March Madness: What is it?

On March 17, 2026, the Division I college basketball teams face off in a tournament famously coined “March Madness”. The term “March Madness” was originally used by high school official Henry Porter, and when sports announcer Brent Musberger used it during an NCAA championship game, the name stuck. The women’s Division I NCAA also takes place every March, but has only recently been referred to as “March Madness” by the NCAA.

Every year, the NCAA finals follow the same format. The 32 Division I conference tournament winners automatically qualify, and 36 other teams are chosen by the committee. Because there are no rules for the teams that are chosen, many of the picks from the committee surprise fans and analysts.

Each round of the tournament also has its own unique nickname. The first 4 teams eliminated are called the First Four, the round of 16 is called the Sweet 16, the round of 8 is called the Elite 8, and the round of 4 is called the Final Four.

Every year, millions of people try to guess the winners of all 63 games. If every game were a 50-50 percent chance, the odds of getting a perfect bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion. According to sports betting odds, the chance of getting the perfect bracket with background knowledge is still roughly 1 in 120 billion. Gregg Nigl’s bracket, the closest bracket ever, was 49 consecutive games correct, the odds of which are equivalent to winning the Powerball twice. Kalshi, the prediction market platform, has a reward for a perfect bracket of 1 billion USD.