On the heels of Selection Sunday, sports fans from around the country are gearing up for March Madness. March Madness refers to the men’s and women’s NCAA college basketball tournaments that have been played since 1939.
In both the men’s and women’s play, 68 teams compete in a single-elimination tournament. The men’s final will be in San Antonio, and for the women’s final will be in Tampa. The competition is split up based on region.
Currently, Auburn and South Carolina are favored to win the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.
A time honored tradition around this time is the Bracket Challenge Game, in which fans predict which teams will win each round all the way up to the championship. It might sound easy, but no one is known to have made a perfect bracket before. Despite long odds, people bet $2.42 billion.
At South, sophomore Brynn Dietrich is excited to cheer on Illinois and Purdue, but she acknowledged Auburn would be tough to beat. Loolia Zeitoun, on the other hand, said she will be watching only the women’s game and roping for, “UConn all the way!”