In March, there are plenty of sports events that garner plenty of interest. There’s the World Baseball Classic and the tail end of the NHL and NBA seasons, leading into the playoffs. However, none of those sports garner even close to the amount of attention that March Madness does at this time of year. The annual tournament is just the same as all other NCAA Division One sporting tournaments in layout, but it means a whole lot more to Americans than the rest. Every March, millions of Americans print out brackets of the field of play and pick what teams they think will win. Some do it for lots of money, some do it for none, but all families in America have heard of March Madness.

The famous trophy that is the pinnacle of so many players’ careers. Photo: Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos/Getty Images.

There are numerous reasons why March Madness is so much more popular than the other NCAA tournaments. Still, the most important is the emergence of bracket culture in the U.S. Around the late 70s and early 80s there became a small group of people in Long Island, NY who would fill out brackets every year for the NCAA Basketball tournament and as this went on it grew more and more until it effectively enveloped the whole country and became what we know today as March Madness. The difference that filling out a bracket makes is that it creates a personal investment in the tournament; people are much more likely to watch if they have a stake on the line. This culture, paired with the iconic Cinderella runs of the past, forms the perfect storm that is March Madness.

Now, while the bracket has yet to be released this year, some teams seem highly likely to make some deep runs. Teams such as Duke, led by standout first-year student Cameron Boozer, Houston, a consistent top team, and Florida, last year’s reigning champions, are all safe bets to go far in the tournament. Some lower-seeded teams are sure to make a deep run in the bracket. For example, Miami (OH). Miami had a historic season, going undefeated 31-0 before suffering its first loss of the year in the conference quarterfinal. Despite their superb record, they will still be seeded low because they hail from a conference outside the Power 5, and they did not win their conference tournament. This low seeding will lead to them messing up a lot of brackets and surprising some bigger schools.

St. John’s players celebrate after winning the Big East. Photo: St. John’s University.

Lastly, my prediction for the tournament. This year, I think a team that may fly a bit under the radar is the St. John’s Thunderbirds. Under the leadership of head coach Rick Pitino and coming off a huge Big East Conference Tournament win, the team is flying into March Madness. Last year, they were ranked as a two seed and expected to go deep in the tournament, but they fell prematurely when they were upset by Arkansas in the second round, breaking brackets across the country. So, with the chip on their shoulder from the prior tournament and the momentum from the Big East victory, I’m sure St. John’s is a good pick to go far in this year’s tournament.