With March Madness starting on March 15, Northern Valley Demarest students are looking forward to high-energy games and friendly competition.
Many students create brackets among their friend groups, and in previous years, students became very invested in the outcomes.
Senior Landon Lee expressed that last year, March Madness became quite widespread across the school and brought many people together, even those who weren’t basketball fans.
“Most people I know follow March Madness, even those who don’t watch sports. Last year, there was a bracket with around 60 people. They were mostly seniors and juniors,” Lee said.
Senior Rohan Srinivasan explains how the tournament works.
“March Madness is a tournament of the best 64 teams, and it’s an elimination winner-takes-all tournament,” Srinivasan said.
To ensure the tournament is completed in time, there are constant games, especially at the beginning.
“My favorite part about March Madness is the adrenaline, especially while watching the first two weeks of pure basketball,” Lee said.
As the tournament approaches, Lee is not rooting for a particular team but rather for his predictions to come true.
“I don’t really root for one team. I just hope that my brackets are correct and hope for the underdogs to win,” Lee said.
Srinivasan looks forward to watching Duke University compete and hopes that they will redeem themselves after a disappointing end to their previous tournament.
“I am rooting for Duke because they were really close, but they lost in a freak game last year,” Srinivasan said.
Srinivasan believes that Cameron Boozer, forward for the Blue Devils, is a particularly strong player who will help lead the team throughout the tournament.
“I am excited to watch Cam Boozer because he’s been really good,” Srinivasan said.
Lee agrees, emphasizing that players like Boozer may even end up in the NBA as early as next season.
“I think everyone’s looking forward to watching some of the freshmen play like Cameron Boozer for Duke and Darryn Peterson for Kansas. They’re players who are probably going to move up to the NBA next year,” Lee said.
Besides Duke, Srinivasan anticipates strong performances from a few other schools as well.
“I expect UMich, Duke, and UConn to do well, but I hope UMich loses early. I hope UMich loses because they didn’t accept me, and I’m a little petty,” Srinivasan said.
Senior Jonathan Wong, who is committed to the University of Michigan, disagrees.
“I’m looking forward to watching and rooting for Michigan. I also expect Duke, Arizona, and Kansas to do well,” Wong said.
While all three seniors will be watching the games with different expectations, everyone is ready for unexpected outcomes.
“My favorite part about March Madness is the Cinderella stories and the random star players going crazy. A Cinderella story is when a low-ranked team eats a big superpower in a crazy upset and goes on a little run through the tournament,” Srinivasan said.
Wong agrees, emphasizing that such unanticipated wins are often the highlight of watching March Madness.
“It’s great watching the underdogs upset the favorites to win the game. The unpredictability is what makes March Madness so entertaining,” Wong said.
Although watching games is a notable component of March Madness, Srinivasan explains that competing with friends and family is what makes each win so worthwhile.
“It’s a fun challenge to see who gets the most right. Sometimes people have pots and whoever is the most right wins, but it’s mostly just friendly,” Srinivasan said.
