Spring brings with it the most highly anticipated college basketball tournament in the United States– March Madness. Also called “The Big Dance”, the annual tournament began in 1939 and now includes 68 total NCAA Division-1 men’s and women’s teams across the country, who compete to advance through the bracket and take home the NCAA Championship trophy. The winners of this year’s tournament were the Michigan Wolverines men’s team and the UCLA Bruins women’s team.
At the start of the tournament, each team is scheduled to play another team in round 1, and the winners of round 1 move on to round 2. This elimination-style process continues until the championship game, in which the two final teams face off to bring home the trophy.
Since the inception of the game, only 37 teams have won a championship title. Most notably, UCLA has taken home the championship trophy 11 times in the tournament’s 87 year history, closely followed by Kentucky with 8 total wins, North Carolina and UConn each with 6 total wins, and Duke and Indiana with 5 total wins each.
As the tournament progresses and more teams are eliminated, fans can watch their favorite teams go through the 1st and 2nd rounds, followed by the aptly named Sweet 16, Elite 8, and the coveted Final 4. This year’s Final 4 round featured the men of UConn, Illinois, Arizona, and Michigan, playing in Indianapolis, while the women of UCLA, UConn, South Carolina, and Texas battled it out in Phoenix. All of the women’s Final 4 teams were the top seed in their respective divisions, while the men’s Final 4 showcased two top seeds (Arizona and Michigan) as well as a second seed (UConn) and a third seed (Illinois).
In the national championship game of the Final 4, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the UConn Huskies 69-63, taking home the gold and securing the win for the Wolverines. Around 18.3 million viewers across the country tuned in to watch the match, making it the most watched men’s tournament final since 2019, when Virginia took on Texas Tech and won the tournament. Down in Arizona, the UCLA Bruins secured their victory against the South Carolina Gamecocks, emerging triumphantly in a 79-51 win. This was the first NCAA championship title won for the UCLA women’s basketball team, capping off a dominant 37-1 season record with a historic victory.
