It is the sports version of an age-old question.
What is better: a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?
GettyCooper Flagg can create a national name in March Madness[/caption]
The NBA playoffs have turned Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo into modern heroes.
March Madness is just that — absolutely mad — and there’s nothing in the world like the NCAA‘s version of a lose-and-you’re-out tournament, which criss-crosses a huge country for multiple weeks and rakes in more than $1 billion a year in revenue.
According to the American Gaming Association, bettors are expected to legally wager $3.1 billion on the men’s and women’s tournament games in 2025.
That’s a staggering amount financially and only second in the US to the Super Bowl.
More than 56 million Americans participated in a bracket contest in 2023, with most brackets free to use and fill out online.
“March Madness is one of the best traditions in American sports — and America’s most wagered-on competition,” AGA president Bill Miller said.
So which is better, the NBA playoffs or March Madness?
Easy answer: The Dance.
To put March Madness in perspective, imagine combining Wimbledon with the European Football Championship, then having 68 teams — huge universities and small schools — play games hour after hour and day after day in locations as diverse as Dayton, Ohio and Wichita, Kansas.
Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird all first made their worldwide basketball names in March, bouncing across the country and taking over TVs.
GettyCaitlin Clark hit the map in March Madness[/caption]
GettyStephen Curry announced himself to the world in The Dance[/caption]
Carmelo Anthony was at his coolest in the madness.
In sports-obsessed America, there is no equivalent to the NCAA Tournament, which has been lifted even higher in recent years due to the rise of the women’s game.
Also, it’s the only great American sport in which a No. 16 seed can knock off a 1.
March Madness takes over America’s sports scene for a full month and saturates TVs in offices, bars, restaurants and homes.
There is also no match for the addicting power of a March Madness bracket — if you haven’t filled one out yet and quickly watched it crumble to shreds, you haven’t fully lived.
Just ask Rory McIlroy.
Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the latest big college name set to leap to the pros.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese took the women’s game to a new level.
“Congrats to @CaitlinClark22, the greatest scorer in the history of women’s college basketball!” former United States President Barack Obama tweeted in March 2024.
“It’s been fun watching you and the @IowaWBB team this season.”
JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers and the ‘Female Shaq’ are set to follow in 2025.
Florida Gulf Coast, George Mason, Davidson and Loyola Chicago have become synonymous with Cinderella on the hardwood, with fans from coast to coast suddenly rooting for teams and players they previously hadn’t heard of.
GettyDan Hurley has seen the top of the March Madness mountain[/caption]
March Madness is the most unique major event in American sports and hasn’t lost its shine, despite gradually changing since the first tournament was played in 1939.
Sixty-eight teams now make The Dance and the field could expand again, watering down a tournament that was at its best at 64.
Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston spent the 2024-25 season among the best in the sport, gradually moving toward a Final Four inside the Alamodome in San Antonio.
It will take the Lakers winning it all with LeBron James and Luka Doncic to make America fully invest in the NBA again.
Giving in to the madness of March, men’s and women’s, is easy.
The Dance is sports perfection and the best thing about basketball.
