March Madness 2024

The performers so far this year for the music festival part of March Madness include Lil Nas X, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, and Maggie Rogers. Past performers included Aerosmith, The Chainsmokers, Maroon 5, Fall Out Boy, Twenty-One Pilots, Flo Rida, Panic!, Pitbull, and Jason Derulo. Additional performers who have helped celebrate Men's Final Four weekend throughout the years include Rihanna, Imagine Dragons, Tim McGraw, The Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Muse, Kings of Leon, Jimmy Buffet, KISS, The Black Keys, Kenny Chesney, and Taylor Swift among many others. So many people around the world are so excited about the music festival and are eager in anticipation.

And now…it’s time for the main event! The game! A little background information on past NCAA games include that the first NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was played in 1939 and it had 8 teams. The NCAA basketball game called March Madness was made by Henry V. Porter but the real questions are, why did Henry name it this? Where did he come up with the idea? Why do all of these games have to take place In March? What does the name “March Madness” mean to Henry? Caylen Wickens, a student at EJHS says that she enjoys watching March Madness and says, “I like March Madness because I enjoy watching basketball.”

Well “March Madness” was actually originally a high school basketball tournament in Illinois which escalated bigger and bigger to make it world wide, a very famous event. How Henry V. Porter came up with the name though is the main question, Henry actually was just writing an essay about the game and titled it, “March Madness”. In 1973, the IHSA officially started using “March Madness” in its programs and on its merchandise. From there, many people around the world started calling it this, embracing the name titled, “March Madness”. Eric Peden, another student at EJHS says that he also enjoys watching March Madness yearly, “I like watching my favorite team compete.”, “I like how you just get to see your favorite teams competing against each other.”