March Madness Betting
March Madness Betting - History - Strategies - Glossary
March Madness History
March Madness is a popular colloquial term for the annual NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in the United States. The March Madness tournament takes place during March and early April, and the term refers to the frenzy it ignites among sports fans and gamblers. The term March Madness is now used in reference to both the men's and women's tournaments.
"March Madness" was born in Illinois. The annual tournament of high school boys basketball teams, sponsored by the Illinois High School Association, grew from a small invitational affair in 1908 to a statewide institution with over 900 schools competing by the late 1930's. A field of teams known as the "Sweet Sixteen" routinely drew sellout crowds to the University of Illinois' Huff Gymnasium.
H.V. Porter, an official with the Illinois High School Association, coined the term March Madness in 1939 when writing about his state's high school basketball championships. In the 1980s the NCAA began to use the term March Madness to describe its championship tournament. Courts later decided that "March Madness" could not be exclusively protected by either organization as it had entered into "dual-use" to describe both championship events. Today, both the IHSA and NCAA license the term for their respective tournament.
Porter was so impressed by the March Madness phenomenon that he wrote an essay to commemorate it. Entitled "March Madness," it first appeared in the Illinois Interscholastic, the IHSA's magazine, in 1939. The term March Madness struck a chord with newspapermen, who used “March Madness” term throughout their pages. During the tournament's "Golden Era" of the 1940's and 1950's, "March Madness" became the popular name of the event.
In 1963, the March Madness tournament moved to the huge new Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois and fans witnessed the most famous finish in history, when Chicago Carver beat Centralia on a last-second shot by a substitute named Anthony Smedley. "March Madness" grew as well. Beginning in 1973, the IHSA began using the term March Madness officially in its programs and on its merchandise. In 1977, the organization enlisted veteran Chicago sportswriter and Big Ten basketball referee Jim Enright to write the official history of the boys basketball March Madness tournament. The spirit of March Madness has subsequently spread from coast to coast, as other companies and organizations, including state high school associations and manufacturers, have been licensed by the IHSA to use these trademarks.
Today's March Madness is different from the original version. Nowadays an "Elite Eight" of teams advances to the state finals, but there are four tournaments — a Class A (small school) and Class AA (large school) version for both boys and girls, played in Peoria and Normal. "The Happening," a thrilling contest featuring the state's best three-point shooters and dunkers, is now a part of these tournaments as well. And starting in 1996, the "March Madness Experience," an exhibition hall full of fun, games, and good times, has allowed fans of Illinois high school basketball to join in the action.
The popularity of these March Madness events now allows the IHSA to provide more than just good entertainment for March Madness fans. A significant portion of the fees generated from the licensing of the unified marks "March Madness" and "America's Original March Madness" are used to fund college scholarships for Illinois high school boys and girls.
As a tournament ritual, the March Madness winning team cuts down the net at the end of the game. Each player cuts a single strand off of the net for themselves, commemorating their victory at the March Madness.
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