Source: Isaiah Vazquez / Getty
March Madness is one of the most unpredictable times in sports every year. The tournament where every possession, loose ball, and foul call is crucial. The better team in the matchup (on paper) can fall victim to a season-ending buzzer beater, and a sixteenth seed can knock off a number one seed.
With all those possibilities taken into consideration, it is imperative that every team treat each game like it is their last, sticking to the coach’s game plan and never underestimating their opponent. Failure to comply to these three golden rules could leave a team destined to make a deep run in the tournament, crippling in the agony of an early exit.
Why do they call it March Madness?
The term “March Madness” was first used in 1939 when Illinois high school official Henry V. Porter referred to the original eight-team tournament by that moniker.
“A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel,” Porter wrote in “Illinois High School Athlete” magazine.
But it was Brent Musburger who is credited with associating the term with the NCAA Tournament when he used it in 1982. According to reviewjournal.com, Musburger claims that he got the term from car dealership commercials he saw while broadcasting the Illinois state high school basketball tournament.
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There has been hundreds of ‘March Madness’ moments since the inception of the tournament 85 years ago in 1939. The tournament consists of 68 teams competing in a single-elimination bracket. Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament. The other 36 teams get in on a ‘voting scale’ based on their performance of throughout the season.
Those teams that get in the tournament by the skin of their teeth are the most dangerous programs. Teams with a low ranked seed like the Saint Peter’s Peacocks of 2022 — who knocked of No. 2 seeded Kentucky, No. 7 seeded Murray State, and No. 3 seeded Purdue — play with nothing to lose, and adhere to the golden rules of the tournament to take them as far as they can go.
Our team at RNBPhilly got together and sat down for hours to come up with a list of the 50 most exciting March Madness moments in NCAA history. This is in no particular order as it is subjective to many, but we did our best!
Check out the 50 Most Exciting March Madness Moments in NCAA History below!
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