March Madness is the greatest event in American sports. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is a three-week event filled with buzzer-beaters, Cinderella stories, and raw emotion that attracts millions. Unlike professional leagues where the same top teams somehow always seem to dominate, March Madness rises and falls on its unpredictability, therefore it becomes a transcendent experience for players and fans alike.
One of the most attractive features of the tournament is the single-elimination format of play. Unlike in the NBA, with seven games provided to a team to recover from a bad night, the win-or-go-home environment presents the platform for an unmatched level of intensity under which even the best can be vulnerable to being knocked out in the early rounds. Upsets are an annual phenomenon, and Cinderella runs have some of sports’ most resilient stories. Teams like Florida Gulf Coast (2013), Loyola Chicago (2018), and Saint Peter’s (2022) gained fans overnight after having a historic run and it will never be forgotten.
But whereas unpredictability has been one of the reasons why people love March Madness, this year’s tournament defied the trend. For only the second time in history, all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. The previous time it occurred was when Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis, and UCLA all made the semifinals in 2008. On this trip, Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston have been the powerhouses, demonstrating that while chaos typically characterizes the tournament, sometimes the best teams do survive. This historic event has sparked the debate about whether the transfer portal and NIL deals are helping premier programs gain more players. Even in a year where the seeds were highly concentrated, however, March Madness was still able to deliver on its crazy moments, which will be remembered by fans for many years.
There are imprinted moments in each tournament, including Kris Jenkins’ championship-winning buzzer-beater for Villanova in 2016 and Jalen Suggs’ half-court game-winner for Gonzaga in 2021. No exception this year has been made, with last-second shots that were dramatic, early-round upsets that were stunning, and one-game performances that had sealed players into legends of college basketball. It’s the type of moments that make you jump off your couch in surprise that makes March Madness so special and draws people’s attention year after year.
A second reason March Madness is unique is the emotional investment. The majority of the players are amateurs who will never compete at the professional level, so this tournament is the pinnacle of their basketball career. The energy, passion, and desperation they toy with is something lacking in much professional sport. A Princeton squad beating a top heavy Arizona is not only a crazy “upset.” It’s also a reminder that anything can happen in this tournament. I’m sure if Arizona played them again Arizona would win, but it’s not about that. That day Princeton was just the better team.
The past couple of years brought a fascinating wrinkle to the tournament: the transfer portal. Despite the fact that March Madness is all about chemistry and Cinderella stories, the reality of college hoops today is that players are more free to transfer than ever before. The NCAA transfer portal, where student-athletes can choose to indicate that they wish to switch schools, has an open window in the middle of the tournament itself. This has created the somewhat awkward situation of players on still-active teams already making plans to depart. So, for instance, a player who is playing too little or who wants a better NIL deal can enter the portal before his team has even played its final game. This has had fans scratching their heads, wondering about player loyalty and about how teams can trade rosters as fast as the tournament ends.
Even when all four No. 1 seeds make it to the Final Four of a particular year, the tournament has given us great matchups and moments. The opening of the transfer portal and NIL will change the way programs build for next year’s tournament, but it has not taken away from the enjoyment of viewing the grandest stage in college hoops. March always delivers something crazy, something that fans will be talking about for decades. That’s the wonder of this tournament. March Madness is more than merely three weeks of basketball games, it’s a national enthusiasm, and there just isn’t anything else like it.
