By Zach Sturgill

March Madness marks an exciting time for sports fans, and it is right around the corner as millions prepare to fill out brackets and enjoy the chaos both NCAA Tournaments bring.

Students at the University of Maryland are ready to watch the action, including junior engineering major Nimaye Sharma. 

“I fill out a bracket with my friends every year and see who gets the most stuff right,” Sharma said. “I try to watch as many of the games as I can, too, because there’s a lot of exciting moments that can happen.”

Filling out a bracket is what gets many people to tune into the tournament games. Even if fans do not follow college basketball throughout its entire season, making picks for each game leaves many invested.

“I usually don’t follow college basketball until it gets to March Madness,” Sharma said. “Once the tournament starts, though, I always want to see how my picks are doing and follow all the games.”

While March Madness can be thrilling, the men’s and women’s tournaments combined account for 134 games total in just two weeks. This can cause a distraction from homework and studying for students such as sophomore biology major Judah Echefu.

“It can make it a little harder to focus on work when the games are on,” Echefu said. “Especially early in the tournament, one game ends and then another one begins right after, so it’s tough to find a time to lock in on my work.”

It may be a little easier for students to focus on this year’s tournaments, as the Maryland men’s basketball team will miss the tournament after losing in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament against Iowa on March 11.

“I was really invested last year since both our men’s and women’s teams had high seeds,” Echefu said. “This year I won’t be as invested in the men’s tournament since UMD won’t be in it.”

While the men’s team did not make the tournament this year, the women’s team earned the fifth seed in Region 1 after their shocking loss to Oregon in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on March 5.

Games will begin on March 17 for the men and March 18 for the women.

Featured Image: A wall graphic inside the University of Maryland’s student union displays the collegiate logos that define a previous version of the Big Ten. Photo by Miller Rogers-Tetrick