As the Nauset Ball tournament comes and goes AHS can get riled up for another major tournament: March Madness. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament that crowns the national champion is right around the corner. Last year 7th seeded Connecticut beat number 8^th seeded Kentucky in the National Championship game, held in Arlington, Texas. However, it’s a new year and every team that makes the tournament has a shot of winning.

The 68 teams participating will be made official on March 15^th. Once all the teams are chosen the tournament will then span for a total of three weeks. The first two rounds will be played from March 17^th to March 23^rd, and the championship game will be on April 6^th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The tournament is named March Madness for a reason. Nobody knows what will happen, and this year is no different, as no doubt, rounds will be filled with multiple upsets and Cinderella stories. However, don’t get to crazy knowing that a 16-seed has yet to overcome a No. 1 seed in the history of tournament play. Before last season’s tournament it was calculated that the odds of filling out a perfect bracket are 1 in 772 billion. However, there were more than 3 million people who filled out brackets on ESPN last season, hoping that theirs would be perfect.

As the regular season comes to a close, it appears as though one team is superior to the rest: The Kentucky Wildcats, last season’s runner-up, is undefeated thus far. The Wildcats only have one tough game remaining on their schedule when they have to play Arkansas on February 28^th. Other possible No 1 seeds who have had a great season thus far include: Virginia, Duke, Villanova, Gonzaga, and Wisconsin. Some teams are fighting for a No one seed in the tournament, while others are just trying to make it in as a 16 seed. Schools that people don’t automatically know or think about, such as Texas Southern, Massachusetts Lowell, and South Dakota, are looking to sneak into the tournament as a 15or 16-seed and make history.

My favorite part of the tournament is that players and teams you’ve never heard of make a splash and become overnight sensations. Last season Connecticut leaned heavily on now-NBA rookie Shabazz Napier during their championship run. He put on a show every night and become a fan favorite across America. In the 2014 tournament, 11^th seeded Dayton was the Cinderella story as they made it to the Elite Eight and beat teams that many thought had a shot of winning it all. Though small schools and players are fun to follow, the big name players are also looking to make a statement. Duke’s freshman sensation Jahlil Okafor will look to impress and leave his mark on this year’s tournament.

Nobody knows exactly how the tournament will unfold this year, but it will definitely be exciting from the first round to the national championship game. The storylines for this upcoming tournament are unlike any other: can a team go undefeated, will the freshman players steal the spotlight, or will an overlooked team make a splash. Teams and players will either flourish in the bright spotlight, or sizzle out. I am certainly looking forward to all the madness that March holds for us this year.