March Madness Recap

March Madness is the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament that takes place during the month of March (hence the name). It's an enormously popular single elimination tournament featuring 68 college basketball teams. Games take place across the country in various cities including Dayton, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York. 

With all its publicity, March Madness brings in around $1 billion for the NCAA. Many fans partake in sports betting by creating a bracket and cheering for their favorite team. Due to the single elimination aspect, there are many upsets throughout the thrilling tournament the biggest among them being NC State, an 11 seed, advancing all the way to the final four.

This writer was lucky enough to attend the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen games at the TD Garden in Boston. On Thursday night, with back to back games, Uconn and San Diego State faced each other and in a nail biter of a game Illinois and Iowa State faced each other. UConn blew San Diego State away with a final score of 82-52. UConn fans were ecstatic and definitely brought the energy. For this game, the majority of TD Garden was wearing blue and white and cheering for the huskies. 

For the second game gold, red, and orange colors flooded the garden. Although both teams had many fans, it was clear that Illinois was the fan favorite. People traveled from all over to support their team. I talked to one family that came all the way from Iowa! They surely brought the energy and spirit, as they were dressed in full Iowa State jumpsuits. Throughout the majority of the game Illinois was leading, but Iowa State never fell too far behind. Iowa State came very close, but Illinois ended with winning with a score of 72-69. 

For the "Elite Eight" game on Saturday UConn and Illinois played each other. The atmosphere for this game was great. People were all screaming and chanting for their team. Most of the people there were Uconn fans, but there were a handful of Illinois fans all dressed in orange. Some UConn fans were dressed in full Husky (their mascot) outfits. 

UConn dominated the game and won with a final score of 77-52. They had a flawless game and all players gave it their all. Their team connection was perfect, as they made passes to each other without even looking. UConn is clearly a force to be reckoned with, as they won the entire tournament for the second year in a row.