The annual March Madness Tournaments held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ended for men April 8 and women April 7, crowning the University of Connecticut (UConn) and University of South Carolina (UofSC) as champions, respectively.
The men’s March Madness final game was a tough matchup between UConn and Purdue University, ending with a score of 75-60, UConn winning. The game was very close in the first half with neither team straying too far from the other’s points, but by the second half Purdue lost their momentum and UConn took on a more massive lead.
Purdue’s success in the tournament was pretty surprising to many fans because of their lackluster performances in the previous years. Most notably, Purdue’s loss in the first round of the 2023 March Madness to the last seed in their region.
The men’s tournament saw two number one seed teams in their Final Four, UConn and
Purdue, both of which were in their championship game. The other two schools, Alabama University and North Carolina State University (NCST) were fourth and eleventh seeds in their regions. First seed in the West (University of North Carolina) and first seed in the South (University of Houston) did not make it as far, as they both lost in the Elite Eight.
For the women’s tournament, UofSC was widely favored to win as they had an undefeated season and a much better record than the teams on their side of the bracket. However, Iowa’s side was more unpredictable with the competition of similar level teams. They beat the reigning champions and number three seed Louisiana State University (LSU) in the Elite Eight, and then the number one seed team UConn in the Final Four. The recognition for making it to the championship, despite the tough games ahead of them, went to Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark.
Clark’s in-game statistics has been acknowledged as the reason for this year’s NCAA tournament receiving 18.7 million viewers, the highest-watched women’s game in history.
Clark also joined the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft shortly after the March Madness tournament ended. She was first pick in the draft and was chosen to join the Indiana Fever. Astonishingly to many though, her contract detailed a $76,000 salary, a fraction compared to the men’s first pick contract usually offering $10 million. Although the overall reaction was surprise, some people qualified her pay by saying that the WNBA doesn’t generate nearly enough revenue to pay Clark as much as the NBA.
A notable mention in the NCAA men’s Purdue versus UConn game was center Zach Edey’s performance. Even though his team lost the game, Edey put up 37 out of Purdue’s 60 points.
With Purdue’s loss, UConn has gained their second consecutive NCAA March Madness title and their sixth overall. This was also the second consecutive time Iowa qualified and played in the NCAA championship, yet didn’t win the title. The face of their team, Caitlin Clark, will be entering the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft of 2024.