Brackets are set and the highly anticipated spring tournament is underway as March Madness sweeps the sports world, leading up to the highly coveted National Championship on April 3rd.
Just two rounds into the beloved tournament, fans have witnessed many bracket favorites lose out in some of the top games of the year. All feeding into one of the appeals the spring tournament holds– the promise of some “Cinderella stories.”
“For the sports fan, there is no better event than March Madness. The tournament has it all: suspense, intrigue, heartache and happiness,” Bleacher Report said.
People love a good story of triumph over adversity, which is what sports provide. For fans, there’s nothing quite like watching an underdog team take down a favored opponent against all odds.
“We watch March Madness to see the upsets, because it is the rarest of times that the little guys get the chance to take on the powerhouses, and sometimes they even pull off the impossible. Their faith inspires us, their spirit is infectious, and their unabated enthusiasm reminds us why we watch and play sports,” Bleacher Report said.
While it does add excitement to the games, there is also some logical explanation behind the widespread appeal of a David and Goliath-type story.
“One psychological explanation is that we’re drawn to the idea of fairness and justice. When we see a team that’s been written off as hopeless, we want to see them given a fair chance to compete. It’s a way of rebelling against the idea that the rich and powerful always win,” Sportskeeda said.
This year has not disappointed with that narrative. The 2023 tournament had barely tipped off when fans first witnessed a big team taken down. The smallest school in the field, No 13 seed Furman, made its first appearance in 43 years, according to the Guardian.
In opening weekend, they secured a huge victory by taking down fourth-seed Virginia.
“It didn’t look like Furman had a chance when Virginia held the lead with just under 10 seconds left to play — until point guard Kihei Clark tried to escape a trap by heaving a pass down the floor to kill clock,” Fox News said. “It was a mistake. Furman’s Garrett Hien intercepted the pass and found JP Pegues for a deep 3-pointer and a 68-67 lead with 2.2 seconds to play.”
That was just the start of the tournament. When opening weekend concluded, half of the four No. 1 seeds were already out.
One of the No. 1 seeds, Purdue, was defeated by a No. 16 seed, Fairleigh Dickinson, which was only the second time that has happened in the history of the tournament.
“Purdue is ranked #1 in effective height on Kenpom. Fairleigh Dickinson is ranked #363 out of 363. Literal David v Goliath,” Roger Sherman said in a tweet.
According to the Guardian, the number of upsets in March Madness has increased in recent years.
“The effect of the transfer portal, where it’s redistributing talent while the biggest powers continue to rely on one-and-done players, plus the increased focus on space and shooting in today’s game has changed the tournament. Those changes have tilted the odds in the underdogs’ favor,” The Guardian said.
Sometimes, the wins are also financially based. Funding for athletics varies heavily depending on the program and it impacts many aspects of what resources the team has, impacting everything from coaching to training facilities to the players themselves.
“Of the 52 games played so far in the NCAA tournament, Princeton’s surprise wins over Arizona and Missouri represented the biggest imbalance between what the losing and winning teams spend on men’s basketball. Princeton spent $1.7 million on its program last year—more than seven times less than Arizona what Arizona spent ($12.2 million),” Sportico said.
Financial upsets happen but extreme levels of them are not as prominent, meaning that many bets are placed with this taken into consideration.
Upsets, both financial and ranking-wise, can continue all the way until the final, with there always being a possibility that a 16 seed could potentially come home with the title, although it is yet to happen in league history.
Going into the Sweet 16 that began last night, “twelve of the 16 have never won a national championship, seven have never been to a Final Four. Florida Atlantic had never won a game in the tournament until last Friday,” NCAA said.
Teams have already left their mark in the 2023 March Madness tournament, and they can continue to do so until the buzzer beats and a winner is declared on April 3.