March Madness Glossary

Introduction
Tournament Basics
Picking your Bracket
March Madness Glossary
What People Will Talk About

March Madness Glossary

Big Dance: Another name for the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

Bracketology: The “science” of picking tournament brackets.

Bubble: Before the at large bids are given out, teams that people are unsure weather they will be
selected are said to be “on the bubble” or “bubble teams.”

Cinderella story: Low seeded team that advances into further rounds.

Elite Eight: Final 8 teams left in the tournament. Officially called “regional finals.”

Final Four: Last two games of the tournament that feature the remaining four teams. The final four and the championship game are played at the same location.

March Madness: Another name for the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

NIT: National Invitation Tournament is the tournament for teams that did not qualify to play in March Madness.

Seeding: Teams are seeded #1 through #16 in their 4 distinct sections of 16. The best teams are given the highest seeds and are given the easiest path to victory.

Sweet 16: Officially called regional semi-finals.

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