With the end of March approaching quickly it means that one of the most popular sporting tournaments in America is here, March Madness. This year’s tournament has students all over the country talking as they get ready to watch their peers compete in one of college’s most watched sporting events. While Sonoma State is not competing in the tournament, one of its former players, Jaylen Wells, will be playing for Washington State in it as one of the seven seeds. While roaming the campus, people’s opinions were collected on the tournament and who they are rooting for. 

First-year finance major, Khai Laymen, said that he picked Purdue to win the whole thing over San Diego State in the championship game. “I just think that Zach Edey is the best player in college basketball right now and that no one can stop him. On top of that, Purdue does have a really solid team around him which I think is a great recipe for success,” said Laymen. Purdue is going into the tournament being one of the favorites and they have been building their team up with the same core guys over the past few years. All of this is what has given them the confidence to be one of the top teams contending for a national championship this season. 

Second-year business major, Jake Lockwood, said that he has picked North Carolina to win the tournament this year. North Carolina was also one of the top teams coming into the tournament after having a dominant regular season in the ACC. Their team is also full of mostly juniors and seniors who have been playing together for a number of years now and have postseason experience together. However, Lockwood said that watching the tournament goes beyond just trying to pick a mostly correct bracket. “Watching March Madness every year has become one of my most looked forward to events just because of the fact that it gets me and all my friends together to sit down and watch some sports for multiple days in a row and just gives us all a chance to hang out,” said Lockwood. 

Fourth year business administration major, Ava Adams, said that her strategy for filling out her bracket is by picking whichever mascot she likes more between the two teams. This year she said that she picked the Arizona Wildcats to win it all because she liked the name wildcats. “It’s actually pretty funny because last year I filled out my bracket the same way and actually did better than my boyfriend who actively watches college basketball,” said Adams. 

There is no doubt that the tournament’s excitement is in the air all over the country and throughout this campus. With many students participating in different bracket challenges across the internet, March Madness will surely be something that is continued to be talked about until the tournament concludes on April 8th. 

March Madness begins with a total of 64 teams, cutting down by half the amount of current teams still alive. Therefore, it goes from 64 to 32, from 32 to the Sweet 16, and after that is when it starts getting serious. The cinderella stories either continue for the lower seeds and make history or they crash and burn with the higher seeds providing evidence as to why they are a top seed. With the Sweet 6 trimming down to the Elite 8 and those teams playing, we are currently amidst the Final Four. Unfortunately, Arizona and North Carolina are no longer in the tournament, but Lockwood’s pick of First seed Purdue is still making a run for their money.