What is March Madness?

Every year starting in March, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hosts a basketball tournament referred to as  “March Madness”. 68 teams play against each other in a single-elimination game to determine who is the overall best team in that year.

The term “March Madness” came to be from an article written by Henry V. Porter. It was only referred to as “March Madness” by Illinois high-school until CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger used it in his coverage of the 1982 game. The term has been associated with this event ever since. 

The tournament is separated into two separate competitions; men’s and women’s. The annual event started in 1939 for men and in 1982 for women. 

How It Works: Selection Sunday 

To participate in the competition, the conferences either need to be automatically accepted in by winning the postseason conference tournament or they need to be invited by the selection committee. 32 teams receive automatic bids. The remaining 36 teams are determined by the committee. The committee is a group of twelve members who determine which 36 teams will receive an at-large bid and fill the bracket. Once there is a full bracket of 68 teams, the list is posted — this is known as “Selection Sunday”. 

Once the bracket is known, the committee decides each of the team’s ranking and region. They rank the teams by listing them from 1 to 68. The number that a team is listed as is called their “seed”. Once ranked, they are then separated into either the west, east, south or midwest regions. These regions establish the first-round matchups. 

Rounds 

In the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, there are seven rounds to determine that year’s champion. 

The seven rounds are: 

First Four 

Eight teams. Largest seed teams against largest seed teams and lowest seed teams against lowest seed teams. 

Round 1

Sixty-four teams. Divided into four regions. Each region ranks the teams 1-16. Each top team plays the bottom team. For example, No.1 plays No.16. Sixteen rounds are played one day and sixteen rounds are played the following day. 

Round 2

Thirty-two teams. The eight first-day winners of round 1 play each other and the eight second-day winners of round 1 play each other.  

Sweet 16

Sixteen teams. Four games are played on the first day, four games are played on the second day. 

Elite 8

Eight teams. Two games are played on the first day, two games are played on the second day. 

Final Four

Four teams. Winners from each region. Which two teams will play each other is chosen based on rankings. 

National Championship

Final 2 teams play against each other to determine the winner. 

Saint Peter’s University 

Saint Peter’s University gained attention in the 2022 NCAA men’s March Madness tournament for becoming the only 15th ranked seed to reach the Elite Eight round. With only 0.87% of brackets correctly picking them to make it to the Elite Eight, their success story is a unique one. 

Saint Peter’s is being called a “Cinderella story”, a term used to describe underdogs who go further in the tournament than expected by reaching Sweet 16 or higher. 

The University with 2,637 enrolled students located in Jersey City, N.J, was fairly unknown to the public. Around 80% of basketball recruits did not know of Saint Peter’s when they were first recruited. They qualified for the March Madness tournament when they won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Before the NCAA event began, Saint Peter’s only had around 500 fans. 

Challenges Saint Peter’s Faced 

The University’s rise to fame did not come easily. There were many obstacles they faced and had to overcome daily to get to the Elite Eight. 

Budget Constraints 

Saint Peter’s has a very low basketball budget of around $250,000 — lower than all of the other schools in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. 

For overall recruiting expenses, they spend around $28,588. This is over three times lower than low major programs like UMBC, Oral Roberts, and Murray state. 

Floodings and Leaky Ceilings 

The University frequently had to deal with floods in the basketball coaching offices caused by melting snow on the roof. A Twitter post by Ryan Patrick Woerner shows that they would operate a daily basketball schedule with an Inch of water on the floor. 

There was often a leak in many parts of the roof covering the school’s gymnasium. In one instance, the ceiling leak caused the basketball team to postpone their 2016 game against Manhattan. This was a big deal to the team because it was supposed to be televised and Saint Peter’s rarely received publicity.  

Shared Community Space 

The Yanitelli Center, where the basketball team practices, is a shared community space. Intramural games, sports practices, and bake sales were some of the events that the team had to orchestrate scheduling around. One way they worked around this was by hanging a curtain as a divider between practice and community events.

Locker Room Issues 

Road teams would sometimes have to share the locker room with swimmers. This pool could be rented out and was located close to the locker rooms. Sometimes this resulted in swimmers walking into the locker room to take showers while road teams were in there. 

What Happens to Saint Peters Now? 

Even though Saint Peters did not win the championship, getting into the Elite Eight will certainly pay off for them. Their Cinderella run gained them a lot of attraction and a little money. They have earned $8.1 million from March Madness, which will be split between the conference but it will still help The University. 

Endorsement deals are already occurring for some players on the team. Saint Peter’s guard Doug Edert has signed a NIL contract with Buffalo Wild Wings. It is expected that more NIL deals will be made with other players on the team as time goes on. 

The success of this 15th seed team from a small university in New Jersey has surprised many and has become an inspiration for small teams everywhere. Their story proves that no matter the challenges faced, it is still possible to accomplish great things.