By: Kate Balser
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – The NCAA Division 1 Tournament, known as March Madness, is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans and non-fans alike.
The tournament features the best teams from colleges and universities across the country competing in a single-elimination tournament. March Madness takes place over three weeks, beginning in mid-March and ending with the NCAA Division 1 championship game, which is held in early April.
You don’t have to be an all-star athlete to compete in March madness. One of the most popular ways to participate in March Madness is through bracket pools, which is what University of Arkansas student Luke Potter and his friends do every year.
“It’s nice because none of us are good enough to play college basketball, but this is like our way of getting involved and rooting for our team,” Potter said.
Bracket pools are competitions in which participants fill out brackets predicting the outcome of each game in the tournament. The brackets are organized in a visual representation of the tournament, with each game represented by a matchup between two teams. Participants choose which team they think will win each game, and the winner of each game moves on to the next round.
Potter said that March Madness is his friend group’s favorite time of year.
“My friends and I are pretty involved with March Madness. Everybody’s pretty obsessed with it. We probably spend 5-6 hours a week just watching basketball or, you know, checking our brackets.”
Bracket pools can be organized in a variety of ways. Some pools are organized by friends, family, or coworkers, while others are organized online through websites like ESPN. Participants can enter multiple pools, and the entry fee for each pool can range from a few dollars to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The unpredictability of the tournament is what makes March Madness so exciting. Upsets are common, with lower-seeded teams often beating higher-seeded teams. In fact, the odds of filling out a perfect bracket are estimated to be about 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
But even if you don’t fill out a perfect bracket, participating in a bracket pool can be a fun way to connect with friends and family.
“We always got games on our friends are always over here. March is the best time of year for anybody that loves basketball,” Potter said.