March is the most important month of the year for basketball fans, as the College Basketball Playoffs kick off. March Madness is one of the biggest sporting events of the year that generates more than a billion dollars annually. 

   The big tournament begins on selection Sunday when the bracket is put in place. The tournament technically started Tuesday March 14th with the First Four games, but the round of 64 doesn’t commence until Thursday March 16th. 

   This year’s number one seeds consist of Alabama, Purdue, Houston, and Kansas. There are many speculations on whether any of these four teams will prevail and make it to the final four or if there will be upsets along the way. 

   According to theanalyst.com, Houston has the highest percent chance of winning at 13.1%. Following this is Alabama with 12.8%, a four seed Connecticut with 8.3%, and a two seed UCLA with a 6.9% chance of winning the National Championship. 

   Every year these predictions are made and most of the time they are extremely wrong. There has never been a perfect bracket made and I don’t believe there ever will be. The odds of a perfect bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion. This has obviously never been predicted for that reason. 

   Students around LCN have filled out March Madness Brackets and some have even made groups. These groups are a fun and friendly competition for people around the country to be involved in the madness. Logan Bull is a Senior who started his own group. When asked about who he thinks will make it to the final four he stated, “My prediction for the final four is Gonzaga, Marquette, Alabama, and Texas A&M. The winner of the national championship will be Alabama.” We will see if his predictions are right and the outcomes of the first round after this weekend’s games.