Even though it’s April now, ‘March Madness’ is continuing in the U.S. as the top teams in college basketball compete for a coveted national championship. Here’s what you need to know.
What is ‘March Madness’?
March Madness is an annual U.S. college basketball tournament held to decide the men’s and women’s national champions. Both tournaments begin with 68 teams, whittled down over seven rounds to the best college basketball team in the country. In every match, teams face the prospect of being eliminated or advancing to the next round.
The Round of 16 is called the Sweet 16, the quarter-finals are called the Elite Eight, and the semi-finals are called the Final Four.
The men’s tournament has been played since 1939. The women’s tournament has been played since 1982.
Every year, pundits around the world attempt to build a perfect bracket by picking the winners of every match before the tournament begins. It’s such a big deal that billionaire investor Warren Buffett awarded an employee at his company a $US1 million prize for correctly guessing 31 of the 32 results in the second round this year. Buffett had run the competition for 10 years without a winner.
2025 men’s tournament
The men’s tournament is down to a Final Four of Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston. All four universities were the number one seeds in their respective regions. In the 45 years that the tournament has been seeded, it’s just the second time that all four top seeds have made the Final Four (the first was 2008).
The first final four match at 8:00am on Sunday (AEDT) is between two universities in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Auburn and Florida. It marks the first time two SEC schools have played each other in the final four.
The last time these two teams met, in February, Florida won 90-81. Auburn is the tournament’s overall number one seed and is chasing its first national championship. Florida has won two national championships, winning back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
Then, at 10:50am (AEDT), Duke and Houston will play for a spot in the national championship match. Duke is in the Final Four for the 18th time and has won five national championships. Its side is led by men’s basketball’s number one collegiate prospect, Cooper Flagg.
Despite making the final four six times before, Houston has never won a national championship. Houston is currently on a 17-game winning streak.
2025 women’s tournament
The final four for the women’s tournament are UCLA, Texas, South Carolina, and the University of Connecticut (UConn). UConn, the number two seed in its quarter of the bracket, is the only team in the final four that did not enter the championship as a number one seed.
UConn is led by women’s college basketball’s top professional prospect, Paige Bueckers.
On Saturday at 10:00am (AEDT), South Carolina will play Texas. South Carolina is in the final four for the fifth straight year and is the defending national champion. Texas is returning to the final four for the first time since 2003, but isn’t favoured to beat its SEC rival.
The two sides have met three times this season, with South Carolina winning two of the matches.
Then, at 12:00pm, UCLA and UConn will face off. Historically, UConn is the most successful team in women’s college basketball with 11 national championships. UConn is led by Paige Bueckers, the likely number one pick in next month’s WNBA draft. UCLA is the number one seed overall and is playing in its first final four.
