Masuk Free Press

As March has drawn to a close and we head into April, the frenzy of college basketball reaches its peak of the NCAA’s March Madness Tournament. This year’s annual spectacle has been nothing short of exhilarating, marked by unexpected upsets and incredible performances from both men’s and women’s teams. The competition has now been narrowed down to the esteemed Final Four, as teams prepare to fight for a spot in the championship game.

The tournament began with UConn as the overall number one seed of the men’s tournament, and South Carolina as the women’s. As the tournament progressed both teams remained undefeated, and made it to the Final Four. On the men’s side, UConn is among the teams vying for the championship title, joined by Alabama, NC State and Purdue. In the women’s tournament, South Carolina is joined by UConn, NC State and Iowa. 

While following the progression of the tournament, many viewers form a bracket of their own, and compete to see whose predictions end up the most accurate. As a majority of teams have now been eliminated and the tournament nears its end, the fates of these brackets have become more clear.

Senior Benjamin Londono, unsatisfied with his bracket’s performance, stated, “This has been a pretty bad year for me. Usually I’m pretty good, but the upsets just didn’t go my way this year…My Final Four picks were UConn, Houston, Purdue and Arizona. UConn and Purdue both made it, but Houston and Arizona didn’t. I thought Arizona and Houston’s offense would be good enough to carry them there, but they lost.”

Other brackets, such as senior Sawyer Carlson’s, had more luck: “My Final Four was UConn, Kentucky, Purdue and Alabama, and three of those four have come true, but Kentucky got out early…I’m currently tied for first in my league, and if Purdue goes to finals, I win.”

Crafting an accurate bracket is challenging considering the largely unpredictable nature of basketball. While many top teams progressed to the Final Four, powerhouses faced fierce competition from underdogs. One of the most notable upsets came on day two of the Sweet 16 games, when the eleventh-seeded Cinderella team, the NC State Wolfpack, shocked the nation by defeating the second-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles. NC State was then able to continue on and defeat Duke’s Blue Devils.

Their continued success against poor odds impressed many, including Londono: “I think it’s amazing honestly, just such a comeback story. Going into the ACC tournament NC State was one loss away from not even making the tournament. They ended up winning, upsetting UNC who ended up being the one seed, and got the 11 seed and they haven’t stopped since. They’ve won every game. They played really well and I think they have a good shot against Purdue in the final.”

Other upheavals included Kentucky’s loss in the first round, which junior Riyaan Kothari did not find shocking: “Honestly, I think everyone saw Kentucky having a bad season this entire year, when DJ Wagner was going 0-5 in that Oakland game.”

On the women’s side, parity and competitiveness have been the defining features of the tournament, producing fewer upsets, but closer games. The average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament women’s games this year has been 15 points, a decrease from previous years, and incredibly similar to the men’s average of  14.4 points. The Final Four for women consists of highly ranked teams, and Iowa and UConn made it with the help of the unstoppable forces Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, who are rapidly becoming household names. 

Approaching the championship, UConn is a favorite at Masuk, and many are confident that they will win it all and bring the title to our own state. 

“Personally I have UConn going all the way. They’re up for the double actually I think, both the women and the men are gonna win because both of them are in the final four. They had a double-header in 2004 and 2014, and now it’s 2024 and they’re gonna do it again,” statedbv senior Emma Cusa. 

Cusa is not the only one that thinks history will repeat itself, and states that the Uconn community shares this belief: “Apparently, from an inside source up in Uconn, they’re bolting down the light poles this year because they’re so confident they’re gonna win, and last year they took down the light poles. So they’re really upping security up there just because they’re so confident in their win.”

As the tournament enters its final stages, fans eagerly await the crowning of new champions. The Final Four will face off imminently, and decide who will have a shot at playing in the most anticipated game of the year. Tune in this week to watch the showdowns, and see who prevails.