In the eyes of college basketball teams, March Madness means the ultimate achievement: the national championship. However, for fans, the basketball tournament signifies ousting friends and family in creating the “perfect bracket.”
“I think that March Madness is a fun time to have some competition with friends and family. It’s exciting to follow your bracket through the tournament and see where you were right and wrong and how you compare with other people,” said Ryan Welton, sophomore, who is in a group with 10 other friends in the ESPN Tournament Challenge.
However, the ultimate goal on everyone’s mind is to create the perfect bracket. Nobody has ever predicted the “perfect bracket,” but millions of people fill out brackets each year in hopes of making history, and the students at Leesville are no exception.
“Every year at the beginning of the tournament I feel like I could have the perfect bracket, but usually that hope is gone by the end of the first day, ” added Welton.
Additionally, grand prizes, such as last year’s 1 billion dollar offer from Warren Buffet, have made creating brackets more serious and competitive.
“I feel like the creating brackets has become very competitive, and people are putting a lot more time and thought into creating their brackets,” said Daniel Boodeè, sophomore. “I think that people are becoming more motivated to have good brackets because they want to beat their friends.”
Some experts even give tips and tricks to predict the perfect bracket; however, the odds are always very low.
“You have to make as many brackets as possible to increase your chances and have varying results in each bracket. You have to pick upsets as well, but in the end you really have to go with your gut,” said Cole Jankowsky, sophomore.
However, as competition heightens, some think March Madness is starting to become more about a fan’s bracket rather than about their favorite team.
“Some people are worrying too much about what their bracket is looking like rather than how their team is doing. I think that if your team is lucky enough to be in the field of 68 that you should be more focused on that,” said Welton.
Ultimately, March Madness is about competition, making brackets, celebrating upsets, and cheering on your team all the way to the championship.
