March Madness began on March 19 with the championship games being played in the beginning of April. The early favorites in the men’s bracket came to be Uconn, Purdue, and North Carolina whereas the women’s favorites included South Carolina, Iowa, USC, and Texas. This year over 31 million March Madness brackets were submitted and not a single one was exactly accurate due to certain upsets that took place early on in the tournament. Over 33 million people watched NCAA championship games.
On April 8, the favored Uconn Huskies defeated the Purdue Boilermakers to become NCAA Men’s Champions. The final score came to 75 to 60 with lead scorers including Tristan Newton, Stephon Castle and Zach Edey. Uconn is celebrating their 6th championship victory and have been only the eighth team to become back to back March Madness champions. This is the first time since 2007 that a team has won two consecutive championships. The Huskies are led by their head coach Dan Hurley. Similarly, the women’s March Madness championship game was played just a day prior on April 7. The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes with a score of 87 to 75.
Some key players in this game from South Carolina include Tessa Johnson and Kamilla Cardoso who scored a combined 24 points for the Gamecocks. A key player who has recently brought back women’s basketball is Iowa Hawkeye Claitlin Clark who is currently a senior at the University of Iowa. Clark now holds the women’s NCAA record for most points scored. Her impact has helped increase viewership of women’s basketball and has helped inspire young girls around the world. This championship game broke records with over 18 million viewers. Although she had a successful game with five assists and 30 points, the Hawkeyes were ultimately defeated. This is the Gamecocks’ third national championship.
This tournament continues to be extremely popular among many people with over 50 million people making bets whether they were on an official site or with personal acquaintances. College basketball continues to grow with many people traveling to make it to momentous games. There is already conversation about who will be next year’s champions with Duke being the popular choice to win the men’s 2025 championship.
