Carter Callan

Physics teacher Mr Stevens completes a bracket with his homeroom students as a March Madness tradition.

March is a big month when it comes to the sports world. March signifies the wrap-up of the regular season for the NHL and NBA, but most importantly it is the start of the College Basketball playoffs, better known as March Madness. March Madness is a 68-team tournament with four play-in games that the country gets behind. From filling out brackets to watching sixteen seeds beat one seed it is a whole new level of “madness”.

The tournament creates memories for families while growing up. Some families create bracket challenges to compete against each other while others enjoy watching their favorite team try to survive the strenuous competition. For senior Ashley Skram and her family, March Madness has always been full of good times. “[I enjoy] doing brackets with family… and then sometimes we’ll go up north and rent out a house to watch games all weekend with my extended family,” Skram said.

This year Benilde-St. Margaret’s is starting a new tradition of a schoolwide bracket challenge run by Dennis Draughn. Draughn believes it is his role at BSM to do schoolwide challenges like this to create a sense of community but slight competition. Yes, that does mean there will be prizes but winning the prizes won’t come easy with the competition he is ready to bring. Draughn is keeping his bracket and his predictions top secret for the sake of the competition. “I can’t say that. I’m not gonna tell you because I don’t want to give my pick [away],” Draughn said.

An interesting aspect of the March Madness tournament is how many different people cheer for different teams. The Minnesota Golden Gophers were a common choice to cheer for in the tournament but they did not make it this year. Following cheering for the local team many people cheer for the underdog. Eleven seed Drake Bulldogs are a favorite of Draughn. “I want to see a Cinderella run by Drake… I’m gonna pick them to go deep. Go deep, but I think Drake is gonna surprise a lot of people because they’ve been together for so long, so I think they’re gonna shock everybody,” Draughn said.

From memories of your favorite team winning the national championship on a buzzer-beater or getting upset in the first round, march madness brings emotion to all. Senior Midge Sanderson has had a special spot in her heart for March Madness. “My mom was a cheerleader, one year [Duke] won and it was really exciting. We always watched the videos,” Sanderson said.