Facts About March Madness

By Hailey Bauer, 6th Grade

March Madness is an incredibly popular college basketball tournament, with an average of 10.5 million viewers. The idea of March Madness was created by the Ohio State coach Harold Olsen in 1939. Although the idea was created by Harold Olsen, the term March Madness was created by Henry V. Porter, a basketball coach who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The first ever March Madness tournament was won by the Oregon Ducks in 1939. Kentucky has appeared in the March Madness tournament the most, 57 times, but UCLA has won the most March Madness tournaments (11 wins). In March Madness, a seed is a team's ranking, with 1 as the best and 16 as the worst. Sixty-eight teams make up the bracket, with more than one team getting the same seed. The highest seed to ever win March Madness was #8 seed Villanova Wildcats. Twenty-two #1 seeds have won March Madness, and the Retrievers became the first 16 seed team to ever beat a 1 seed. I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about March Madness!