National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) fans, hopefully your blood pressure can lower because the appropriately named March Madness is officially over. People all across America either made their brackets just for fun or for monetary purposes. The American Gaming Association estimated that Americans bet over $2.72 billion on the tournament this year, and that’s just through the legal outlets. Nevertheless, let’s go over March Madness and see what teams claimed victory.
The University of Conneticut’s Huskies and Purdue University’s Boilermakers played the final men’s game on Monday, April 8. The Huskies defeated the Boilermakers in a close 75-60 game. The Huskies’ win made them the first team to win back-to-back championships since the University of Florida’s Gators did the same back in 2007.
Coach Dan Hurley of the Huskies joins the elite duo of Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyewski for the only living coaches to have back-to-back championships. Donovan coached the Florida Gators before heading to the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, the Chicago Bulls. Kryzewski achieved his wins while at Duke University. He was offered the chance to coach an NBA team five times but turned them down to remain at Duke. This back-to-back means that Hurley may have a future career with an NBA team.
“You can’t even wrap your mind around it because you know just how hard this tournament is,” Coach Hurley said.
On Sunday, April 7, the women’s championship concluded with the University of South Carolina’s Gamecocks facing off against Iowa State University’s Hawkeyes. The Gamecocks kept their undefeated streak, ending the game 87-75. This is the Gamecocks’ third championship win and cements their place in history for the 10th time a perfect season has been achieved throughout the course of women’s basketball.
30 of the Hawkeye’s 75 points were from Caitlin Clark, a name incredibly popular in the sports world right now. Although she wasn’t part of the winning team, all eyes were all her. She recently broke the Division I men and women’s scoring records and is going to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft. The Hawkeyes announced on April 10 that they will be retiring her number 22, only the third person in the program’s history to receive the honor.
Coach Dawn Staley of the Gamecocks recognized Clark after their win.
“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport,” Staley said. “She carried a heavy load for our sport.”
According to the Associated Press, for the first time, the women’s championship beat the men’s in terms of viewership. Over 24.1 million people tuned into the women’s final 15 minutes, while the men’s averaged only 14.82 million. Important to note, this was the first time that the women’s championship was broadcasted on network television.
After this round of March Madness, it’s safe to say that NCAA fans could use a break until the season starts again in November. But, if you’re missing the thrill of the game, the NCAA baseball season is on now until late June.
