We are asking you to watch 3+ games of the NCAA tournament closely. Any round, any game. Please keep track of your games viewed.
- What game did you watch? What was the outcome? Were you surprised? Why did you select this game to watch?
If you filled out a bracket, how was your viewing impacted by having filled out a bracket?
If you DID NOT fill out a bracket, what were your impressions of the game? Without the bracket, what was your investment level? Are you a fan of the teams playing?
I made a bracket for this class’ competition, and watched three of the first round games: UVA vs UNC Wilmington, Notre Dame vs Princeton, and Butler, vs Winthrop. Having a March Madness Bracket significantly affects the way I watch these games. Because I am betting on one team or another to win the game, I am rooting for that team. Whereas without a bracket, I care much less who wins. Additionally, with a bracket, I am much more motivated to watch games with teams I don’t know. If it were not for March Madness, I would not care much for Butler or Winthrop. Lastly, having a bracket changes the way I understand March Madness. If I were just turning on the TV and seeing who’s playing, I would have less understanding of the tournament as a whole. Because I get to see who won each game and the potential match ups in the following rounds, I understand the tournament better.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness brings great entertainment and basketball games to us the viewers. I watched many of the games this year including Princeton vs Noter Dame. Noter Dame squeezed out a victory with a final score of 60-58. I watched this game because my Grampa went to Princeton and played basketball when he was there. It was a great game that came down to the last shot that Princeton missed. I also watched Villanova vs Wisconsin. Wisconsin won by a score of 65-62. I was not surprised by this outcome because It is almost impossible to win back to back championship. My bracket has been nothing but a bust this year. When viewing games while having a bracket on the line it makes every possession so intense. You watch the game through a different perspective when having a bracket. March Madness has been nothing but exceptional this year. I cant wait for the championship game tonight between UNC and Gonzaga!!
ReplyDeleteThe 3 first games I watched were Notre Dame vs. Princeton, Vanderbilt vs. Northwestern, and Xavier vs. Maryland. I picked these games as they were all key matchups or upset picks I had made in my bracket, so they were important to my bracket's success. I got Notre Dame and Xavier correct, but was incorrect by picking Vanderbilt. I was surprised by how good Xavier was after losing their point guard and struggling after, but they made a nice run in the tournament. Making a bracket makes seemingly meaningless games important to the viewer and their pride, basketball knowledge, and money are on the line. I was far more nervous during certain games as I still had the chance to win my groups, but after a couple of key losses I started to watch more for enjoyment rather than personal gain.
ReplyDeleteThree games I watched were UCLA vs Kent State, Michigan vs. Oregon, UCLA vs. Kentucky. In these games UCLA beat Kent, Oregon beat Michigan, and Kentucky beat UCLA. In my bracket I got the first game right and the last two wrong. I wasn't surprised by the scores because anything can happen in the tournament and its a toss up when two good teams play each other. I selected to watch these games because they were key for my bracket, I had UCLA winning it all and Michigan going to the final four. Filling out a bracket impacted my viewing experience immensely. I would watch smaller games because I had put something on the line betting on one of the teams. And in the bigger games I couldn't look away because one shot could bust or help my bracket as the tournament progressed.
ReplyDeleteI did not fill out a March Madness bracket this year. The probability of actually winning anything from the bracket is incredibly low, so it did not seem like a worthwhile venture. I did watch several games though. I watched the Purdue vs. Kansas game, Michigan vs. Oklahoma State game, and the Princeton vs. Notre Dame game. I did not really have any particular reason for watching these games, I just watched the games that were on at the time I was watching tv.
ReplyDeleteI typically don't make brackets for March Madness because I am not really a big fan of basketball. But making a bracket makes college basketball much more interesting to watch. After watching a few college basketball games I learned that anything can happen in March Madness. Even without having much knowledge about college basketball I still managed to have decent bracket in this league. Every year in March Madness there are always upsets that ruins most people brackets. For me, I had Villanova going all of the way. Having that bracket made watching that game more intense because I wanted Villanova to win. Having a bracket has definitely impacted my viewing experience because I was a lot more into it than I have been in the past.
ReplyDeleteIn previous years I had never payed that much attention to March Madness, aside from a few of the very hyped up games. This year I had a bracket with my family as a competition. The three games I watched were UCLA vs. Kentucky, Gonzaga vs. W. Virginia and South Carolina vs. Baylor. UCLA vs. Kentucky was a close game and exciting to watch and I picked UCLA to win, so when they lost it was upsetting to see. Gonzaga and West Virginia was another close win but exciting to see the team I picked win. It was cool to watch the entire game and also notice the crowd reactions that made it very exciting. I picked to watch South Carolina vs. Baylor because of how well they were doing even as a #7 seed and Baylor was #3. That game was very surprising because of how far ahead South Carolina got. Filling out a bracket made me want to watch these games because I was actually curious to see how teams I had picked to win or go far in the tournament were doing. It also allowed me to have more passion and care about what was going on in the game rather than not paying much attention to the score or who was actually winning.
ReplyDelete3 of the March Madness basketball games that I watched were Michigan vs Louisville, Wisconsin vs Villanova, and Oregon vs Kansas. All three games were the most crucial picks that I got right because a lot of people went for the higher seed on those picks. I picked Oregon to go to the final four even though they lost a key player to their lineup. With Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks with 27 and 17 points in that game, they were able to defeat a very formidable Kansas team with 3 potential 1st round draft picks. After seeing how Michigan, who was an 8 seed for the Big 10 win their conference tournament, I knew that they would make a deep run in the tournament which would result to them taking down Louisville in the second round. The Wisconsin game was my boldest choice by far. Having Wisconsin beat the team that won the tournament last year and have an even better season this year, was a gutsy move. My reasoning for doing that was that Wisconsin has a lot of experience from seniors Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. As a 7 seed last year, Wisconsin went to the sweet 16. So it just seemed possible that they could do it again as an 8 seed.
ReplyDeleteOut of the many march madness games that I watched this march, I will be focusing on is Gonzaga versus West Virginia, Oregon versus Kansas, and lastly, Oregon versus University of North Carolina. Gonzaga versus West Virginia was a ginormous game because the two were elite teams that were being tested to see what kind of caliber they had. It was the sweet sixteen, so the implications were also substantial. In what was an immensely intense game filled with leads going back and forth, Gonzaga came out on top by 3 points. West Virginia's three pointer's and full court press, known as press Virginia, were practically impeccable, but Gonzaga's momentum and unprecedented height prevailed. I wasn't surprised, as it could've gone either way. Oregon versus Kansas was another intriguing game that meant a lot to me, since I'm an avid Oregon fan. Kansas had a formidable team with Frank Mason III and an impressive record of 31,4, but Oregon's Dillon Brooks dominated the game with 17 shots, and Tyler Dorsey's even more impressive 27 points. Dorsey managed to keep the ducks in a fairly large lead with his outstanding shooting, which sometimes came from 4-5 feet from the point line. I also had Oregon winning it all, so this was a huge game for my pride and bracket. In the last game, Oregon versus UNC, the ducks came up short, but the logistics of height and injuries cannot be overlooked. The final score was 77-76, and the ducks missed a potential buzzer beater by not boxing out on the last free throw. Dylan Ennis came up big with 18 points, and Tyler Dorsey finished with 21. I wasn't surprised, moreover, I was more shocked by how close we came to advancing to the championship. I was temporarily sad because I invested so much time and emotion into the Oregon duck season and march madness brackets. Although I didn't win any of my brackets, I still had a lot of fun competing.
ReplyDeleteI watched many games over the course of this March Madness tournament this year. The game that I was most invested in was obviously the National Championship. I wanted to focus on the game with highest stakes and the highest level of competition so a battle between two powerhouse number 1 seeds seemed to be the perfect game. Overall, I found the game to be quite boring and anticlimactic. The officiating was quite poor with far too many fouls being called. This slowed down the pace of the game to a painful level which in my opinion actually made the game far less enjoyable. Also, the game ended in a very strange way. When it seemed like Gonzaga had a great chance to win, a player slipped not even giving a chance for the epic game ending like we saw last year. Just a bad ending. This game was not impacted by my filling out of a bracket but the entire tournament as a whole seemed much more interesting due to the fact that I had a bracket filled out. The best part of filling out a bracket is that it allows every game to have value. It gives you someone to root for in a game that would otherwise have no meaning to you. That is the beauty of the bracket.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, I have never had much interest in March Madness, or an incentive to watch it, as my family has never really followed basketball. This said, this year was the first year I have ever followed any games. I watched the Gonzaga v. South Carolina game, the Oregon v. UNC game, and the UNC v. Gonzaga game. While I didn’t fill out a bracket for this year’s March Madness, I picked these games due to the level of hype leading up to them. In the South Carolina v. Gonzaga game, I was under the impression that Gonzaga was and has been the underdog for basketball for a long time. A lot of the banter between fans played off of the “unknown-ness” of Gonzaga and their team, especially their name. While it was a close game of Gonzaga winning 77-73, I wasn’t necessarily surprised at the result just based off of the fact that I have no prior knowledge on either of the teams. For the UNC v. Oregon game, UNC won 77-76 to Oregon. Having known that UNC was up against Villanova in the finals last year, I was not necessarily surprised that they won and was kind of expecting them to do so, and was more surprised at how close the game was. As for the Gonzaga v. UNC game, I definitely going into it expected UNC to win, but as the game went on I started to think that Gonzaga might win, as they kept getting a lead on UNC. The final outcome was a win for UNC with a score of 71-65. Where brackets are concerned, I didn’t fill one out nor have I ever filled out a bracket, and so my investment level in the games were only controlled by the hype and excitement leading up to them created by actual fans of the teams. Being unaffiliated with any of the teams led me to not really care about the results and just enjoy the games.
ReplyDeleteI did not fill out a bracket, because I hate basketball. since I was required to watch some games, I did. I watched 3 games. The first game was the UCONN Women's team v.s. Mississippi State Women's team. UCONN lost for the first time in years. I was shocked. You could tell that UCONN was struggling and as they were being pressured more and more, they couldn't handle it. They were too tensed up and as a result, shots were missed and mistakes were made. I knew this was going to be an interesting game to watch, as the UCONN Women always have high expectations. Something caught my eye though. I decided to focus on how the media would treat the women on both teams. I immediately noticed that the announcers and media were more focused on football player Dak Prescott's reaction rather than one of the best basketball games seen in a long time. After every single play they would cut back to Dak to see his reaction and I found it incredibly disrespectful. The next game I watched was South Carolina v.s. Gonzaga. South Carolina lost. I had recently visited the University of South Carolina, so I decided to see how they were doing. I immediately noticed the style of play change from the men to the women. I actually like the women style better. They don't fall down and cry as much as the men and the women are just more exciting to watch. Finally, I watched the championship game between North Carolina and Gonzaga. North Carolina won. I thought that watching this game would be exciting because, well, it's the championship game. In the end, all I could think about was how much I hate basketball. It was more exciting than an NBA game, but the players are always falling down for no reason and they're all so full of themselves. After watching these three games I've actually found that women's basketball is much more fun than men's basketball, and that men's basketball continues to be a very self driven sport.
ReplyDeleteI watched as many March Madness games as I could this year. I was really into it and I watched a lot but the three games I focused on was Michigan vs Louisville, Gonzaga vs Northwestern, and of course the national championship with UNC vs Gonzaga. Having a bracket definitely affected the way I watched the games and my interest in each game. I think this is because even if I didn't care normally about either team playing, I still have one of them I need to win or lose and it gets me a lot more invested and excited to watch a game I normally wouldn't care about. The outcomes of all these games didn't surprise me because I made the right call of all three winners of these three games. I wanted to watch these games because they seemed like very exciting match ups. I had done research before March Madness had started and I called these game right and that got me very excited and into the rest of the tournament. Unfortunately my bracket tanked after duke and Michigan losing, however I still really enjoyed it and did call UNC to win it all.
ReplyDeleteI watched the finals, Florida vs. Wisconsin and South Carolina vs. Duke. These were probably the three best games of the entire tournament. The Wisconsin game was the only game to go into OT, South Carolina was a huge upset and the finals was the finals. By making the bracket I think my viewing experience was a lot different. I had UCLA winning it all so I was following their games and region of the bracket. I stopped following the tournament so closely when my team lost because I didn't have a personal connection to the games any more. I only really cared because of the money that I had bet for one of my brackets, and once that money disappeared I still watched the games but not with any intensity. I think this is why the bracket is good and bad because for people who don't normally watch basketball they might choose a team in a bracket and follow them throughout the tournament. Although their team might also lose very early on and that would kill their viewership for the rest of the tournament.
ReplyDeleteThree games watched: 1st Rd.—Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt (Northwestern win), Elite 8—North Carolina vs. Kentucky (UNC win), National Championship—North Carolina vs. Gonzaga (UNC win)
ReplyDeleteWhile I watched a multitude of NCAA tournament games, I selected these three because they each presented a different storyline. The NU vs. Vandy game was one of the more intriguing first round matchups, a toss-up game between eight and nine seeds. The headlines heading into the tournament centered around the Wildcats, who were making their first tournament appearance in history. I enjoyed the raw emotion of the fans in purple, as they made the trip to cheer on their team. North Carolina versus Kentucky speaks for itself—a battle of two blueblood programs stocked with NBA bound players with a trip to the Final Four on the line, and a game winning shot with less than a second to go. What's better than that? And finally, the National Championship, where UNC exacted its revenge and finally claimed the national title after falling to Villanova in heartbreaking fashion in 2016. I filled out a few brackets, but what I've noticed after filling out brackets for 10 years, it doesn't matter who you pick. This year, just like every other year—despite my painstaking research and after watching game after game—my bracket was busted after the first weekend. And honestly, it's better that way. I can sit back and enjoy great games, rather than being terrified my picks and pool hopes are about to be shattered.
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ReplyDeleteThree games watched: 1st Rd.—Xavier vs. Maryland (Xavier win), Round of 32— South Carolina vs. Duke (South Carolina Win), National Championship—North Carolina vs. Gonzaga (UNC win)
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely obsessed once again by march madness. Every year I dial into every game I can watch. I love the tournament because it does not matter how well you did in the regular season, every team has a chance to win on any given day. Once you make the tournament you have the opportunity to beat the best team even as a number 16 seed. These games stuck out the most to me because you saw magic happening. March is a magical month for basketball and you can see it in the games first hand. The number 11 seed Xavier topped off Maryland who was slightly favored and then went on to the sweet sixteen. The South Carolina Vs Duke game I thought was going to be a blowout. Prior to the game I did some research on South Carolina and found out that they had a stellar defense so I was very worried because I put Duke winning in my bracket. Little do you know that South Carolina stripped Duke of their final four chances, and went on to make a magical run. This game was a back and forth game until the second half when South Carolina pulled away. There tenacity, and hustle showed in this game. Although they were not as skilled as Duke, they played with more hustle and heart. I love watching basketball in its purest form when you can honestly witness real defense, unlike the NBA. And lastly North Carolina Vs Gonzaga game for the national championship was a back and forth game with a lot of momentum on both sides at different parts of the game. You could witness the raw emotions of the fans, and the players on the sideline. Coming into the game everyone knows that Villanova hit a buzzer beater to win the national championship last season against UNC. I loved this game because I put UNC as my champion in my bracket, and in my Econ bracket with Mr Coyne. It would of been horrible to be the first team ever to go back to back and lose both times. I knew North Carolina would play with heart and get a championship back to Chapel Hill. I filled out a few brackets, but what I realized is that it actually is impossible to predict what is going to happen. I filled out 3 brackets and in the first weekend two of them busted. It is heartbreaking because I put a lot of research into my picks, but on the bright side I got to enjoy games and did not worry about what would happen to my bracket. March madness did not disappoint this year. I thought that this year was the best march madness in the previous three years because there were a lot of underdog teams who made it way farther than they were supposed to.
As usual, my interest in march madness was intense, and I watched all of the games that I could. Three games that I really enjoyed (either for good or bad) though, were Vanderbilt - Northwestern, Duke - South Carolina, and the National Championship game, North Carolina - Gonzaga. The first game I watched was Vandy - Northwestern. Now, going into the tournament, I had foiled a lot with this game, as I saw Northwestern as a potential cinderella story, however, Vandy became favorites as game time got closer, and I did a last minute switch over to the Commodores. The game was very close throughout with smart plays (foreshadow) and solid pace. And then it happened. A game that should have been a battle of the GPAs became me wanting to put my foot through the TV for ultimate stupidity. Vandy blew the game in one of the most shockingly silly plays ever. Vandy fouled Northwestern with NO FOULS TO GIVE and up 1. Northwestern hit their shots and subsequently won the game. This was my first bracket hit (the first of many). The second game I thoroughly "enjoyed" watching was Duke - South Carolina. The Gamecocks hadn't been in the tourney in well over a decade, and were looking to make a run in the tournament. Meanwhile Duke, the team that I picked to win it all, looked pretty freakin good and were looking to shrug off their competition. Unfortunately, as we know, March is never a simple month in college basketball. Duke fell behind early, and every time it seemed they would come back and take the lead, they screwed up and fell behind some more. In the end I could only watch as my bracket spontaneously combusted with another Duke heartbreaker. The final game I watched (albeit with little bias as my bracket was gone by then), was the championship game between the tar heels and zags. The game was great, and the finish was quite exciting, but the zags didn't play as well as they would have liked, as Zach Collins got into foul trouble early. Overall, North Carolina looked the better team, and deservedly came away with a victory and a national championship. Filling out multiple brackets definitely affected the way I watched march madness as it forced me to root for a team, rather than simply enjoy the game overall.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the March Madness, I tried to watch as many games as possible and view the thrilling upsets. The main three that I remember watching is the championship game, Gonzaga vs UNC, UNC vs Kentucky, and Michigan vs Louisville. In the Michigan vs Louisville game, Michigan was the underdog and upset the two seed, winning by four points with a huge comeback, sealing the deal with a block. With the same outcome of a block determining the final shot was the championship game where UNC's Meek blocked Gonzaga, Barry getting the loose ball and passing to Jackson with a dunk that ensured the victory. Also, in UNC's previous game against Oregon, it was an eight point game throughout the second half, but UNC played as if they were up by thirty, almost allowing Oregon to comeback, but Maye hit the game winning jump shot to send them to the 'ship. In march madness, every games outcome is a surprise except for the one versus sixteen seed, but every other game can be an upset. Wisconsin beat Villanova, Duke lost to South Carolina, Michigan beat Louisville, and Xavier made it to the elite eight which busted everyone's perfect bracket. Every game, every basket counts from the jump ball to the final whistle, every free throw or lay up, any team can come back and prove the "madness" that makes the tournament ever so intriguing. I choose to watch these games because I am a Michigan and UNC fan and was in disbelief after the loss last year for UNC and knew that they would by hungry to win again this year. Also, I choose to watch these games because I knew that they would not be a blow out (even though I watched the UVA vs Florida game, a 26 point game) and I rooted for the teams I predicted to win in my bracket. I feel like I betrayed Michigan because I wanted them to win, but I did not have them beating Oregon, so I rooted for my bracket over what I really wanted at the moment. Also, the competition of the bracket drives the willingness to stay up all night watching games instead of sleeping due to the urge of wanting to see the outcome. I was very happy that I got to view the excitement of march madness this year and hope that I can choose better teams for my bracket next year. Overall, march madness gives the fans at home the felling of the competitive atmosphere and the deviation of loosing, allowing the viewer to act as if they are a part of a certain team and be passionate for a certain team. Also, the beauty of march madness is that anything can happen and the outcome is never predictable.
ReplyDeleteI watched a lot of games this year including the finals, South Carolina vs. Gonzaga, and Wisconsin vs Villanova. The finals was obviously won by UNC and a pretty good matchup although it doesn't compare at all to last year's final. The Zags game was pretty good although I did want Xavier to win. Finally the Wisconsin game was a huge upset, but not one that made me all that mad. I think filling out a bracket got me to watch a lot more games that were played in the earlier rounds that I wouldn't have typically watched. Like a lot of other people said when my bracket busted early I didn't exactly lose interest in the games but I wasn't so fired up about them. In the first few rounds I would be on the edge of my seat yelling for them to win, getting pissed off if the team i had picked was messing up but by the end of the tournament I didn't care as much because my bracket was a bust. Brackets definitely influence viewership and I think it is a good way to attract a lot of people to the tournament because you don't even need to know a lot about basketball to fill out a successful bracket.
ReplyDeleteI watched multiple games, if not almost all this year during March Madness. This is always my favorite time of the year for sports because college basketball is what entertains me most, especially the playoffs. Obviously I had UNC winning the entire thing which was mostly why I was so engaged all the way up until the final buzzer sounded as they took home the national championship. A few games that really stood out to me was the UCLA vs. Kentucky game, The UNC vs. Kentucky game, and of course the championship game which was UNC vs. Gonzaga. I was honestly surprised with the outcome of the UCLA vs. Kentucky game. I thought UCLA would have blown them out but Kentucky certainly held their own as their young talent really progressed as the tournament went on. The UNC vs. Kentucky game was the most fun game to watch for me out of any of the games played in the tournament because the score consistently went back and forth throughout the entire game up until the last 5 seconds when Luke Maye hit the game winner to send UNC to the Championship. And finally the championship game. It was a very poorly played game by both teams but that is also what made it a very interesting game as well. It was a battle of who could limit their mistakes the most and overall, UNC came away with a huge win to seal their 6th National Championship in college basketball history. It was a very fun few weeks and I believe my brackets made it much more engaging for me as a fan of March Madness. Since I filled out a bracket, I was much more engaged rather than if I did not. Even first round games I was very into and didn't move from my TV for a second as these games were going on.
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