Madness Takes Over Des Moines

March madness consists of a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams that compete in seven rounds for the national championship. The first men’s tournament known as March Madness was held in 1939. The NCAA tournament gradually began to draw top teams and more television attention over the next two decades. The first women’s tournament was a 32-team event held in 1982. March Madness is a yearly event that people all across America look forward to each year. It so happens that this year the first two rounds of the playoffs are happening in Des Moines-in the Wells Fargo Arena.

The first round of the championships takes place on Sunday, March 12. When I ask some of the students who some of the teams they were cheering for and some things they are excited to see doing the game. Lauren Nidey said “I’m cheering for Creighton because they are closest to us and they are like the underdogs,” many students are not happy most of the teams of Iowa are already out of the race but instead of not cheering they decide to cheer on the teams closest to Iowa. Gentry Williams said “all the teams I wanted to win were eliminated so I’m cheering for Creighton because they are close to Iowa. Many are also just waiting for the outcome of the finals. Maddie Kinney said “I was only cheering for Drake and Iowa because they are local teams but they both ended up losing in the final round, so I’m cheering on the winning game Houston. Can’t wait to see how the games end.