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What Is March Madness? | Wonderopolis

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Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Justin. Justin Wonders, “What is March Madness?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Justin!

Are you a sports fan? Whether you enjoy football, baseball, soccer, or one of the many other sports around the world, there are many chances each week to sit back and enjoy a game or two on television.

If you're a fan of basketball, in particular, there's a time of year that's extra special. It's that time when everywhere you turn, sports fanatics are talking about bubble teams, brackets, and buzzer beaters. What are we talking about? March Madness, of course!

March Madness refers to that time of year (usually mid-March through the beginning of April) when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's and women's college basketball tournaments are held.

Why is it madness? That term somehow captures the excitement that swirls around the sports world as tournament time approaches. In the weeks leading up to the "Big Dance," as it is called, hundreds of college basketball teams from all over the United States fight to earn a spot in the tournament.

The NCAA college basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament that features 68 teams vying to survive three weekends of games to be crowned the national champions. The field used to be 64 teams, but the NCAA has recently added four more teams that play "play in" games to earn a spot in the final field of 64.

Only 16 teams (the "Sweet Sixteen") make it past the first weekend. The second weekend narrows the field first to the "Elite Eight" and then the "Final Four. The final weekend focuses on the four semifinalists. The two semifinal victors move on to play in the national championship game.

Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen is usually credited with developing the idea for the tournament in 1939 with the help of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The 68 teams in the tournament include 32 teams that receive automatic bids for winning their respective conferences. The remaining 36 teams are given at-large bids by the NCAA selection committee based upon their performance during the season.

Once the field is set, the teams are divided into four regions (usually spread geographically through the eastern, western, midwestern, and southern U.S.) and placed into a bracket that lays out the path a team must take to reach the finals. Each team is seeded or ranked within its region, from 1 to 16.

Higher-seeded teams generally play lower-seeded teams in the beginning. For example, in the first round, each team seeded #1 plays the team seeded #16. This trend continues until upsets begin to occur, at which time brackets can become hard to predict as unexpectedly-good teams (often called "Cinderella" teams) make a run in the tournament.

At tournament time each year, millions of people fill out their own brackets, attempting to predict the winners of all the games. There are usually enough upsets, however, that it's nearly impossible to predict a perfect bracket. In fact, your chances of correctly guessing the winner of every game is less than 1 in 9.2 quintillion (or more precisely, 9,223,372,036,854,775,808)!

As multiple games are played simultaneously at neutral sites all over the country, millions of sports fans follow the games on television over the course of the three-week tournament. To date, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) holds the record for the most national titles with 11.

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Try It Out

We hope you thought today's Wonder of the Day was a slam dunk! Be sure to explore the following activities with a friend or family member:

• Are you ready to participate in March Madness? The first thing you'll need to do is fill out your very own bracket with your picks for the NCAA basketball tournament. You can find brackets in local newspapers, as well as printable brackets online each year. (Click here to access 2016's.) Ask a friend or family member to help you print and fill out a bracket. Then watch the games to see who wins!
• If you're really into March Madness, plan and host a Final Four party! You'll need a television to watch the games, as well as some tasty and healthy snacks. You might also want to plan some fun games you can play as a group at halftime and between games. Make sure you get permission and help from an adult friend or family member. Have fun!
• Want to learn more about the origins of March Madness? Jump online to read through History's March Madness Is Born article. Do you think the people back in 1939 had any idea what a spectacle their creation would become? Why or why not?

Wonder Sources

• http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/march-madness.htm
• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-march-madness.htm
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-march-madness-probability-met-20150303-story.html

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March Madness | The TwinSpires Edge

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college basketball

Since 1939, the men’s NCAA Division I basketball tournament, or March Madness, has been held annually at the end of college basketball’s regular season. The single-elimination tournament is one of the most watched sporting events in the United States and generates a ton of betting action across the country.

Below you will find all the stats and info you need to gear up for college basketball’s highly anticipated postseason competition.  

Gonzaga Bulldogs

+500

Kentucky Wildcats

+850

Arizona Wildcats

+900

Auburn Tigers

+900

Purdue Boilermakers

+1050

Baylor Bears

+1200

Duke Blue Devils

+1200

Kansas Jayhawks

+1500

UCLA Bruins

+2200

Illinois Fighting Illini

+2300

When is the 2022 NCAA tournament?

March Madness will begin on Tuesday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET, with the First Four—or play-in—stage of competition. The official first round, featuring 64 teams, will take place Thursday and Friday, March 17-18, before the round of 32 on Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20.

The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 occur the following weekend, March 24 through March 27. Caesars Superdome in New Orleans will host the Final Four, which includes the national semifinal championship game on the evening of Monday, April 4.

Who can make the NCAA tournament?

In order to qualify for March Madness, a Division I college basketball team must either win its conference tournament or receive an “at-large” bid from the NCAA tournament selection committee.

A total of 68 teams play in the tournament, with 32 of those teams earning an automatic bid by winning their conference tournament. The 36 remaining tournament bids are granted by the selection committee and are revealed on Selection Sunday.

The committee is also in charge of seeding and placing each team in one of four regions of the tournament bracket: the East, West, Midwest and South. Each region will be seeded 1-16.

The selection committee is currently comprised of eight athletic directors and two conference commissioners in Division I men’s and women’s athletics. Members serve a five-year term.

Duncan Robinson (22) of the Michigan Wolverines cuts down the net to celebrate the victory during the NCAA Division I Men's Championship Elite Eight round basketball game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Michigan Wolverines. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire)

How can I watch the NCAA tournament?

truTV and TBS will air the First Four, then split first- and second-round coverage with CBS, TBS, and TNT.  

TBS and CBS will televise the Sweet 16 and Elite, while the Final Four and NCAA National Championship Game can be found exclusively on CBS.

How long are March Madness games?

March Madness will follow the standard rules of a regular-season college basketball game, with two 20-minute halves. The overtime period is five minutes long and may be repeated as many times as necessary to determine a winner.

What is the Final Four?

The Elite Eight will decide the champion of each of the four regions in the NCAA tournament. The winner from the East, West, Midwest and South move on to the Final Four to play in the national semifinal games. 

The Final Four includes both the semifinal round and the championship game on Monday, April 5.

Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Shutterstock)

Where is the Final Four?

Caesars Superdome, home to the New Orleans Saints, will host the Final Four from April 2-4.

What time is the national championship game?

Tipoff of the national championship game is scheduled for 9 p. m. ET Eastern on Monday, April 4.

From 1964 to 1995, the UCLA Bruins accumulated 11 national championship titles, 10 of those under head coach John Wooden.

The University of Kentucky, a longtime elite program in college basketball, earned its first championship in 1948 and most recent in 2012. ACC schools North Carolina and Duke are neck-and-neck for titles, with six and five, respectively, and have each won one in the last five years.

The Indiana Hoosiers also rank high with five championships, but the school hasn't experienced the NCAA's ultimate glory since 1987, with head coach Bob Knight.

The University of Louisville hung championship banners in 1980 and 1986 with head coach Denny Crum, and again in 2013 with Rick Pitino. However, because of NCAA violations, the school had to vacate its 2013 championship and two Final Four appearances. Louisville is the only school in NCAA history to have a men's basketball championship vacated.

UCLA head coach John Wooden's record of 10 national championships may never be touched, but "Coach K" (Mike Krzyzewski) is hot on his track, with five. The Duke basketball coach's teams regularly rank in the AP Top 25 poll and are often considered one of the favorites in the NCAA tournament each year.

A statue of former Purdue Boilermaker player John Wooden is seen outside of Mackey Arena. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire)

Kentucky legend Adolph Rupp led the school to the Promised Land four times (1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958) during his tenure. There is a three-way tie for fourth-most wins, as UConn's Jim Calhoun, Indiana's Bob Knight, and Roy Williams each own three titles. Williams collected his trio of banners with North Carolina in 2005, 2009 and 2017. He also guided the Kansas Jayhawks to a national title game, where they fell to Syracuse in 2003.

Based on current conference membership, the ACC owns the most NCAA titles. North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina State, Louisville, Syracuse and Virginia have each claimed at least one national championship. The Cavaliers most recently won the tournament in 2019.

The Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 triumphed in the first national championship game in 1939. Since then, the Pac-12 has earned 16 titles among Stanford, Utah, Cal, UCLA and Arizona. UCLA won seven in a row from 1967-1973, then again in 1975, the last season Wooden coached for the Bruins. Wooden also achieved back-to-back titles in 1964 and 1965.

When is Selection Sunday?

Selection Sunday will take place on Sunday, March 13 at 6 p.m. ET,  and will air on CBS.

How does seeding work?

The selection committee will offer 36 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament in addition to 32 automatic bids for those teams that won their conference tournament. 

The committee will look at record, strength of schedule and quality of wins and losses, among other factors, to rank the field of teams from 1 to 68. Theoretically, the top four teams will earn the No. 1 seeds, and the next four on the list will receive the No. 2 seeds, and so on.

The committee strives for balance in each of the East, West, Midwest and South regions. The overall No. 1 seed should play the weakest No. 2 seed, and that pattern should follow down the line from the No. 3 seeds to No. 16 seeds for each region. 

What is the First Four?  

In 2011, the NCAA expanded the men's tournament to 68 teams and added a "First Four" play-in stage that included eight teams. Those eight teams hold the four lowest-seeded automatic bids and four lowest-seeded at-large bids.

The four winners of the First Four games move on to the field of 64 to compete in the first round of the tournament.

From 1985 to 2001, the NCAA tournament followed a 64-team format, until the Mountain West Conference joined Division I. To accomodate an additional automatic bid, which bumped the field to 65, the NCAA created one play-in game before the opening round. Since the arrival of the First Four in 2011, the tournament has maintained the same 68-team format.

The University of Dayton Arena in Ohio is the annual host site of the First Four games.

How many rounds are in the NCAA tournament?

There are six rounds of the NCAA tournament, not including the First Four play-in round.

Sixty-four teams participate in the first round. From there, the field is narrowed down to 32 for the second round of competition.

The third round is referred to as the Sweet 16, or regional semifinal, and the fourth round is best known as the Elite Eight or regional final. 

The fifth round, or national semifinal, is part of the Final Four, as is the sixth round, the national championship game.

Where can I download a March Madness bracket?

You can fill our our official TwinSpires Sports downloadable March Madness bracket by clicking here.

It's been estimated that around 70 million brackets are filled out each year across the country for company or family pools and nationwide contests.

The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are about 1 in 120.6 billion—if you know something about basketball. If you filled out your bracket by flipping a coin or blindly guessing, your odds are much higher.

No one has filled out a perfect bracket—that we know of—in the history of the NCAA tournament.

NCAA Final Four Betting Trends

20 of the last 21 Final Four Champions Have Been East Coast Teams

The only team that could be considered following in this trend for this year’s Final Four is Virginia. With a state that does touch the East Coast, does the basketball world truly count Virginia as an East Coast team? Michigan State is from the Midwest, while Auburn is from the South and Texas Tech is a Southwest team, thus they would not come as close to fitting the mold. If the Cavaliers fit the narrative of East Coast, then the trend could very well continue to prove true.

Favorites Usually Dominate in Final Four Semifinals

If this trend holds, Michigan State will beat Texas Tech and Virginia will beat Auburn. I’ve got Texas Tech upsetting MSU and Auburn upsetting UVA. So, I’ve thrown out this trend!

Underdogs Have Performed Well in the Finals

UNC won as a favorite in 2017. Last year, Villanova won as the favorite. But, before those two chalked it up, Nova beat North Carolina as a dog in 2016, Duke upset Wisconsin as a slight dog in 2015, and Connecticut upset Kentucky as a major underdog in 2014.

Will any of the three trends listed above hold? Or, will Auburn and Texas Tech prove best? Get your popcorn ready and watch one of the greatest sports events in the U.S., the annual NCAA College Basketball Final Four!

NCAA Final Four Notable Games

1975 National Championship – UCLA 92, Kentucky 85

The great John Wooden won his final championship. It was the Wizard of Westwood’s 10th title.

1979 National Championship – Michigan State 75, Indiana State 64

Magic and Bird started one of the most important rivalries in NBA history while still in college.

1983 National Championship – NC State 54, Houston 52

NC State upset Phi Slamma Jamma with a last-second shot, handing Jimmy Valvano the NCAA Final Four trophy. Valvano would end up starting the Jimmy V. Foundation, one of the most important cancer research non-profit organizations in the world.

1985 National Championship – Villanova 66, Georgetown 64

Villanova beats Georgetown in one of the biggest upsets in Final Four history.

1991 National Championship – Duke 72, Kansas 65

Coach Mike Krzyzewski wins his first of five national championships by beating Roy Williams- coached Kansas. The Blue Devils upset heavily favored UNLV in the semifinals. Today, Williams coaches North Carolina, which means Coach K and Williams have continued the rivalry that started in 1991.

2022 College Basketball Championship Regions and Dates

• Regions: South, East, West, Midwest
• Inaugural Game: March 17, 1939
• Current Number of Teams Participating: 68
• 2022 NCAA National Championship Location: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
• 2022 NCAA National Championship Date: Monday, April 4, 2022

NCAA Basketball, March Madness and Final Four on Radio

When you're a college basketball fan, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is a magical time of year. While most people watch games on TV, listening to the action while you're on the go is easier than ever thanks to the multitude of websites, sports apps and radio stations with March Madness coverage.

Officials announced on March 12, 2020 that the March Madness has been canceled for a year. Check back with us next year to find out how to listen to it!

Find local radio stations with March Madness coverage

Local radio stations that follow home teams almost always provide audio feeds of these games during the season. You can also get broadcast information on Westwood One Sports, NFL Radio Center, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, and the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments.

Westwood One broadcasts every NCAA basketball game and does not require you to listen. You can check the broadcast schedule, then select the state and program to find your local stations.

Listen to NCAA Basketball Games Online

The internet has the most for March Madness:

• TuneIn also offers original, live and on-demand radio in one place. The College Basketball page lists all the games that are played, as well as dozens of radio stations that provide live coverage, commentary, and other sports news.
• ESPN Radio lists daily schedules for all of its shows, including broadcasts of upcoming games. Best of all, there is no need to listen. The same goes for listening to games on CBS Radio.
• Dar.FM Radio also offers a list of stations broadcasting games. Paid subscribers can record broadcasts or listen to them live.

Want to watch instead? Stream games online this year.

NCAA Men's Basketball on Satellite Radio

Sirius XM Radio provides a list of all games played and the stations that broadcast those games to radio and web subscribers. You can even set reminders through Sirius so you never miss a game. You must be a Sirius XM subscriber, which means answering a quick set of questions about your service.

March Madness on your phone

There are many sports apps that offer March Madness coverage:

• The TuneIn app gives you access to hundreds of radio stations, including those that carry games. The app is available for Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Amazon Fire tablets and select smart TVs.
• If you have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Apple TV, you can listen to all 67 games airing on TBS, CBS, TNT, and truTV with the free NCAA March Madness Live iOS app. The app is even compatible with iMessage.
• Android users can grab the NCAA March Madness app through Google Play. New users get a free three-hour preview, then you must sign in with your TV subscription provider to continue listening; however, all games broadcast on CBS Games do not require a paid TV subscription. Amazon also offers a March Madness app for Fire Tablets.
• If you don't subscribe to any TV service, download the free CBS Sports app. In addition to listening to games broadcast by this network TV station, you will receive a complete schedule of which stations broadcast which games, as well as a full tournament schedule, as soon as it becomes available.

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  About Houston Cougars

  Houston Cougars live score (and video online live stream), schedule and results from all basketball tournaments in which Houston Cougars played. Houston Cougars play next match 4 Dec. 2022 vs. St Mary's Gaels at the NCAA.

  When the match starts, you will be able to follow Houston Cougars St Mary's Gaels live score, updated point-by-point. Statistics will be updated at the end of the game. Houston Cougars previous match was against Norfolk State in NCAA, match ended 100 - 52 (Houston Cougars won the match). Houston Cougars pinned tab showing last 100 Basketball matches with stats and win/lose icons. There are also all Houston Cougars scheduled matches that they are going to play in the future.

  Houston Cougars score and form graph, is Sofascore's unique algorithmLive stream Basketball live score that we generate based on team's last 10 matches, statistics, detailed analysis and our own knowledge. This chart is meant to help you bet on Houston Cougars matches, but we would like to caution you that Sofascore Livescore is not responsible or liable for any financial or other losses, whether direct or indirect, as a result of any activity associated with any content on this site.

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