The date is set. March 17th will officially kick off the biggest basketball tournament of the year. The much anticipated March Madness is finally here, and the excitement could not be any higher.

The dance brings in a lot of revenue for the NCAA. The tournament is projected to bring in around 1.5 billion dollars in revenue this year, making it one of the most profitable events for the NCAA. Not only does the tournament bring a lot of people out to the games in order to watch their team win, they also include a lot of side games. Many people around this time will download sports betting apps that allow them to bet on certain teams. On these apps, you have the options of betting on the over/under of teams, how a single person will preform, how many points are scored in a game, and on which team will win.

Another huge attraction to March Madness is the idea of a perfect bracket. After selection Sunday which is the day that the nation knows which team will be in the tournament, a lot of people will try to choose which team they think will win each round, and eventually pick a champion. This seems to be something that is easy because every team is ranked between 1-16 seeds which is based off how well they performed in the regular season. But it’s rather complicated because every year in the tournament there are upsets. Most commonly, people will choose the highest seeds to win the tournament, but usually this is not the case.

Over the years there have been many upsets, but the most famous was when the 16th seed UMBC defeated the 1 seed 74-54. This has been the only time that a 1 seed has lost in the first round to a 16 seed. Over time it is predicted that there is going to be more 16 seeds that will cause a huge upset, and break around a million brackets. Some people however make so many brackets that they include an upset happening.

Some people feel obligated to make as many brackets as they can because they are obsessed with the idea of getting a perfect bracket. But there is a good reward for doing so. In the past a perfect bracket has paid out between 1 million and $100,000. The brackets are free to make which makes millions of people enter because they don’t have to pay a dime to have a chance at making a million dollars.

When asked why he fills out a bracket Sartell teacher Robert Notsch states, “I just do one for fun with my family for bragging rights, and it’s not about the money anymore but for the fun of it. And it’s all for the pride, but when I was younger I filled it out in hopes of winning some money.”

Many people find enjoyment in just being able to watch the tournament. Some people go the extra mile and set up four different TV’s and play four different games at a time. Or people will host big watching parties, which gather a lot of people together to enjoy the games with each other’s presence. At these parties, you can find tons of different types of food. This can included nachos, wings, chips and dip, sodas, and other desirable items.