College Basketball Season Culminates with “March Madness”

The ongoing National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Division I basketball season has been chock full of surprises. Many of the nation’s collegiate powerhouses have suffered defeats at the hands of much lower-ranked opposition. Many of these upsets have been like a bolt from the blue. (Not many neutral observers would have given these huge underdogs a snowball’s chance in hell of pulling off these monumental upsets prior to the tip-off of the respective games in which they shocked their more fancied opponents.)

 

One of the biggest surprises was witnessed on February 19. It saw Boston College, who had only managed to win six of their previous 25 games, waltzing into the Carrier Dome and pulling off an overtime upset victory over then number one ranked and undefeated Syracuse. Quite a few of the other marquee programs in the nation have also suffered the same fate when confronted by adversaries with markedly inferior records. The fact that no team has clearly proven itself superior to all others clearly suggests that we’ll be in for one of the most exciting and unpredictable editions of “March Madness” in recent history.

 

What exactly is “March Madness”?

 

The 2013-14 Division I college basketball season began in November 2013. It’s scheduled to culminate in the first half of April. However, before the curtains finally come down on the campaign, there are millions of fans who’ll be swept up in the mass delirium that traditionally accompanies the onset of “March Madness”. The term “March Madness” has long been used to refer to the single-elimination basketball tournaments that close out the Division I college basketball seasons for both men and women. At the end of the respective tourneys, the last team standing is recognized as the best in the country and anointed with the coveted title of national champion. At the end of last year’s men’s tournament, Louisville emerged as the victor. They got the better of Michigan in a hard-fought final by a miniscule margin of 82 points to 76 points. Meanwhile, Connecticut ran out the winner on the women’s side. They spanked their counterparts from Louisville in one of the most lopsided national championship games in the tourney’s history.

 

Important Dates to Keep in Mind

There are a number of very important dates that you’ll need to keep in mind in the lead up to the eventual crowning of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament champion. Let’s take a look at a couple of them:

 

• March 16 (“Selection Sunday”)

Sunday, March 16 will be a big day for all the teams who have aspirations of making it into the title game this season. This is the occasion on which the identity of all 60-odd title contenders will be confirmed. It’s also the date on which you’ll know exactly what road your favorite team will need to venture down if they’re to have you basking in the glory of a national title triumph when April rolls around. Of course, there are a number of teams who’ll punch their tickets to the tournament before March 16 arrives. These 30-odd teams would’ve earned automatic entry into the tourney by virtue of winning their respective conference tournaments. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) are among the powerhouse leagues that will automatically place their titlists into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The rest of the field will comprise teams that are awarded at-large bids. (An at-large bid is an invitation that the NCAA’s selection committee extends to a team which, though compiling an outstanding record, doesn’t quite manage to win its conference tourney.)

 

 

• March 18 – April 5

To make it to the championship game, your favorite team will have to prove its mettle against a number of other contenders (and pretenders) to the throne over a nearly three-week period. They’ll have to win at least five straight games (maybe more) to keep their shot of winning the tourney trophy alive. In doing so, they’ll have to overcome the respective challengers that’ll confront them at the “Elite Eight” (quarterfinal) stage, which will run from March 27 to 30, and the “Final Four” (semifinal) stage, which will play out on April 5.

 

• April 7 (National Championship Game)

The biggest game of the 2013-14 college basketball season will be played inside Texas’ AT&T Stadium on April 7. In theory, it should pit the two best teams in the country against each other in a hard-fought battle for national supremacy.

 

Who are the favorites to win it all?

 

It’s obvious that every team which makes the tournament has a shot at glory. Theoretically, however, there are some who’ll go in with better shots than others. Former champions Louisville, North Carolina, Kansas, Connecticut, Duke, Syracuse, Arizona, and Florida are the traditional heavyweights that you need to keep your eyes on. Undefeated Wichita State, which was a national semifinalist last year, is also worth watching. However, it’s almost guaranteed that some of these celebrated teams will fall at the hands of less decorated opponents during the tourney. That’s just the way single-elimination competition goes. One loss and you’re done.

 

Where to Watch

All of the exciting action which is in the offing can be enjoyed on CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV. You just have to check your programming guide to see which matchup is airing when.

 

College Basketball Season Culminates with “March Madness”