Stanford Stories XXVI - March Madness

March Madness is a term that I didn’t know until very recently. Based on the name you might think that it refers to (a) the week after Mardi Gras, (b) the unusual wet weather we had in California in the last three weeks or (c) the student spring break week. None of the three answers is correct. Instead, March Madness is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in March and April. In a 6 round single knock out tournament, 64 teams from across the United States compete for the national championship title.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see my first college basketball game featuring the Stanford women’s team against UCLA. Here at Stanford, the women’s team, in contrast to the men’s teams, is one of the best teams in the country. Two years ago the Stanford Cardinal managed to win the national championship title. Because of an excellent regular season, Stanford received one of the top seeds for this year’s March Madness tournament.

After a clear win in the first round against Sacred Heart, the Cardinal welcomed Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) in round of the last 32. Unfortunately, after a very physical and close game Stanford lost despite a thrilling 4th quarter comeback. Although we were all slightly depressed after the somewhat unexpected loss, I must say that the three college basketball games I have seen during the last weeks, were the most fun and exciting sports events in a very long time.