March Madness

Every March the most competitive and popular basketball event takes place: the NCAA D1 Men's basketball tournament, otherwise known as “March Madness.” 

The projected strongest teams in this year's tournament are Michigan with a 25-2 overall record (25 wins, 2 losses), Duke with a 25-2 overall record, Arizona with a 25-2 overall record, and Iowa State with a 23-4 overall record. 

Here in California, the UCLA Bruins are expected to make a strong run, with experienced players under their head coach Mick Cronin. The USC Trojans with the absence of star player Chad-Baker Mazzara is a major blow for a potential deep run in March Madness. SDSU and Stanford are on the bubble, and their success in the NCAA tournament is uncertain, however Stanford may be able to make a somewhat deep run being in a weaker conference.

Some players to watch out for are Cameron Boozer of Duke (son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer), Braden Smith of Purdue, JT Toppin of Texas Tech, AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Donovan Dent of UCLA, and Yaxel Lendebord of Michigan.

For those who are unfamiliar with March Madness, or just want to know ways to get involved, many fans create their own March Madness Brackets; after the beginning bracket is released, fans can predict the winner of each game. (The chance of a perfect bracket is 1 in 9.2 quintillion) Last year Warren Buffet even offered $1 million to his employees for a near perfect bracket. Additionally, many fans also watch out for “Cinderella Stories” or low-seeded underdogs that make deep runs in the bracket. For example, Davidson in 2008 led by Steph Curry.