March Madness 2026: Preview
Once a year, students, adults, and basketball fans come together and get excited for one of America’s greatest traditions: March Madness. From Selection Sunday on March 15 to the final championship on April 6, the country is absorbed by the 68 teams facing one another for the win. The tournament first debuted in 1939 with only eight teams. Oregon took the win and thus set the foundation for future tournaments.
Now starting with 68 teams, the tournament runs as a single elimination tournament. The first round has 64 teams playing in 32 games, then the second round with 32 teams and 16 games, followed by the sweet sixteen, elite eight, final four, and championship game.
The popularity since 1939 has increased with the rise of radios and television. In 1954, the games were first televised, bringing audiences beyond university students and alumni. The games became a TV staple after CBS gained exclusive rights to televise it. Now, in the 21st century, fans also have social media outlets to stay up to date with the games.
Additionally, a major part of the full fan experience during March Madness is creating brackets. People put together their predictions for how they think the teams will perform throughout the month. They can compare and compete with each other, often putting money on their bets. Due to the surrounding excitement and anxiety caused by sports betting or bracket competitions, the tournament takes focus away from work and school. Roughly 10.3 million hours are spent watching the games, and that’s made up of the employees who watch during their work day. Other employees call out sick to watch the game, avoiding any corporate distractions. For students, they can often be found watching the game or keeping up with the scores rather than focusing on their work, decreasing productivity in school.
Outside of generating buzz in the workspace, another aspect of March Madness that makes the country love it more is the boost in school pride. When schools make it round after round, not only do current students enjoy following them, this increases prospective students’ interest as well. After Villanova won in 2016, there was a 22.3% rise in applications the following year. Beyond the enjoyment of watching undefeated teams play with great chemistry and determination to win, fans also enjoy the “Cinderella” or underdog teams and their rise to greatness.
For viewers, March Madness consists of cheering on games and betting on their top teams. However, it is not often one may understand the perspective of the athletes that make the game what it is. Mr. Kevin Owens, a current English teacher at Carusi Middle School in Cherry Hill, competed in March Madness in 2001.
”The realization starts happening that you are going to be on national TV in front of millions of people…and it’s fun at first but then you’re like ‘alright don’t mess up,” said Owens when discussing the game.
Mr. Owens graduated from Camden Catholic High School and played basketball at Monmouth University from 1999-2003, after redshirting his academic freshman year in 1998. During his athletic freshman year, Owens started all 28 games and was named an all NEC (Northeast Conference) freshman.
Owens reflected on the time when the boys basketball team went to Europe to compete in a tournament, the year prior to them winning their conference. He explained this as a pivotal moment in their team development and chemistry, which ultimately aided in them reaching a level as prestigious as March Madness, even as a small school.
”At that time it felt really good to know each other and to trust each other because it was really big,” Owens said.
Duke University competed versus Monmouth in the first round of March Madness on Thursday, March 15, 2001; the night it became real for Owens. Duke was the number one seed hovering over him, which should have been intimidating, but for him it was exciting. Owens went on to score Monmouth’s first few points of the game.
”We played Duke, Duke ended up winning the National Tech Championship so I lined up against Shane Battier, and Mike Dunleavy, and Jay Williams,” Owens said, in awe.
The final score of the game was 95-52, with a victory from Duke, but Owens walked away content, knowing he reached a new level of achievement as a collegiate athlete, making difficult sacrifices and finding his sense of purpose. Owens even reflected upon revisiting that game with his daughter and unraveling the strong contrasting emotions of Duke’s win, and their devastating loss.
”It gave me the proof that I was good and it gave me an understanding that I am on this level and I can compete,” said Owens.
Continuing to make a big mark throughout his career, Owens started 111/114 of the games he competed in, ended with 100 blocks and is currently ranked fourth on Monmouth’s career blocked shots list, and won the Joan Martin award for his dedication to the team. In addition, Owens won NEC Defensive Player of the Year in his senior year. He closed out his career with approximately 1000 collegiate points at Monmouth.
As of now, Owens still incorporates basketball into his life, currently acting as the varsity boys basketball assistant coach at Camden Catholic, where he graduated from.
During the month of mark, sports fans across the country come together to form a bracket for the March Madness tournament. Many try to create the “perfect bracket,” accurately assessing all 68 college basketball teams involved. However, this task is almost statistically impossible. No one has ever created a perfect bracket in both men’s or women’s college basketball. On the other hand, some people make a bracket hoping their favorite team will make it to the NCAA championship game. Every year Samantha Bellezza (‘26) watches another season of college basketball wanting to see Duke succeed.
Bellezza’s love for Duke basketball stemmed from her Dad, who attended Duke University. For more than ten years, watching Duke basketball has been a tradition for her family. The impressive Coach “K” bringing the team success added to the basketball culture that Duke is known for, today, which Bellezza loves.
“For me, it’s once I found my team I stuck with my team. I’ll always be a Duke fan. It’s what I followed for the past ten years.
One of her favorite parts of watching college basketball is watching her favorite players from Duke thrive. Bellezza loves to learn about the new class and follows them throughout their basketball career. Watching the players and knowing all of their statistics and information is part of being a fan for Bellezza. Additionally, seeing them move on to the NBA and reach other achievements is a highlight of college basketball and brings out her pride towards her team.
“Every year I follow them, they are my team and I know everyone,” Bellezza explained.
March Madness is not only important to her, but Bellezza’s entire family. Her twin brothers, and East alumnus, Mathew Bellezza (‘23) and Jason Bellezza (‘23) are also big Duke fans. Each year, their family has a 40 person bracket. This bracket includes their cousins, aunts and uncles, and family friends. While this family bracket exists, Bellezza also fills out another one.
“I’ll do two brackets. My perfect bracket, what I want to happen and maybe another one to manipulate and play around a bit,” said Bellezza.
Bellezza also enjoys seeing the unknown teams gain fame. Since there are 68 teams vying for the championship, there is bound to be one team that shocks the country. Watching this, Bellezza shares, is inevitable. While she still likes to root for her favorite team, seeing the underdog gain some attention is something exciting to watch.
“That’s March madness. You have the chance to go so far and gain exposure and [a] fandom that you wouldn’t have gotten in the regular season.”
This year, Bellezza will make her March Madness brackets with the hopes of watching Duke make it to the NCAA championship. In the next few weeks, the outcomes of the games will be revealed and Bellezza will be watching closely to see who will make it to the final games.
What began as just a few harmless bets with friends has grown into a widespread phenomenon among sports fans, both young and old. From bracket pools to parlays on apps like DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbook, the NCAA tournament has turned into a gambling addiction rather than just about basketball.
“It’s a quick way to get money,” one anonymous East student said when asked why they first tried sports betting during March Madness.
As betting has grown more normalized in sports media and culture, it brings concern toward how easy underage bettors can find ways to participate.
“The one I used to do is Fliff [Sportsbook], and pretty much that’s just one for parlays. It’s just that you’re betting on stats that could happen, outcomes of games,” said the student. “Things like DraftKings though and Fanatics Sportsbook do involve your ID, but I know a lot of people will just use their parents’ cards or use a parent’s security number and connect it to theirs…they would find loopholes.”
Not only is it illegal to use these loopholes and shows a clear flaw in the betting apps systems, but it has encouraged underage gambling and grown into a part of the culture of the generation. A common occurrence of a gambling addiction has been seen beginning in easy access to gambling according to the American Psychological Association on a study of gambling addiction.
While it may appear as though the issue only affects fans, there have even been cases where the athletes too have become involved.
“In the NBA, March Madness, they’re throwing their stats…there’s a star player for the [Brooklyn] Nets: his brother, Jontay Porter, was kicked out, banned from the NBA because he was betting on himself. He would miss shots on purpose so he’d get money,” said the student.
For many students too, March Madness has become more about just filling out their brackets and having fun with friends. With betting apps and social media content promoting these odds and parlays, the tournament has become tied closer to the possibility of simply winning money.
“I had friends doing it. They were like, ‘oh, it’s a quick way to get money,’ and I liked that,” said the student.
While some claim they only bet small amounts for entertainment, sports betting has also been seen to grow beyond just juvenile fun. The excitement of a potential win is often what keeps people watching, and because of this, betting can often overshadow the sport itself.
“During football, baseball, March Madness, people are always watching games in class too,” said the student. “They’re only watching for their bets…[to see] if their parlays are going to hit,” said the anonymous student.
As March Madness season approaches each year, the NCAA tournament still brings out the excitement from fans, large crowds, supporting their Alma Mater, and following the basketball tradition. But alongside this tradition, the growing presence of sports betting has nonetheless influenced the game, starting from what seems like fun, to something much more serious and potentially detrimental.
Click the link below to see brackets made by the Eastside board! As March Madness begins, you can track the rankings of each editor’s picks with this link and vote on the most promising bracket below.