March Madness: Bracket Pool Monotony?

We are once again deep into the March Madness season with only the Final Four left standing in the men’s and women’s leagues! Alongside the normal hype surrounding March Madness, millions of Americans have bet on the 64-team bracket this year hoping that they could possess the coveted perfect bracket. The thought of potentially obtaining A BILLION DOLLARS for such a feat has enticed the masses. The only issue with such a belief, however, is that it has never been done. Only one person (Gregg Nigl) has ever made it to the Sweet 16. Furthermore, the odds of achieving a perfect bracket are estimated to be around 1 in 9.2 quintillion! While smaller yet substantial cash prizes are still given out to those who come the closest to running perfect each year, the near impossibility of accomplishing this has likely left many frustrated and annoyed in years past. Most of the time, brackets won’t even survive the 1st round. While it is true that March Madness bracket pools are essentially just another form of the lottery, the incorporation of such a system into a sport beloved to many has created higher stakes and more emotional responses than most other lottery systems. One may expect to see a drop off in viewership over the years due to the inevitably disappointing outcome, but it has surprisingly hovered around 10 million television viewers for over 10 years. It may not be clear why many have stayed so dedicated to a system that has provided close to zero true rewards for millions, but the answer may be simple: we love to beat the odds, and we love the chance for glory and money. The likelihood that someone will ever accomplish the impossible is almost zero, but the impossible has been accomplished before. While many thought that humanity could never create vehicles of flight, we did. While many thought that humanity could never make it to the moon, we did. While many thought humanity could never run a mile in under four minutes, we did. The impossible is done all the time, so why give up now? Sure, the odds are stacked against us all, but the desire to defy those odds and have glory is omnipresent.
Another hot topic surrounding March Madness this year is the shocking rise in popularity of the women’s bracket. While this post-season competition is filled with potentially some of the greatest women’s college basketball players ever such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Elizabeth Kitley, viewership has hit an all-time high. 12.3 million viewers watched the Iowa vs. LSU game on April 1, more than almost every NBA, college football, and MLB game this season. This is an outstanding accomplishment for women’s sports in general as women’s leagues have rarely been taken as seriously as men’s. While many blame this disparity in viewership on the “lack of skill” in women’s leagues, many neglect the fact that men and women are anatomically different, leading to differences in abilities. Since women aren’t going to be as tall or muscular as men on average, one may see a little less physicality and aggression on the court. However, women are usually more nimble and elegant than men, leading to perhaps a more efficient and technical, by-the-book approach for women’s basketball. Another large complaint is that women’s basketball is simply boring and not as enticing as men’s. The truth is, however, that many of the people who claim this to be true have likely denied even giving women’s sports a chance. Women’s college basketball may not be “as exciting” as men’s college basketball, but it still provides plenty of excitement in its own right. Women such as Caitlin Clark have helped break these stigmas around women’s sports, causing people to tune in and realize that women really could provide an entertaining experience on the main stage. As the Final Four in the women’s bracket prepare to play and potentially come out on top, they will look to draw in even more viewers who could grow to appreciate the skill and dedication of the women on the court.
This March Madness season is shaping up to be one for the books. While there were the typical upsets and dominant performances during the process, this year has provided a new look into women’s sports that has not been seen before. The enticing nature of the men’s and women’s brackets has shown that the tournament will likely continue to find great success and steady viewership over the years. College basketball may just be a game at the end of the day, but it has proven that there is hope for more equality in men’s and women’s sports and that anyone can do the impossible.