Why is March Madness so popular every year?

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I know it won't last. The good, Division I teams pull away in the second half. But yes, that's what makes it fun.

Well Pfffft. Duke won. But they never pulled away.

 

[bdrex28]

Every March I never have understood why March Madness has become a big affair next to the Super Bowl and the World Series because it seems that every year March Madness has gotten overhyped and overpromoted. Because I have seen commercials for pizza chains like Little Caesars Pizza and Domino's promote deals for March Madness and even Coca-Cola promotes March Madness by having contests. In my eyes I think college basketball has seen a giant rise in viewership which is why March Madness continues to get strong ratings every year. But to me they have given March Madness the Super Bowl-type treatment these days and CBS thinks that these college basketball games are giving them ratings and I mean huge ratings every year

Because in general people root for the underdog. When you compile 68 teams into a tournament it's fun and upsets are going to happen because everyone wants to cheer for the Cinderella team.


You think fans around the country aren't taking off work to watch these games right now?

 

[bdrex28]

12 High Point 83
5 Wisconsin 82

That's always the pick, at least one 12 over a 5 seems to happen nearly every year. Small conference champ faces top 20 team.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Well Pfffft. Duke won. But they never pulled away.

Today must have been National I Hate Siena Day.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

That's always the pick, at least one 12 over a 5 seems to happen nearly every year. Small conference champ faces top 20 team.

Yea, I don't even really consider it much of an upset. Like an 11 beating a 6 or a 10 beating a 7. None of those 3 are upsets. Once you get to 13, then it becomes a real upset.

 

[sam_gordon]

That's always the pick, at least one 12 over a 5 seems to happen nearly every year. Small conference champ faces top 20 team.

Hasn't there been two today?

 

[sam_gordon]

11 VCU 82
6 UNC 78

OT Final

 

[sam_gordon]

10 TX A&M 63
7 S Mary 50

Another upset. This is what makes the tournament fun, even if you don't have a rooting interest.

 

[Praying Colonel]

11 Texas 79
6 BYU 71

 

[hardcorestitch]

Those don’t count. A REAL upset involves a really small school, not a power conference vs power conference.

 

[team bradfield]

Never watched or followed MM, NFL or MLB for me

 

[ncc1701]

It's fun if you like basketball. There is always the possibility of the upset. I went to Drexel University which has only been in the tournament a few times ( after I graduated) & was excited even thought I knew we would get eliminated early. DH went to NC State , attending between the 2 NCAA championship teams. We are both big sports fans and prefer College over NBA .
We've gone to Vegas a few times for the first Thrusday & Friday. It was fun watching people react to the upsets.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yea, I don't even really consider it much of an upset. Like an 11 beating a 6 or a 10 beating a 7. None of those 3 are upsets. Once you get to 13, then it becomes a real upset.

To me, any double digit seeded team winning qualifies as an upset. A 9 over an 8, while technically an upset, isn't much of a surprise because they're basically a "toss up". Obviously a 13+ seed winning is MORE of an upset, but 10s and 11s winning ARE upsets.

 

[leebee]

11 VCU 82
6 UNC 78

OT Final

This was a crazy game. VCU was down by NINETEEN!! It's the biggest first round comeback in NCAA tournament history, and second biggest comeback in the overall tournament history. I don't care about either of these teams, and we were avidly watching!

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Alright. Time to start Day 2. We saw a 10, a pair of 11s and a 12 win today. Will we see an actual upset? Do we see a 13, 14 or 15 winning in the first round? I sure hope so.

 

[Praying Colonel]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035058410656346534

 

[Lumpy1106]

To answer OP, because of things like this;

Not the guys in Speedos, but the energy, the passion - anything can happen. A perfect bracket may be the rarest thing in all of sports.

 

[sam_gordon]

To answer OP, because of things like this;

Not the guys in Speedos, but the energy, the passion - anything can happen. A perfect bracket may be the rarest thing in all of sports.

It's never happened, has it? I think one person claimed having one, but when you dug down, he repicked after the first weekend