Many people will have likely heard of March Madness, but they may be unsure what it is exactly. Well, in short, it’s the largest tournament in college basketball. Teams from all over the US are invited to participate, and everyone wants to get involved in some way, shape or form, which also means there’s going to be a lot of basketball betting happening, too.
Now, you may be wondering where and when exactly the madness part comes into play because the March element is self-explanatory – the tournament begins in March. Well, it’s called March Madness because the competition uses the bracket system, so things are set up in a way that not only is there license for unpredictable results, but huge chances for underdogs to win also. It’s not a case of the best teams entering and going on to win at a canter.
How many teams will compete?
In total, an initial 68 teams will be selected for March Madness. The first 32 of the selection are known as “automatic bids,” which means they were victorious in their respective conference tournaments and qualified for March Madness automatically on the back of that success.
The responsibility of selecting the remaining 36 teams falls on the shoulders of the NCAA Selection Committee. They will then rank the 68 selected teams based on how they fared during the regular season. This will then see the 68 teams cut to 64 ahead of the tournament beginning.
How are the teams selected?
As mentioned above, the teams are selected by the NCAA Selection Committee, which is a panel that includes twelve members in total. Essentially, the committee comprises athletic directors and conference commissioners, and they will make their decisions on the 36 on the renowned Selection Sunday.
When the final selection is made, it’s at this point that basketball betting will see its popularity shoot through the roof, potentially even on par with NBA betting, because fans will want to place bets on not only the college they think will win, but perhaps the one they have an allegiance to.
There isn’t a set of rules when it comes to the panel making their decisions on which teams will get a place at March Madness. Instead, they will take multiple factors into account, such as rankings, records and scheduling. There are no pre-determined ways to gain entry to the tournament.
To remove any chance of bias or conflict of interest during the selection process, those on the committee will step out of the room and exit discussions temporarily when the college they’re affiliated with and its merits for being included in March Madness are being talked through.
March Madness 2024
March Madness 2024 is set to get underway on March 19, with the championship game scheduled for April 8 in Glendale, Arizona, at the State Farm Stadium. As always, the tournament is expected to draw in huge crowds in person and at home, with broadcasters such as CBS picking the competition up.
If the 2023 running of the event is anything to go by, a tournament that was hotly contested before UConn Huskies defeated San Diego State Aztecs in the championship game, it will be another March Madness where the unthinkable can happen, and basketball betting fans won’t have an easy ride that’s for sure.
But that’s precisely why everyone loves March Madness, right? They want to watch a tournament where they don’t know what will happen from game to game. And they certainly want to see underdogs prosper against all the odds, which is a common occurrence.
