Analysis Of March Madness: The NCAA Men's Basketball

68 teams, 6 rounds, 1 winner. The NCAA tournament is a tournament unlike any other. Teams and individual players put it all on the line for one goal, to be a champion. March is not only mad in the way of upsets and showdowns, but also in the crazy amount of money that goes into this enormous event. Economics play a huge role in the NCAA March Madness. Host cities rake in money from eager fans, teams and conferences make money from profit made on the tournament, and because the tournament has a limited supply of resources, prices skyrocket.

Basketball has been in my blood since the third grade. I look up to the female high school and WNBA players. No matter the level of girls’ basketball, I was into it. As I grew up, I continued to play the game that I loved. But as the years passed by I noticed something: nobody was really ever at our games. Our parents were obviously there to support us, but other than that, no one else showed up. However, when I started to attend the boys’ games in high school, I took note of the fact that every seat was full. I was genuinely confused by this. They had an overall record of 1-19 by the end of the season while the girls’ team had a record of 18-4. Why were they getting all of the fame when we were having all of the success?

In 2016, there are a plethora of challenges facing professional, college, and high school athletic departments. According to Howard and Crompton (2014) the recession of 2007-2009 had a substantial impact on the sports industry across all levels. Professional sports are challenged with providing affordable tickets to games as “total attendance dropped for three of the four major leagues from 2007 to 2011” (p. 9). The “overall financial state of intercollegiate athletics is grim” as collegiate athletic departments struggle to control soaring cost (p. 55). High school sports are also struggling financially as they attempt to maintain deteriorating facilities, remain observant to Title IX spending requirements, and provide the needed resources,

Sports are something most Americans can relate to; many of us played some type of sport as a kid and some of us are die-hard fans. Sports have developed with us as a society and have become an interwoven piece of our culture and their effects can be seen in many cities countrywide. The facilities where these teams play can become a centerpiece of the local community and the teams themselves can bring people from all walks of life together in search of one mutual goal, for their team to win. The controversy arises when it comes to how many professional stadiums are routinely being funded and whether taxpayers should foot the multi-billion-dollar bill. This has not always been a controversy, however, as prior to 1953 stadiums were largely funded

Ever since its debut by gym teacher Dr. James Naismith in 1891 basketball has become a widely popularized team sport for both men and women across the nation. Though enjoyed by both men and women, women have struggled to attain the same respect in the sport as men, even though the women at the University of California had their first extramural game in 1892. The same trend continues in the NBA, National Basketball Association, and WNBA, Women’s National Basketball. The NBA started 70 years ago in 1946 while the WNBA began 20 years ago in 1996. The NBA continues to gain popularity, while the WNBA struggles to still be known. The WNBA’s ticket prices are a lot less expensive than NBA tickets. The WNBA is still less successful than the NBA because

Schools use their athletes for advertisements in an attempt to increase ticket sales for athletics or to increase enrollment. The NCAA would also use players images in products such as videogames in an effort to make money. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O 'Bannon realized this was not right and in 2014, he filed a lawsuit against the NCAA requesting compensation. John Stevens, an author for the Associated Press, states the details of the case when he says “In a case led by former UCLA basketball star Ed O 'Bannon, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken blocks the NCAA from making rules that deny players the right to compensation when their images are used commercially, for example, in video games and telecasts. Her ruling could allow some players to receive as much as $20,000 when they leave school. The NCAA has appealed.” The NCAA had one simple solution to this problem and that was to remove player images from all commercial use. This has resulted in the cancellation of popular videogames such as ‘NCAA Football’ or ‘NCAA Basketball’ and is also resulted in the removal of names from all NCAA athletic apparel sold to the public such as jerseys. To say that NCAA teams make their schools millions of dollars is an understatement. USA Today and Stanley Eitzen calculated how much money National Basketball League Hall of Fame member and former Georgetown basketball player Patrick Ewing made Georgetown during his college career. The article, titled Slaves of Big-Time College Sports, states “...[A]n analysis of the economic impact of basketball star Patrick Ewing to Georgetown University during his four years there in the early 1980s shows that he brought more than $12,000,000 to the school (a tripling of attendance, increased television revenues, and qualifying for the NCAA tournament each year). Meanwhile, the cost to Georgetown for Ewing 's services totaled $48,600--providing a

Did you know that in March Madness (one of the biggest tournaments for college basketball) that there are over 9 million dollars spent on just betting. No commercials or anything, just betting. College basketball is so much more interesting than NBA basketball, but in the NBA the stadiums are bigger so more people come. People don't realize how lazy players are in the NBA. College basketball is so much more interesting than NBA because they try harder in games, they rebound, which leads to big things, and there has been more money spent on March Madness than any other tournament in college basketball.

The sun illuminates countless all-American names, with the occasional Coke or Papa John’s sponsor signs. The play clock ticks down to zero, and the stadium is finally filled to maximum capacity. Kickoff commences, players scramble across the field, and suddenly the only problems in the world hinge on if the Nike plastered football is past the downs marker. There are the elite suites high above the stadium cloaked in shade, but the majority are cramped and blisteringly hot. We are all united as one, cheering our team to victory, and thriving on the culture that is modern day sports. Every aspect of game day, from the Nike apparel to the intricate regulatory facets within the game itself, developed from influences that existed in the era between

Sports not only create a culture, they also affect culture. With every rise of a culture, new standards are established by individuals within the cultures boundaries. Participants involved with cultural decisions are affected by these established standards. Increasing those who are allowed to participate in sport competitions increase the poll of people who actively participate in the government. Champions make their mark upon the history of their culture and increase their spectators involvement in society. For example, Jackie Robinson, first black athlete to play in Major League Baseball, opened the floodgates to non-racial sports. During this time, America was going through the end of Segregation. Through Jackie Robinson involvement in

From Division I to the pros, there are many great sporting events, but overall one reigns supreme. This is the men's NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) college basketball tournament, which includes a 68 team, single elimination, bracket style battle for the title of National Champion. During this tournament, or so called "March Madness," teams play games throughout the month of March with a "survive and advance strategy." This madness forces teams to leave it all on the line, as they fight for survival one game at to be crowned national champion. "March Madness" is the most exciting, frequent, and interactive sporting event, which makes it the best event in sports.

After the Milan High School victory, eight teams have made it to the Final Four. These teams are Springs Valley High School in 1958, Tell City High School in 1961, Cloverdale High School in 1966, Loogootee High School in 1970 and 1975, Argos High School in 1979, Shenandoah High School in 1981, Southridge High School in 1985, and Whitko High School in 1991 (“One-Class…”). Loogootee’s 1975 team made it to championship game; but, no small, current A or 2A, school won the championship after Milan High School (Johnson). Just as state champions change each year, so does tournament attendance. In 1960, the total series attendance was 1,497,674. By 1997, the tournament attendance dropped to 786,024 (Whitko).

The first level of play is very basic. It is called in-house basketball and is played for as long as a player wants to. This level is made for players who are new to the game or looking to work on some fundamentals. The next level is travel basketball. This level is one level up from in-house and the competition is better. Teams play other teams from all over their area. Teams can even travel to different places in the country to play other teams from that area. The next level of gameplay is high school basketball. Players can play for their high school when they are of age. Whether it is a private school or a public school, most schools have a basketball team. But, most schools have tryouts, and if a player isn 't good enough for the team, they are cut from the team. The next level of play is college basketball. This level of play is almost exactly the same as high school but the competition is better. The last level of play is NBA, or the National Basketball Association. This is the hardest level of play, and the hardest to get to. The NBA is the professional division of basketball and the players get payed millions of dollars to play. These are the different levels of

Sports are a great way to bring a community together. However, sports have more to offer than just being a fun activity and a way to hang with friends. Lewis Lapham is correct in his assertion that sports represents more than trivial games between winners and losers; sports are deceptive and offer the illusion of hope, innocence, as well as lightness triumphing over darkness. H.G. Bissinger shows how these illusions affect a town’s reality in his book Friday Night Lights.

In analyzing Buckingham’s results, it calls out that a little over one in four Springfield residents did not attend a baseball game of any level professionally (Cespedes, 2009). I would have liked to see further questioning on this as to why they feel they have not seen a game. Was it that they didn’t have the funds to pay the minimum of $12 per person to see a Red Sox game, plus the traveling expenses? Was it that they weren’t interested at all? In having a little more in-depth explanation behind this question, would help Buckingham not only achieve the proper marketing for Nor’easters but make his job easier in defining the correct price point for each attendee. I was quite pleased to see that 23% of the responders purchased

For this project a metric would be used to predict who was going to win the 2017 March Madness Tournament. The metric consists of a team’s RPI and two stats that have a strong correlation coefficient to how the teams finished in the 2016 tournament. The Rating Percentage Index (RPI)is a ranking system that is used to determine a team 's rank in the tournament and during the regular season. The two stats had to have a moderate correlation to how the last 16 teams in the 2016 tournament finished. Also a scatter plot was used to display two different stats and how they correlated. Once the two stats were determined each part of the metric(RPI and two stats) have to be weighted by percent. For example, a metric can be RPI times 0.3 + stat1 times 0.3 + stat2 time 0.4. Then the metric is to be used with every team in the 2017 tournament. Now on the 2017 bracket the team with the higher number for the metric should win the game. Lastly do this for every game and a winner will be decided.