Todd Greene

 March Madness: the annual collegiate-level basketball tournament, was filled with ups and downs but overall the tournament was another year of success with no major injuries. Something unique about this year’s tournament was the attention on the women’s league, because of two star basketball players: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The men’s league is historically the more popular league amid fans but this year those very particular female basketball players drew attention to the women’s division, resulting in increased coverage.

The first round of the men’s division came without too many surprises, but some upsets occurred. James Madison was able to win as an eleven seed along with Oregon and NC. Later in the first round the Oregon was knocked out by Creighton, a three seed. Also, James Madison University was eliminated by Duke, a four seed and one of the most consistent teams in the NCAA tournament in the first round. Yale, a 13 seed that made it out of the first round with a win.

In the second round for the men’s tournament there was  a lot of the focus on NC State, a very popular team that was starting to impress, showcasing dominant skills that seemed to surpass their low seeding. Another team emerged into the spotlight in round 2: Clemson, a six seed that was proving their worth by beating a 3 seed. On the other hand, University of Connecticut, the favorite for the tournament, was dominating and crushing other teams.

In the Sweet Sixteen Clemson prevailed and managed to beat the two seed Arizona. Then Alabama beat a one seed, proving why this is March Madness. NC State managed to win again beating Marquette, a two seed, whereas UConn and Purdue continued to showcase their consistent strength.  

Then the elite eight rolled around and NC State managed to pull through with a win making it to the Elite Eight. This win cemented them as a team causing one of the biggest upsets in a long time. Unfortunately for Clemson, their run of upsets was over, for they were soon eliminated by Alabama, a four seed in the Elite Eight. UConn continued to dominate as a favorite in the tournament, but their main competitor Purdue continued to work through the bracket beating yet another team, Tennessee, which allowed both UConn and Purdue to advance into the Final Four. 

The final four consisted of four teams Purdue, NC State, UConn, and Alabama. Most were hoping almost begging for another upset for NC State, but all good things must come to an end, and Purdue was the end for NC state. Then UConn and Alabama had to play, and they delivered, dominating the other team. 

Finally, all the hard work from these teams led to the final game, the NCAA March Madness Finals. This game showed the world two teams that strived to win. They worked as hard as they could to get this win, but a team like UConn is almost unstoppable. There are very few weak points for a team like them, and they proved to be unstoppable after winning this March madness championship.