Ah, March. The weather is changing, Spring Break is nearing, but for basketball fans everywhere, the best part of March isn’t the weather, isn’t Spring Break and isn’t daylight saving, it is March Madness.
By Bret Walts
This year the 75th edition of March Madness. 75 years of championships, upsets and Cinderella stories. And it just keeps getting better and better as the years go on.
The first March Madness took place in 1939, only an eight team tournament with Oregon eventually taking the first championship on March 27after defeating Ohio State in Evanston, Illinois.
March Madness has a rich history in this part of the country. Kentucky, Indiana and Louisville all have rich history in the madness and even Butler has joined in on the fun in recent memory. For this area, it all started back in the second March Madness, in 1940. Indiana defeated Kansas in Kansas City for their first of five national titles. The Hoosiers also have the last undefeated season by a team in 1976. The Wildcats took their first of eight national titles in 1948 under head coach Adolph Rupp. Kentucky would also win championships in 1949, 1951 and 1958 claiming half of their national championships in a ten year span. Louisville won their first of two national championships in 1980 over UCLA in Indianapolis. They would follow that championship up with another, just six years later in 1986. The Butler Bulldogs have never won a national championship, but they have sure come close. They came within inches of beating Duke in the 2010 title as a five seed. The following year, the Bulldogs were ousted by Connecticut after reaching the championship as an eight seed.
Tournament History
In 1939, March Madness kicked off with an eight team tournament.
In 1951, the tournament expanded from eight teams to sixteen teams.
From 1953 to 1974, the tournament varied between 22 and 25 teams.
In 1975, the field expanded to 32 teams.
The tournament briefly expanded to 40 teams in 1979 before expanding to 48 teams in 1980.
The tournament expanded to 52 teams in 1983 and to 53 teams in 1984.
In 1985, the tournament expanded to 64 teams.
The field was once again expanded in 2001 to 65 teams.
The most recent expansion was in 2011 when March Madness was expanded to 68 teams, which is where it stands today.
75th Edition of March Madness
This Sunday at approximately 6PM EST, the tournament field will be announced live on CBS and March Madness will officially begin. Even though “March Madness” doesn’t officially begin until the field is announced, March up to this point has, in fact, been madness.
Just this past week, 16 of the top 25 teams in the nation lost. Whether it’s an upset, a buzzer beater or a blowout, March has been exactly what hasn’t been predicted, but hey, that’s why it’s called March “Madness”.
Going into Selection Sunday, here is a look in on what to expect for local teams when the field is announced.
Indiana Hoosiers –
Record: 26-5
Season Highlight: Outright Big Ten Championship
Bracket Prediction: 1 seed (Midwest)
Louisville Cardinals –
Record: 26-5
Season Highlight: Shared Big East Championship
Bracket Prediction: 1 seed (South)
Butler Bulldogs –
Record: 24-7
Season Highlight: Win over #1 Indiana
Bracket Prediction: 6 seed Midwest
Notre Dame Fighting Irish –
Record: 23-8
Season Highlight: 5OT win over #11 Louisville
Bracket Prediction: 7 seed (east)
Kentucky Wildcats –
Record: 21-10
Season Highlight: Win vs. #11 Florida
Bracket Prediction: 12 seed (East)
Purdue Boilermakers –
Record: 15-16
Season Highlight: Win @ #17 Wisconsin
Bracket Prediction: Not in tournament