Every year March rolls around and the spark for March Madness is reignited. You can’t turn on any sports channel and not expect to see something related to college basketball and the NCAA Tournament. To some, college basketball and March Madness is the biggest and best sporting event of the year.

“College basketball is better than the NBA because people (the athletes and fans) care more, and it’s not all about money.” said senior Daniel Hartigan.

Hartigan is one of many students who find themselves getting caught up in the madness and competing in “Bracket Tournaments.”

“Bracket Tournaments” are the main reason for the huge fan base that is associated with college basketball. The “Bracket Tournaments” work by a group of people buying in and filling out an empty NCAA Tournament bracket by making their predictions for each round and choosing the overall winner. At the end of the Tournament, whoever gets the most correct round predictions wins the pot of money. It’s a winner takes all.

“I fill out a bracket every year for the chance of getting it perfect,” said senior Cullen Miller.

Picking upsets is easily the most exciting part of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament for most sports fans. Every year it never fails that a low-seeded, no-name, underdog school pulls off the impossible Cinderella story and knocks off one of the high-ranked, elite teams that were expected to win it all.

“Trying to guess and predict the upsets is the hardest part about filling out a bracket,” said senior Kodee Hamilton.

Some people spend hours researching teams’ stats and records before they even begin filling out their brackets. Others pick teams solely off if they like the school, their school colors, or even their team mascot.

“When I’m trying to pick upsets, I just always pick Temple, Villanova, and Lasalle,” said Hartigan. “It’s all about that ‘Philly Floater.'”