ncaa march madness 2008

History of March MadnessLike many of our modern sporting traditions, the history of March Madness begins at about the turn of the 20th century. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, more people had more time to pursue sports and leisure activities, both participating and watching. The history of March Madness begins in Illinois with a relatively small basketball invitational. The history of March Madness will continue from there into the industry in and of itself that it has become today.


College basketball itself is an important part of the history of March Madness. The first college basketball game took place in Madison Square Gardens where Pittsburgh University and Fordham University played. This first game was televised and the result was that college basketball became almost instantly popular. Both men's and women's teams were popular during this time period. Further, throughout the history of March Madness, there have been many storied teams, for example, the men's UCLA team won ten national titles between 1963-1975. More recently, teams like Duke have become synonymous with March Madness.
The history of March Madness itself does not begin at a college or a university; it begins with a small high school invitational. Back in 1908, the Illinois High School Association began sponsoring a small invitational tournament for area boy's basketball teams. By the late 1930's, more than 900 schools across the state were participating in the tournament. Even then, the "Sweet Sixteen" were selling out crowds at the Huff Gymnasium at the University of Illinois. Keep in mind that the history of March Madness begins well before the age of television, meaning that this phenomena grabbed the people of Illinois almost entirely by word of mouth.
A man named Henry V. Porter was the first person to ever refer to the event as March Madness. He was an executive secretary at the Illinois High School Association who wrote an article for the Illinois Interscholastic, the magazine of the Illinois High School Association, entitled "March Madness." This was written and published in 1939. The term itself, March Madness, is thought to have come from the old English saying, 'Mad as a March Hare.' However, it wasn't until the early 1980's that fans of NCAA basketball began to use the term to describe the playoff series that takes place at the college/university level. Most historians would agree that March Madness was popularized in the college arena by Brent Musburger, a CBS sportscaster who had worked in Chicago for many years prior to joining CBS.
Today, March Madness is an enormous phenomenon. Millions of fans visit their favorite online sportsbook and start their March Madness betting. The absolute thrill of watching your team win combined with the excitement of winning money is an incredible feeling!