The History of March Madness

The school that I teach in is currently conducting a fundraiser called "March Madness."  All teachers are encouraged to raise money through various means.  Some teachers are selling muffins, some are selling feather earrings and the art teachers are making caricatures.  I am selling candy to my students, so you can guess how hyper they have been recently.  All the money goes to buying technology for the school.  I wish I could live in a time when the state of Florida bought technology for their schools, but money is really tight in education right now.


March Madness is the term which officially describes the NCAA basketball tournament that is held every year.  My sons are currently watching a lot of basketball, so I started to wonder about the history of the name  "March Madness."  Here is what I found out:


March Madness is based on an old phrase from the 16th Century, "Mad as a March Hare."  The rabbit mating season is in March and April.  Apparently, the male rabbits get a little wild and crazy during that time.  In regards to basketball, the first use of the term was by the Illinois High School Association to describe their annual basketball tournament.  The origins of this competition go all the way back to the early 1900s.  These high school basketball players captivated the state of Illinois once a year as they fought for the number one position.  The most famous  victory was in 1952.  Hebron, the winning team, was a school with only 98 students.  Brent Musberger, a Chicago sports announcer, is credited with first using the term March Madness for the college basketball tournament in 1982.  The name quickly became popular nationwide.  The name "March Madness" is now jointly trademarked by both the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association.