March Madness is a yearly men's College Basketball tournament that begins in March and ends in April with the National Championship game. The losing team in each game is eliminated from the tournament, and it continues until only two teams remain. This is the biggest annual event in college basketball, so fans are aptly hyped for the games to begin. It is common for people to place bets on the teams they think will win, and many even fill out entire brackets that indicate which teams they see beating which. The Sunday before the tournament begins is called Selection Sunday, where the 68 teams who will compete are revealed to the public.
How to fill out a bracket
One of the most common activities surrounding the tournament is filling out a bracket to secure your guesses for who will win each game. For those who are well-seasoned and have a working knowledge of college basketball, there is some definite strategy with those picks. However, for those who are unfamiliar with the tournament or who don't watch a lot of college basketball, this may seem like it is strictly a guessing game. The NCAA official website offers some tips on making your choices, the most important being to pay attention to how teams are ranked and seeded. The NCAA advises against "following your heart, not your head" by picking your favorite team to win. The fact of the matter is, teams are ranked for a reason, and a No.
1 ranked team is much more likely to win against a No. 16 ranked team. Essentially, the most successful predictions take the statistics into account, so it is important to keep them in mind when making your picks.
When and where to watch the games
The NCAA official website offers the complete schedule of games and where they can be streamed.
Most of the games take place on weekends, but the first week shows games being played every day starting on Tuesday evening, March 13. The four major channels that will be broadcasting the games are TNT, TBS, TruTV, and CBS, and every game is available for live streaming online via the NCAA website.
Filling out a bracket can drastically increase the entertainment of the games for those who normally don't care, since the bracket will provide a concrete map of which teams to root for and when, thus increasing emotional investment in each game. Now that you're fully equipped with the March Madness knowledge you need this season, go fill out a bracket and enjoy the tournament!
