The NCAA Division I (DI) men’s basketball tournament started in 1939 with just eight teams. The field grew to 16 squads in 1951, doubled again to 32 in 1975, and reached 64 teams in 1985.

• In 2011, four play-in games, known as the “First Four,” were added prior to the first round, giving us the 68-team bracket we see today.

The term “March Madness” was first used in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tournament, but wasn’t associated with the college tourney until broadcaster Brent Musburger used it while covering the 1982 championship.

The first women’s NCAA tournament was held in 1982 — 43 years after the men’s debut — with 32 teams. The field slowly expanded, reaching 64 squads in 1994 and finally growing to an equitable 68 teams in 2022. About time.

All 362 women’s and 364 men’s DI squads hoop with the goal of playing in March Madness, and there are a couple of paths they can take to the tourney.

• The winners of the 31 DI conference tournaments earn automatic berths. Thirty-seven other teams will receive at-large bids based on their performance this season — but they won’t know if they’re going dancing until tonight’s show. Not not nervous.

A 12-member committee makes the final decision on the aforementioned “at-large” teams using the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). There will certainly be some disappointed squads, but when a team does make it in, the reactions are pure joy.

• Along with deciding who makes the cut, the selection committee determines tournament seeding, awarding squads seeds Nos. 1 through 16 in each of the bracket’s four quadrants. The better the seed, the easier the path to the ’ship — at least in theory.
• As for those “First Four” play-in games, the lowest-ranked at-large selections will duke it out for a No. 11 seed, while the lowest-ranked automatic qualifiers will fight for a No. 16 seed in the 64-team bracket.

After Selection Sunday, each game is single elimination. Lose once and it’s sayonara to your season, a dynamic that gives March Madness its famously chaotic energy.

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One of the best parts of March Madness? The brackets. While it’s fun to watch high-stakes college basketball, it’s even better when bragging rights (and sweet prizes) are on the line.

The March Madness bracket craze began at a bar in Staten Island, New York, in 1977, when 88 people joined a prize pool and filled out their own tournament predictions.

• By 2006, 150K folks entered that same Staten Island bar challenge, and the prize pool swelled to $1.5M. The Feds took notice and shut down the unofficial competition, but the bracket tradition was already alive and well.

Millions are expected to fill out a tournament bracket this year, despite the one in 9.2 quintillion chance of selecting 100% perfect picks. Folks from all walks of life join in on the fun, including President Barack Obama, three-time WNBA champ Candace Parker, Hot Ones host Sean Evans, and actor Jennifer Lawrence, to name a few.

• Whether your picks are based on team records, star players, mascots, colors, or just vibes, the action is even better when you join in on the fun.

With 86 years of history and fanfare, there are plenty of March Madness records and iconic moments worth revisiting.

🏆 Winning dynasties: UConn holds the record for the most women’s national titles with 11, and the aforementioned Geno Auriemma — who’ll be making his 36th (!!!) consecutive appearance — has been at the helm for all of them. You don’t become the winningest HC of all time overnight.

• Only 10 championship teams have gone undefeated en route to the women’s ’ship, and Auriemma’s led six of them, most recently behind WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier in 2016. The latest squad to accomplish the feat? Last year’s winner, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
• As for the men, UCLA dominated in the ’60s and early ’70s under legendary HC John Wooden. The Bruins won seven straight national titles, and a total of 11 — the most in men’s March Madness history.

💎 Cinderella stories: Everyone loves an underdog. In 2022, the Saint Peter’s University men became the first No. 15 seed to ever make the Elite Eight, rattling off a run that stole hearts and garnered plenty of social media attention.

• As for the gals, the 2011 No. 11 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs rode a 21-game win streak to the Elite Eight — the only non–No. 1 or 2 team to advance that far that year.

😮 Biggest upsets: Two years ago, No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson University did something only one other NCAA men’s hoops team had done: upset a No. 1 seed. The Knights stunned No. 1 Purdue 63–58, joining the 2018 University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) squad, who knocked off No. 1 Virginia.

• But the women did it first. In 1998, Harvard became the first (and still only!) No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed with their 71–67 victory over Stanford. What, like it’s hard?

😅 Clutch moments: As for buzzer-beating thrillers, the 2016 Villanova men put on a show when Kris Jenkins hit a game-winning three-pointer to push the Wildcats past UNC 77—74 and claim the national title. Then in the 2021 semis, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs sunk a deep three to defeat UCLA 93–90 in overtime. An instant classic.

• But the queen of March game-winners is now WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale (pronounced ah-REE-kay oh-GOON-bow-WAH-lay), who sank two in the 2018 Final Four, lifting Notre Dame to their first NCAA title in 17 years. Mamba mentality.

The Madness tips off with the men’s First Four on March 18th and crisscrosses the country until the women’s championship game in Tampa, Florida, on April 6th, and the men’s ’ship in San Antonio, Texas, on April 7th.

But first, all eyes will be on tonight’s Selection Shows. As mentioned, the guys’ bracket will drop on CBS at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the women’s on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. If you’re in Canada, you can catch them on TSN channels.

• And once the field is set, you only have a few days to fill out your (free!) men’s and women’s brackets, which are due at 12 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, respectively. May the odds be ever in your favor.

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“One Shining Moment,” the iconic March Madness song that’ll be stuck in your head for the next month. A time-honored tradition and bop.

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The GIST’s bracket challenges for the women’s and men’s tournaments, of course. Get in the game with the best community around, support The GIST, and take your shot at some sweet prizes (and eternal glory).

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