On Thursday, the annual college basketball tournament, ‘March Madness,’ began. Sixty-four college teams across the country will compete in six rounds: the first two elimination rounds, the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the title game for the championship.
The competition started Thursday with 16 rounds, reducing the initial 64 teams to 48, according to the NCAA. The first two elimination rounds will span from March 21 to 24.
“I am very excited to see what will happen in the first two rounds,” sophomore Piper Leffert said. “I always watch and make predictions, but a lot of times I get really surprised by the results of the games,”
The first few rounds take place in multiple different cities such as Charlotte, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City. The final game will take place in the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Last year’s winner of the March Madness title was UConn, beating San Diego State in the final round. Many people are betting on UConn again this year in their March Madness brackets according to sophomore Claire Li.
“I think that UConn has a very big chance of winning again this year,” Li said. “It will be interesting to see the outcomes because of how many people will put them at the top of their brackets,”
Convent and Stuart Hall hosted their own March Madness bracket competition on ESPN Fantasy. Every year, students and faculty members are invited to participate and join the bracket competition to win.
Students received an empty bracket to fill in with their predictions of the winners of the March Madness competition. Whoever’s bracket is the most accurate wins, according to Leffert. This year’s top picks from students include UConn with 23.33% and North Carolina with 18.33%.
There are currently 72 student brackets competing for the winning spot. As the tournament progresses all the way until the final game on April 8, the bracket’s progress will be assessed.
“I find it a lot of fun that we do a bracket competition every year,” Leffert said. “I think it builds community with competitive fun.”
