament, the women’s tournament is proving to be just as interesting if not more.
You’ve got the South Carolina Gamecocks who are looking to win back-to-back national titles, but the LSU Tigers and Tennessee Vols are hot on their trail.
“South Carolina has some really tough competition this year.” Says Jamie Ross.
She’s an avid follower of the Gamecocks and hopes that her team can pull out another undefeated season along with a championship.
You can catch all the March Madness action in the next coming weeks. Will your team be the one to take home the trophy this year?
