March Madness 2023 intro

​March Madness Intro 2023

If you're a fan of basketball, there's a time of year that's extra special. It's that time when everywhere you turn, sports fanatics are talking about bubble teams, brackets, and buzzer beaters. What are we talking about? March Madness, of course!

March Madness refers to that time of year (usually mid-March through the beginning of April) when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's and women's college basketball tournaments are held.

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the NCAA Tournament that is played every Spring?

• NBA Playoffs

• Superbowl

• March Madness

• Gus Macker

Multiple Choice

March Madness is a basketball _______.

• game

• player

• league

• tournament

Why is it madness? That term somehow captures the excitement that swirls around the sports world as tournament time approaches. In the weeks leading up to the "Big Dance," as it is called, hundreds of college basketball teams from all over the United States fight to earn a spot in the tournament.

Multiple Choice

Why is it called March Madness? (More than one correct answer)

• It is held in March.

• The teams that play are mad at each other.

• People around the country are excited about the tournament.

• I don't know.

The NCAA college basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament that features 68 teams competing to survive three weekends of games to be crowned the national champions.

Multiple Choice

What does single-elimination mean?

• If you lose once, you're out

• You can lose twice and still be in the tournament

• If you win, you are out of the tournament

Only 16 teams (the "Sweet Sixteen") make it past the first weekend. The second weekend narrows the field first to the "Elite Eight" and then the "Final Four. The final weekend focuses on the four semifinalists. The two semifinal victors move on to play in the national championship game.

Multiple Choice

What is the last weekend of the tournament called?

• Elite 8

• Sweet 16

• Top 10

• Final 4

At tournament time each year, millions of people fill out their own brackets, attempting to predict the winners of all the games. There are usually enough upsets, however, that it's nearly impossible to predict a perfect bracket. In fact, your chances of correctly guessing the winner of every game is less than 1 in 9.2 quintillion

Multiple Choice

What is a bracket?

• Chart to select winners

• Game plan

• Scoreboard

• Game stats

Poll

Alabama or Kansas?

• Alabama

• Kansas

Poll

Purdue or Houston?

Poll

UCLA or Baylor?

Poll

Texas or Marquette?