There are three things to watch at the NCAA basketball tournaments
The NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament on March Madness – Highlights from the Last Two Years and How Close is It to A Girl’s Basketball Tournament?
The official brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments were revealed Sunday evening, with the final list of the 68 selected teams showing a lot of excitement – and a few surprises.
Whether you’re one of the estimated 68 million Americans who will bet on March Madness, or you want to learn about the other side, we’ve got highlights to pay attention to.
Short for the University of Connecticut. It has won 11 of the 17 tournaments it has entered, with a 1-seed in the men’s event and a 3-seed in the women’s.
“It’s never been this hard for the committee,” David Worlock, the NCAA Director of Media Coordination, wrote on X. “Not only because of how close so many of these teams are, but because of the abundance of bid thieves which have knocked teams out.”
The women’s NCAA tournament may be more talked about than the men’s. Some analysts say it’s more fascinating than the other titles.
The growing buzz around the women’s tournament is thanks in part to the fan frenzy surrounding Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Earlier this month, the 22-year-old became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division 1 basketball – men’s or women’s.
It is not just about Clark’s team, who received a 1 seed. UCLA, Kansas State and LSU are within its own region, so Iowa faces stiff competition. In fact, Iowa lost to LSU in last year’s title game.
South Carolina is trying to get its second title in three years and continue its perfect run. Only four universities have accomplished a perfect regular season for the women’s teams and that feat has been done nine times.
Some analysts are predicting that there will be a big upset in this one, with some saying that McNeese State could go all the way to the Sweet 16.
What is a buzzer beater? The case of Angel Reese in the LSU Basketball Coach’s Dilemma
For others, March can turn conversations at the office or a party into a moment of bewilderment: McWhat State? Who is Angel and who is Caitlin? There was a hand gesture, what did it mean? What do you call NET?
If you don’t know a buzzer beater from a bracket buster, let us help. Here’s some terminology and names to know as the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I tournaments tip off:
Angel Reese, affectionately known as the ” Bayou Barbie”, is the face of last year’s champion LSU basketball team and has appeared in music videos with the likes of Latto and Cardi B.
at-large bid and auto bid: Between the end of the regular season and the start of the NCAA tournament, each conference holds their own postseason mini-tournament. The teams that win automatically get a spot in the NCAA tournament. The rest are “at-large bids” given to other teams the tournament selection committee deems worthy.
The NCAA owns a registered trademark for The Big Dance. The Cinderella teams are the lower-seeded ones that succeed despite the odds.
blue blood — A storied program that has played at the highest levels consistently over a long time. There is a lot of debate regarding which programs qualify for this category, but the safe selections include Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA in the men’s game, along with Tennessee and Connecticut in the women’s.
An upset, but not a pedestrian upset. A bracket buster takes out a team that was expected to make a deep run, thereby “busting” many people’s brackets.
A shot that hits the basket after the buzzer sounds on the end of a half has been heard. So long as the ball has left the player’s hand before the buzzer rings, the shot counts — it’s a buzzer beater.
The word cut down the nets is used to mean win the big game. Winning teams get to literally cut down the basket’s nets (piece by piece, with each player taking home a small bit as a souvenir) after making it to the Final Four or winning the title game.
Source: A 2024 March Madness vocabulary: How to sound like you know what you’re talking about
MJK Curry, DJ Burns and the Cowboys: Where did we go from here? Where did you go? What did you learn? Where had you come from?
Dawn Staley — The head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s team. Perhaps the best active coach in women’s basketball, seemingly always the Coach of the Year these days, grew up imagining herself as the next point guard of the Philadelphia 76ers.
DJ Burns Jr. — The charming 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward with a soft touch on the ball who just led his North Carolina State Wolfpack to five victories on five straight nights to win a highly improbable ACC tournament title. A big guy playing basketball, who says “We need a massage” in his post-game question and answer, is always a delight to watch.
Florida Gulf Coast — The Eagles are a Cinderella candidate in both the men’s and women’s tournament. In each of the past two years, the women’s squad has pulled off Round of 64 upsets, and in the same year the men’s team became the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
He tied the school’s freshman single-game scoring record for the Duke men’s team and also has models for a brand endorsed by Kim Kardashian. You’ve probably already heard of him if you’re on TikTok; his social media presence is almost as big as his stellar play.
The USC women’s basketball team earned the first top seed in nearly 30 years, thanks to the freshman JuJu Watkins. She has a perfect round bun on top of her head.
Commentators call him the Japanese Stephen Curry, after he is one of the stars of the Nebraska men’s team who shoots three-point shots. The only Power 6 men’s team that has never won an NCAA Tournament game is Nebraska. They are an 8-seed this year. Tominaga can help make history.
McNeese State — Perhaps the trendiest Cinderella pick in this year’s men’s tournament. The Cowboys were ranked 60th by KenPom and are set to faceGonzaga in the first round, as well as a potential round of 32 opponent, Kansas.
Source: A 2024 March Madness vocabulary: How to sound like you know what you’re talking about
The NCAA’s Mardi Grassmannian: A 2024 March Madness Vocabulary: How to sound like you know what you’re talking about
The NCAA uses the evaluation tool as a way to rank teams for tournament seeding. There’s no need to get into details; all you need to know that it is widely complained about. Example use: “Did you know that New Mexico got stuck with an 11-seed even though they’re ranked #22 in NET?”
KenPom is an independent college basketball ratings website that takes the form of a wall of inscrutable numbers and abbreviations. Example use: “It’s a joke that Virginia got in. KenPom has them at #69.”
The theme song of an ’80s sitcom is “One Shining Moment”, which is the anthem of March Madness. Played after the end of the championship game over a montage of the tournament’s best moments.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, the Big Ten, Big East, the Pac-12 and the SEC are all in the Power 6. See also: mid-major — A term that generally refers to any other conference, or a team that comes from any other conference. Notable mid-majors in this year’s tournaments include San Diego State (Mountain West Conference), Richmond (Atlantic 10 Conference) and Drake (Missouri Valley Conference).
Source: A 2024 March Madness vocabulary: How to sound like you know what you’re talking about
The Boilermakers: Zach Edey’s the tallest player in men’s basketball but never fails to play his high-energy opponent
Zach Edey — The Purdue center who is one of the best players in men’s college basketball and, at 7-foot-4, the tallest player in the 128-year history of the Big Ten conference. The team that is always very good but also always misses is called the Boilermakers.
