March Madness is Rolling Out Now

March Madness rejuvenates the month of March with excitement and thrill. In true spirit of spring, the basketball tournament brings out talented players, many of whom have gone on to being famous players in the national team. In all the years since its initiation in 1939, the game has seen thrilling action and several upsets. Unexpected teams lifted championship trophies and new talents were discovered. Below given is a journey through the years of this national basketball phenomenon, which manages to stop the clock for college going Americans.

64 college teams fight for the national championship trophy in March Madness every year. However, when it all began back in 1939, there were just 8 teams. It was only in 1951 that more teams were added to the tournament. By 1974, 25 teams played for the top spot and by 1978, the number has increased to 32. In the subsequent year, 8 more teams joined, taking the number to 40 and the same number of teams were added in the next three years. In 1983, March Madness featured 52 teams and this is when play-in matches were launched. In the next two years, the total number of teams rose to 64. Right now, in 2011, there are 68 teams aiming at the title of national champions.

The very first tournament in the history of basketball, which was held in 1939, must have been a real entertainer as Oregon University fought Ohio State University in the finals, before ultimately winning the title. The final score stood at 46-33. In the second edition of the tournament in 1940, Indiana won the tournament against Kansas with a margin of 18 points as the final scores were 60-42. The subsequent winners were Wisconsin, Stanford, Wyoming and Utah. The next two titles in 1945 and 1946 were won by Oklahoma State. The trophy passed into a number of hands in the consecutive years. The latest tournament in 2011 was won by the University of Connecticut which defeated Butler University to take the title by 53-41.

Over the years, the team that has won the match most number of times is UCLA with a total of 11 titles. Kentucky won 7 titles, Indiana won 5 and Duke won 4. Almost every team that has been part of the circuit have won titles at least once, barring a very few. There are many perks of playing in March Madness for players. The player who wins “The Most Outstanding Player Award” gets a direct berth into the bigger league, NBA. Some of the top basketball players in the tournament have been Lew Alcindor, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Alex Groza and Bob Kurland.

Many of these matches have been the epitome of what they call “nail biting” matches with several matches being won with just a margin of 1 point. With all the fun, drama, thrill and the joy of victory, March Madness is definitely one of the most happening tournament in America. So this March, let aside your mundane routine life and soak up the March fever. It is definitely great fun and worth the time.