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The term March Madness refers to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. The winner of this tournament is awarded the college basketball's biggest prize. The winners of these tournaments become the national champions of college basketball. Sixty-five teams participate in this tournament – all vying for the championship trophy. The concentrated hype of these teams, the agony of losing and going back home, the euphoria of winning to play another day and the last-second buzzer-beating baskets – this is what March Madness refers to. The NCAA tournaments are, in fact, more of an American Tradition that is reflected in the synchronized frenzy among millions of fans each year.

The March Madness tournaments are supposed to be the brainchild of Phog Allen at the University of Kansas. The first of this series started in the year 1939. The CBS television network of The United States of America broadcasts all the games of this tournament. However, the opening round games, also known as play-in games are broadcasted on other television groups. In 2001, it was TNN, but since the year 2002, ESPN has been broadcasting the play-in games of these tournaments.

The Format Of The Tournament

The March Madness tournaments are played in March and April. The NCAA tournament is played over a period of almost three weeks. Mostly, the tournament starts on the third Tuesday in March. Sixty-five teams participate in the men’s tournament while sixty-four teams take part in the women’s tournament. In the men’s tournament, there is an opening round game that is played between the 64th and the 65th team. The actual competition begins only after this match where the losing team of the opening round does not play. In women’s team, there is no opening round because there is no 65th team.

The format of the tournament is interesting as well as highly exciting. There is no second chance for any team. The first two days of the tournament hold 32 games – the winners of which go ahead while the losing teams are eliminated. The next two days have only 32 teams and 16 games. This trimming of games to 16 is more popularly known as the "Sweet Sixteen". Now, the sixteen teams which are the winners of "Sweet 16" proceed to the next stage. In this way, during the first week, the 64 teams are clipped down to 16. The next level games are played during the second week where the 16 teams are first trimmed down to 8 and then from 8 to 4 – and that is by the end of the second week. The 4 teams then proceed to the final level – the semi-finals. The semi-final round of the tournament is popularly known as the "Final Four".

The third and final week of the tournament holds most of the excitement and frenzy. There are four teams – all vying for the crown of college basketball. These are the teams which have been undefeated throughout the mayhem of March and have got to see the first week of April. The men’s semi-final is on the first Saturday in April and the women’s semi-final on the first Sunday. Monday decides the champion when the final games of the tournament are played.

Al is the author and webmaster of a Football Tickets resource site.

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