Every March since 1939, men’s college basketball teams have competed for the national championship title in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Each year, unexpected lower-seeded teams, commonly known as cinderella teams, ruin brackets while top seeded teams fight for their glory.
Brackets are filled with predictions of how the tournament will unfold, and many students participate in March Madness by picking winners for each of the 67 games. Brackets are done with friends, family or even in public groups on sport apps like the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), compiling to over 34 million brackets filled out across all major platforms.
Students, typically sports fanatics, fill out one or many brackets, such as sophomore Miles Asch. For many, March Madness holds a powerful and sentimental place in student households, acting as a connector between family and friends.
“March Madness is pretty much a holiday in my household. I’ve been filling out brackets, usually several per year, for 10 years. [This year] I have Florida going all the way,” Asch said.
The first two days of the tournament set the tone for the month with a combination of predicted blowouts and a few bracket-busting upsets. After the first game, No. 9 seed Creighton Bluejays upset No. 8 seed Louisville Cardinals, which immediately busted over 13 million brackets.
On March 20, the No. 5 seed Clemson Tigers played the No. 12 seed McNeese State Cowboys and lost by two points in an unexpected outcome. This upset, in which only 22.4 percent picked McNeese, led to fewer than 2 million perfect brackets remaining after just six games played. Games like this exploded brackets on the first day, and the second day of March Madness rolled around with only 36,000 (.09 percent) perfect brackets.
Sophomore Reid Stoll is one of many who banked on Clemson going far.
“McNeese beating Clemson [hurt my bracket most]. I had [Clemson] going to the Final Four,” Stoll said.
Other notable first-round upsets included Arkansas beating Kansas 79-72 and Drake defeating Missouri 67-57. The second-day upsets brought the Colorado State Rams over the Memphis Tigers 78-70, and the New Mexico Lobos over the Marquette Golden Eagles 75-66. After the first 32 games, only 181 perfect brackets remained and the madness of March was just beginning.
The second round consisted of 16 games with the 32 remaining teams. Among the several bracket busters was No. 10 seed Arkansas defeating No. 2 seed St. John’s 75-66.
Sophomore Cole Sandrich, who filled out six brackets this year, was hit hard when the St. John’s Red Storm got taken out by the Arkansas Razorbacks.
“I did take St. John’s [to win it all] in one of them. [I feel] pretty bad [that St. Johns lost] because I took them in just about all my brackets, so [now] I don’t have anything. My brackets are busted,” Sandrich said.
Another painful loss came when No. 3 seed Kentucky beat No. 6 seed Illinois by nine points, marking the end of ESPN’s #RoadToPerfection bracket challenge. The last perfect bracket finally went down.
The Sweet Sixteen is the regional semifinal and third round of the March Madness tournament. This year, it eliminated any seed lower than a three, leaving No. 3 Texas Tech as the lowest remaining seed.
The Elite Eight followed on March 29 and 30. History was made as all four No.1 seeds — Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston — punched their tickets to the Final Four. This year was the first time since 2008 that all one seeds reached the Final Four.
Senior Sam Soccorsy fills out March Madness brackets and finds it a fun way to stay involved in college sports.
“[The results were] pretty crazy. I never really expect that [outcome] to happen, but [it] makes picking the brackets easier for sure. I had a one-seed, [a] two-seed, [a] one-seed [and a] two-seed,” Soccorsy said.
The Final Four games took place in San Antonio, Texas, beginning on April 5. First, the Auburn Tigers, the overall No. 1 seed, faced the Florida Gators. The Gators secured their spot in the national championship with a thrilling 79-73 win. Next, the Duke Blue Devils took on the Houston Cougars. The Cougars went on a 9-0 run against the Blue Devils in the final minute to secure the 70-67 victory and their spot in the championship. This year of March Madness was “March Sadness” for the Duke Blue Devils and the 36 percent of students who chose them to win it all, according to a March Bark survey.
April 7 brought along the national championship game with Houston and Florida going head-to-head. Florida led 8-6 at the start of the game, where they lost it until the last 46.5 seconds, achieving a 12-point deficit comeback. With just seconds remaining, Houston’s Emanuel Sharp had a chance to put the game away with a three-pointer, but his midair pump fake resulted in a loose ball turnover. 2025 March Madness ended with the trophy in the jaws of the Gators after a 65-63 win, securing their first championship since 2007 — or as in Head Coach Todd Golden’s words, “The Natty.” This nail-biting finale brought heartbreak to Cougar fans but joy to the 10 percent of Redwood students that, according to a March Bark survey, chose Florida to secure the title. Chomp. Chomp.
