March Madness - what's it all about?!

March Madness has begun which might seem strange given we’re closer to the end of the third month of the year than the beginning but what I’m referring to is USA’s NCAA college basketball tournament.

It’s such an exciting tournament. There are upsets, stars emerge, the talented wow you and it draws crowds. Women’s college basketball is arguably more popular than men’s. Read that again. Isn’t that cool?

If you’re still a little unsure, then rest assured that I was last year too. I was lucky enough to have been to see the pro men play - we follow the Sacramento Kings - and had even witnessed the great LA Lakers star Lebron James in action. But as a European, I didn’t know what was going on in this ‘March Madness’ malarky: there was talk of ‘brackets’ and upsets, and a few women’s names kept cropping up. They’re pretty famous over here now so more on them later. But for those of you not familiar with this tournament, let me explain.

March Madness Explainer

NCAA stands for National College Athletic Association and so the tournament is for college or university teams. Don’t forget that college sports are HUGE in the US - they’re regularly televised and they’re the major way into professional sport.

The tournament is like any other; it’s not complicated. It’s a knock-out tournament so every game is important. As it’s not a group or pool-based competition like, say the football/soccer World Cup, upsets are all the more exciting (or devastating, depending on your POV).

However, basketball fans are whipped into a frenzy by the talk of brackets and ‘picking your bracket’. Brackets are talked about by commentators, on sports shows and even used in advertising campaigns. Last year I thought this was some special jargon, but it just means your predictions of who’s going to win each game, leading to your prediction of who’s going to win overall. There’s an app where you can pick your winners and losers and track how your bracket is progressing.

Whilst many women have brought the game to this stage over the years, there are a few who really are the shooting stars.

Players to watch

If you know your stuff then you’ll likely pick Iowa, LSU and USC to win their games and here’s why.

Caitlin Clark - University of Iowa

In 2024, there is added excitement around the women’s March Madness because of Caitlin Clark - I mean, I could write a whole blog on her but let’s just cover the basics. They’re impressive.

Caitlin Clark is a senior at Iowa State University and a record breaker with their Hawkeyes team. Aged 22, she has broken the record of points scored by both men and women in NCAA basketball. She is fiercely competitive, growing up playing with first her brothers and then on a boys’ team, achieving MVP (most valued player) on said team. She sells out stadia. She is a role model to young girls. She has advertising contracts with brands like Nike and Gatorade. A photo of her for this blog was super expensive. She is a scoring machine and fun to watch.

There’s more on Clark here in this great podcast.

Angel Reese - Louisiana State University

Angel Reese is one to watch at LSU, especially as they won the tournament in 2023, beating Caitlin Clark’s team in the final. Angel was voted MOP - most outstanding player - of the final tour but she wasn’t without some controversy.

Angel and Caitlin took part in ‘trash talk’ on court with some ‘taunting’ hand gestures so much so that it was widely covered in the media. Angel received more criticism than Caitlin for this behaviour which led to accusations of racism. She is a fierce competitor, cheered on by LSU’s larger-than-life coach Kim Mulkey.

Kamilla Cardoso - University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina boasts Brazilian Kamilla Cardoso, although sadly not in the first game. Due to an ejection in her last game for fighting, she will have to wait before stepping onto the court with her teammate Gamecocks.

Cardoso is 6ft 7 and highly regarded, playing internationally for Brazil as well as being in demand amongst colleges in the US. Her coach at USC is legendary US Olympic basketball athlete Dawn Staley who has just been named National Coach of the Year by USBWA, was pictured with vice-president Kamala Harris and famously wears a t-shirt emblazoned with ‘People Watch Women’s Sports’ . It’s no wonder that this team has gone undefeated and is one to watch during March Madness.

These three players are amazing role models - let’s hope we see them make it into the professional arena in the WNBA.

How to watch it

If you don’t live in the US then you can stream it on YouTube or catch up there if time zones don’t work for you.

Get involved and share with us who you want to win!