Wake up, get your brackets out and breathe the fresh March Madness air. It’s going to be a good month of college basketball.
This is the moment NCAA officials, players and sponsors have been waiting for all year.
The championship series has come into fruition yet again, as the best teams compete against the not-so-great ones in the first round. And, San Jose locals have the chance to watch it in person.
The SAP Center will host the first two rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Friday and Sunday. Friday’s games include No. 13 UC Irvine vs. No. 4 Kansas State, No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 12 Liberty vs. No. 5 Mississippi State.
Tickets for all games at the SAP Center are currently on sale, with nosebleed seats going for at least $50 on Ticketmaster, as of Tuesday.
Unfortunately, San Jose State’s men’s basketball team did not qualify for the event, making it the 23rd consecutive year it has failed to do so.
But that does not mean SJSU basketball fans have to miss out on live first and second round March Madness action.
A key player who’s bound to make headlines this weekend is Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ.
Happ is averaging 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, and made history this season for being 1 of 6 players in NCAA history to record 2,000 points, 1,000 boards and 400 assists.
Happ will face off against Oregon guard Payton Pritchard who is averaging 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
A big question a lot of NCAA basketball fans have, is if acclaimed NBA prospect Zion Williamson from Duke will be playing in the tournament. The answer to that is more than likely.
Williamson has already paved the way to an ACC championship which helped Duke secure a first-seed bracket position.
Duke as it stands is a notable favorite to win it all given that barring any major snub two All-Americans with Williamson and Barrett.
Other notable players poised to make a deep run to solidify NBA draft spots are guard Ja Morant of Murray State, forward Grant Williams of University of Tennessee and guard RJ Barrett of Duke University.
Morant currently leads the NCAA in assists per game with 10 including his solid 24.6 points per game, which is good enough for eighth on the scoring chart.
Williams is hoping to lead Tennessee to its first ever Final Four appearance, but really its first ever national championship.
There is a lot of major talent on display this year. That talent will certainly make the famous formula of March Madness spectacularly exciting. The “one loss and you’re out” playoff leads to ultra exciting games after all.
It should also garner another multi-million dollar cash influx for the NCAA. The national event ranks second in revenue behind the NFL playoffs, raking in more than $1.32 billion.
That is a nice chunk of change for the NCAA, an organization that can, at the very least, be praised for its marketing prowess.
Who will this year’s champion be? Who will calculate or guess the perfect bracket? Which team will inevitably become this year’s underdog we all root for that will inevitably lose in the Sweet 16?
It is a time for NBA prospects to prove they have what it takes to make it at the next level. Will they shine and lead their teams to victory or crumble underneath tremendous pressure?
All these questions are what make March Madness so great.
This year’s March Madness should prove to be one of the best in years, with the skill on display being far higher than the recent past.
