March is here, which means one of the most popular sporting traditions–March Madness– is kicking into gear.
March Madness is a college basketball tournament known for its wild upsets and unpredictable brackets. The tournament features 68 college basketball teams, with single-elimination bracket play.
Beyond great college basketball games, March Madness has evolved into a massive social event. Friends, family and co-workers all compete in different bracket pools. An estimated 60-100 million brackets are filled out each year.
The odds of getting a perfect March Madness bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion. No one has ever achieved a perfect verified NCAA March Madness bracket in history.
At PVHS, many students join in each other’s bracket pools to see who can predict the tournament more accurately. March Madness brings students together and creates social events with friendly competition.
PVHS math teacher Trever Moore decided that he would incorporate a fun March Madness challenge into his classroom this year. “The March Madness challenge in my classroom is a competition between myself and all of my students,” said Moore. This allows students to have fun in the classroom while also encouraging collaboration.
The rules to Moore’s challenge are simple, “If I beat all of my students, I get to give a pop quiz whenever I want, from the date of the national championship to the end of the school year. If one student beats me, then all of my classes get a partner homework quiz for the next homework quiz”. Although there is a pop quiz on the line, the odds of Moore winning are slim due to so many students participating.
Out of the classroom, students have also made groups among themselves to predict the best bracket. Senior Gavin Barber participates in March Madness every year. “March Madness allows me to spend more time with my friends because we all enjoy watching the games, so we usually get together to watch them,” shared Barber.
With March Madness just around the corner, students and teachers are eagerly waiting for the brackets to get released. The first round of 64 teams is set to begin on March 19.
