It's only a few days into the month of March and that means that March Madness is here! If you have never heard of March Madness before, it is a college basketball tournament that lots of college students and adults watch. College men's and women's basketball teams play to be named the best team in the nation.
After the teams have played all of their regular season games and championship games in their conference, a small team of very smart people have to arrange 68 into a bracket. On a sheet of paper, the bracket looks kind of like a giant spider web.
Here's how it works as simply as possible. In the month of March, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are full of basketball games. The motto, or slogan, for the tournament is "one and you're done." This means that if you lose just one game, you're finished with the tournament and you don't get to play any more games. That's why the tournament is so exciting because if you have just one bad game or one unlucky ending, your team is out of the tournament!
The tournament starts with 68 teams, and after a few starter games, the main 64 teams are ready to play! 64 teams makes 32 basketball games. These games take place over just two days! (That's part of the reason it's called "March Madness!") After that, there are 32 teams still in the tournament. 32 teams makes 16 basketball games. After those 16 games are played, there are 16 winning teams still in the tournament. These 16 teams are called the "Sweet 16." All of this takes place over 4 days!
The next weekend, the madness begins again but this time it's not quite as crazy because there are only 16 teams left. 16 teams means only 8 basketball games. 4 games are played on Thursday and 4 games are played on Friday. By Friday night, there are only 8 teams left! These teams are called the "Elite Eight." Starting on Saturday, these 8 teams square off in 4 basketball games. By Sunday night, there are only 4 winning teams left in the tournament. These teams are called the "Final Four." It's a really big deal for your team to make it to the Final Four.
The next weekend is the final weekend for March Madness. This year, it happens to take place in March and the very beginning of April. Having four teams means two basketball games and two winning teams. It is a really, really big deal to be one of these final two teams. A few days later, these final two teams play each other and the winner is pronounced the best team in the nation!
If you are a college basketball fan, March really is crazy month filled with lots and lots of Madness. Sometimes the teams you are rooting for win, sometimes they lose, sometimes the games are really close at the end and even go into overtime. Whether you like it or not, March is here, so bring on the basketball!
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