Although the world of sports has been turned on its head by the pandemic, beloved traditions like March Madness have endured. 

After Selection Sunday March 14, U-High basketball lovers are setting up their brackets and getting ready for this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

The tournament has not gone untouched by the pandemic. The Virginia Cavaliers and the Kansas Jayhawks, despite being selected for the tournament, have recently dropped out of their conference tournaments due to COVID-19 positive tests, meaning it is unclear whether they will participate in the tournament. If they are unable to administer seven consecutive negative tests, they will be replaced by pre-determined replacement teams on standby.

Yet, fans are still excited to make their predictions and place their bets on this year’s NCAA tournament. 

“The tournament itself is going to be unique, given the fact that we’re all sort of in lockdown, there won’t be fans for the first time in history, it’s all gonna be hosted in Indiana, which is sort of an odd state to select,” senior Ben Meyer said. “It’s gonna be a good time.”

P.E. teacher Michael Moses has participated in March Madness since he was in college, but in recent years he’s been a part of a March Madness group that was created by staff at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

“I don’t like to go with what the so-called experts are saying, because they always seem to be wrong,” Mr. Moses said. 

According to Mr. Moses, picking both teams who have been playing strong seasons alongside a few “dark horses,” or less-than-obvious choices is key to filling out a successful bracket.

Ben said that luck is the key to successful predictions, rather than strategy.

“Folks can research the tournament pool as much as they want, but at the end of the day, it’s been shown that it’s completely random,” Ben said. “Nobody has ever filled out […] the perfect bracket, but those who have come closest tend to be folks who know nothing about the sport and just sort of randomly pick schools based on a whim.”

Participating in March Madness is just as much about connecting with other fans as it is about following the NCAA tournament. Junior Tyler Turek and his friends use the app ESPN Tournament Challenge to follow each other’s brackets and keep in touch.

“And it’s kind of a bonding event and [we can] see and compare how each of these brackets are doing,” Tyler said. “And sometimes we’ll probably be able to watch the games together, which would be nice.”