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March Madness is considered the best tournament in all sports by millions of fans, and it’s one that we get to enjoy every spring, unlike other popular tournaments like the Euros or World Cup. However, it hasn’t always been the sheer chaos we see today, so we’ve taken a deeper dive into March Madness history and the history of the NCAA Championship in college basketball.
The most synonymous thing with March Madness is the bracket that comes with it, as millions of fans fill them out in hopes of having the first-ever perfect bracket. Of course, the chaos with March Madness makes that all but impossible, but we didn’t always have so many games to predict.
The NCAA Tournament began in 1939, and we had just eight teams make the field. That was the case for the next 12 years until it doubled to 16 total teams. The field would continue to increase until it ultimately led us to the 64-team format that we’re used to today beginning in 1985.
While many fans are familiar with the format, it’s important to remember that we technically have more than 64 teams making the field. In 2001, it was expanded to 65, creating a single extra game in the first round thanks to the incorporation of the Mountain West Conference.
That developed even further into the First Four, which began in 2011.
This four-game set takes place just before what most fans label as the true first round to determine the final four teams to make the NCAA Tournament. This marked a big change in March Madness history.
There are two routes for teams to qualify for March Madness: Automatic Bids and At-Large Bids.
The winners of the 32 NCAA Division I conferences receive an automatic bid, or entry, into March Madness. This includes big conferences like the Big Ten and SEC as well as smaller conferences like Big Sky and SWAC. Win your conference and you get to go to the Big Show in March!
At-Large Bids are when teams are selected for the playoffs by the NCAA Selection Committee. This selection committee is made up of athletic directors and commissioners from various conferences, and they are responsible not only for picking the 36 At-Large Bids but also for seeding the selected 68 teams. At-Large teams must be playing Division I ball and are picked according to their season records, strength of opposition and the quality of their wins and losses.
The 68 teams are usually announced the Sunday before the tournament begins (‘Selection Sunday’), which for the 2025 edition of March Madness will be March 16th. The March Madness tournament itself begins with the ‘First Four’ elimination games on March 18th, 2025.
The bracket itself is undoubtedly the most recognizable aspect of the NCAA Tournament, but with a history that began in 1939, there are still plenty of interesting pieces. One is simply the name ‘March Madness’, which is one that even the most casual of sports fans understand.
Surprisingly enough, it was coined in the same year as the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1939. However, it was used for basketball in general rather than just the epic tournament we associate it with today. That wouldn’t come until 1982 when the famous broadcaster Brent Musberger would use it while covering the NCAA Tournament.
Funnily enough, March Madness only rarely gets wrapped up in March; generally the tournament starts in the middle of March and finishes in April, so as to fit in with the regular season. For example, in 2025 the tournament runs from Sunday March 16th and finishes on April 7th. The 1983 competition was the first to run into April, and since then March Madness has only ever finished in March five times.
Another amazing aspect of the NCAA Tournament that demonstrates just how high-profile of an event it is, is the NCAA Tournament anthem. Just five years after Musberger connected the phrase March Madness to the NCAA Tournament, we would also have One Shining Moment become the anthem after that year’s Super Bowl coverage ran longer than expected and prevented the originally planned first airing.
With such a long and rich history, there is no shortage of records for the NCAA Tournament. From individual performances to programs with the most championships, everything is on the table.
To provide an easy way to absorb some of the most significant records in March Madness history, we’ve shared them in a list below:
Another interesting record is the largest comeback in NCAA Tournament history, which is owned by the Duke Blue Devils after coming back from 22 points over Maryland in 2001. Lastly, one of the most discussed topics of the NCAA Tournament was that a #16 seed had never beaten a #1 seed. However, that has since changed, with the UMBC Golden Retrievers taking down the Virginia Cavaliers in 2018 – arguably the biggest March Madness upset in nearly 80 years.
Mark has been a lifelong fan of all sports, and five years ago turned it into a profession, specializing in the NFL, NHL and MLB. He is a diehard Baltimore Ravens fan and has had his work published in sites such as Sports Illustrated, Pickswise and other top outlets.