The men’s and women’s NCAA Division I March Madness competitions kicked off with their first rounds on March 19 and 20, with the competition’s final taking place on Apr. 5 and 6, respectively.

March Madness is an annual single-elimination tournament featuring the top 68 college basketball teams in the U.S. The competition started excitingly, with the first and second rounds already resulting in notable outcomes. In the men’s tournament, No. 9 seed Iowa prevailed over No. 1 seed Florida 73-72 in a second round game, knocking out the defending champions and earning their first sweet sixteen appearance since 1999. On the women’s side, Texas Christian University demolished the University of California, San Diego in the first round of the bracket, with TCU guard Olivia Miles recording double digits in points, rebounds and assists. 

On campus and in celebration of the competition, FEM Club partnered with the Women in Sports Club to host a meeting where students created their own women’s March Madness brackets on March 16. The event offered an opportunity to follow women’s sports while encouraging friendly competition between peers. 

“It’s a great activity to bring awareness to women’s sports,” FEM club officer and varsity girls basketball player Jillian Chen (10) said. “Especially with the growing viewership and women’s basketball specifically expanding, this is an opportunity to engage our community. Events like these help create buzz around upcoming tournaments and show that women’s sports deserve the same level of recognition as the men’s.”

This year’s first seeds for the men’s include Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida, with Duke holding a 25% predicted chance of winning the title according to the NCAA official website. On the women’s side, the University of Connecticut (UConn); the University of California, Los Angeles; South Carolina and Texas are the top contenders, each earning a No. 1 seed in their respective regions. UConn, in particular, stands out after a 36-0 regular season and hopes to clinch its 13th NCAA basketball title this year. 

“TCU is going to be interesting because the transfer portal has really changed everything about the game,” Radice said. “Notre Dame would have been a much stronger team this year if Olivia Miles had stayed there, but then she transferred and went to TCU. Because they had such an amazing season last year, it will be interesting to see if her help will be enough to go pretty far in the tournament.”

Teams can secure their spots in the bracket by winning their conference or qualify as wild cards given strong regular-season performances. March Madness is famous for dramatic upsets, making predicting a bracket perfectly near impossible. One of the most thrilling examples was in 2016, when Villanova’s Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating three to defeat North Carolina 77-74 only seconds after they had tied the game. Many fans, like physics teacher Lisa Radice, root for underdog teams that may exceed public expectations despite their regular-season performance.

“The women’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish could be a sleeper team just because point-guard Hannah Hidalgo is amazing,” Radice said. “She’s one of the leading scorers in steals and all of those kinds of hustle statistics this year. They don’t necessarily have a big chance in proceeding to the championship, but I think they could go farther than most people think.”

Jillian predicts that Louisiana State University, currently led by top players Flau’jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams and transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley, will make a deep run as well.

“They are a team that plays with a lot of energy,” Jillian said. “We’ve seen their playmaking go both good and bad this year, but when it comes down to the Final Four, they are going to pull through, especially against a formidable team like UCLA. They have a really deep roster with great freshmen like Bella Hynes, who has lots of potential.”

Senior Krish Arora, who began seriously following collegiate basketball in his frosh year, expanded on how his selections for the men’s bracket are influenced by both current performance and seeding.

“Last year I wasn’t very accurate, but it’s pretty hard to predict who’s going to win because it’s a single-game elimination,” Krish said. “My favorite is Duke. This year they’re really good, and they have Cameron Boozer, who’s one of the top 3 prospects for the NBA draft next season. I have Duke versus Michigan facing off in the championship.”

In the past history of March Madness, no individual has ever completed a verified perfect bracket. If one randomly guessed the outcome of each game, the odds of getting every pick right would be about 1 in 9.2 quintillion. 

“One of the biggest mistakes people make is overthinking their bracket picks instead of going with their gut,” Jillian said. “The most important thing is to trust the process — if you’ve been following the league, you know your way around it, and you just have to trust yourself instead of stressing over every little pick.”

March Madness garners massive national attention each year, with the 2026 opening-round games averaging 9.8 million viewers across streaming platforms. The tournament showcases top collegiate talent rather than professional play, and it remains an opportunity for young athletes to prove themselves. 

“It’s called March Madness because we see so many upsets and there’s so much chaos,” Radice said. “During breaks or lunch, I see a lot of people watching games and tracking what’s going on. There are a subset of our students who are very interested in March Madness. The more people watch, the more they see how amazing these players are and what kind of a fun, exciting game it is.”