I like basketball. It’s the only sport I can watch and actually understand what is going on with the players on the court. I’m getting better at watching football (thanks to my husband) but basketball will remain my first true sports love.
The only problem is that I don’t know as much about college basketball as I do about the NBA. So in honor of the upcoming March Money Madness (March 14th) Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. fundraiser, I thought it would be fun to have a little learning experience together.
Here we go!
- 68 teams will play in a single elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men’s NCAA Division I college basketball
- Games begin on March 19th and will conclude with the championship game on April 8th
- H.V. Porter, an official with the Illinois High School Association, was the first person to use March Madness to describe a basketball tournament in 1939
- It wasn’t until 1984 that March Madness was used in association with the NCAA
- UCLA holds the record for the most NCAA Division I basketball championships (they have 11 national titles)
- North Carolina’s very own Duke University ranks fifth with 4 national titles
- The participants of the regional semi-finals of the tournament are called the “Sweet Sixteen”
- The participants of the regional finals of the tournament are called the “Elite Eight”
- The participants of the national semi-finals of the tournament are referred to as the “Final Four”
- President Barack Obama filled out a 2012 NCAA bracket last year and had the North Carolina Tar Heels winning the national championship
Use some of your new found college basketball knowledge to impress your husband or boyfriend, coworkers, or even friends. And don’t forget to buy those raffle tickets!
