Board logo

subject: History Of March Madness And The Ncaa Basketball Tournament [print this page]


History Of March Madness And The Ncaa Basketball Tournament

With the Championship game scheduled for Monday night, the winner will be crowned as the top NCAA Men's Division I Basketball team.

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball tournament is held each spring and features the features 65 of the top college basketball teams in all of the United States.

The tournament is primarily held in the month March and has earned the well-known name of "March Madness" to describe the excitement and wide-spread following of college hoops fans.

Since its inception in 1939, the NCAA basketball tournament has provided its share of memorable moments.
History Of March Madness And The Ncaa Basketball Tournament


The NCAA Tournament, also knows as the "Big Dance", has become one of this country's most prominent sports events.

The tournament is a single-elimination journey consisting four separate regions (West, Midwest, South and East). It includes the college regional conference champions, which get automatic bids.

The remaining tournament bracket slots are at-large berths. Those teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee.

The tournament rankings or "seedings" are then determined based on a variety of criteria, such as win-loss records, team conference strength, etc.

Initially, the NCAA Tournament, like the NIT, began in a relatively small fashion. The tournament originally played host to just eight college basketball teams. The winners of the east and west regionals then advanced to the championship game. The eight tournament teams were determined based on wins in various district playoff games.

Back in 1946, the NCAA Tournament started to look like the format seen today. Four teams were then allowed to advance to the championship site. But, the two teams not winning the east and west regionals got to only play for third place.

Looking to surpass the popularity of the NIT, in 1951 the NCAA Tournament was expanded to 16 college teams. Ten of those teams automatically qualified by winning their respective conference championships.

Another milestone was reached in 1954, when the championship game was televised for the first time. Played in Kansas City, LaSalle was the winner by beating Bradley by a score of 94-76.

Looking to increase its popularity, the NCAA decided to further expand the participants and invited to 64 total teams.

Regardless of who you root for, you can't deny the thrill that "March Madness" brings. Dynasty teams come and go, new Cinderella teams seem to appear each year.

In addition to legal gambling, there are countless "office pools" all across the country and many foreign countries that seem to religiously attract both expert fans and novices alike.

by: Luxe Living




welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net) Powered by Discuz! 5.5.0   (php7, mysql8 recode on 2018)