A hoops expert on the likely March Madness expansion

How March Madness bracketology became a national obsession

An estimated 60 million people fill out March Madness brackets yearly, despite a one in 9.2 quintillion chance of filling it out perfectly. This Smithsonian magazine article explores how UCLA's dominance in the 1960s and '70s made brackets boring and predictable, and how the expansion to 64 teams and putting games on TV played a huge role in popularizing March Madness brackets.

How March Madness Selection Sunday works

March Madness is one of the most popular American sporting events, but most viewers aren't aware of how its 68 teams are selected for the prestigious national tournament. This official process overview breaks down how the teams are selected, seeded, and placed into the bracket. Knowing the ins and outs might not stop you from disputing the committee's selections, but at least you'll understand how they came to those decisions.

The hidden effects of March Madness

March Madness isn’t just a major sporting event—it’s also peak season for vasectomies. Urologists report a 50% increase during the tournament, as patients use recovery time as an excuse to watch nonstop basketball. Meanwhile, workplace distractions from bracket pools and game streaming are estimated to cost US businesses $17 billion.

The surprisingly poetic origins of the phrase 'March Madness'

When legendary sportscaster Brent Musberger called the 1982 NCAA basketball tournament "March Madness," the term stuck and helped popularize the annual event. But he wasn't the first to use the phrase. This Time magazine article explores the contributions of Henry V. Porter, who originally used "March madness" in a 1939 article about the Illinois State basketball tournament, and later in a 1942 poem called "Basketball Ides of March."

What is the NCAA First Four?

March Madness's play-in games—known as the First Four—whittle down the field from 68 to 64. This resource from the NCAA breaks down the history of the First Four, which began in 2011. The gears were in motion long before that, though, thanks to the addition of the Mountain West Conference to Division I, which necessitated more than 64 teams for the March Madness field.

20 years of NCAA buzzers

The last few beats of the March Madness title game are among the most thrilling in sports. This video compilation collects the final five seconds of every women's championship from the first year of the tournament through 2022. The result is a fascinating document of celebrations, disappointments, and last-ditch efforts. It's also objective proof that basketball's style has evolved considerably over the decades.

The tournament in 2026 will have 48 teams

After 24 years of having a 32-team tournament, the FIFA World Cup will get an upgrade in 2026, expanding the field to make it the largest World Cup ever.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The history of the NIT, college basketball's other tournament

When people refer to March Madness, they're referring to the annual NCAA tournament, the most popular event in college basketball. Often overlooked is the National Invitational Tournament, or NIT, which is viewed as a consolation prize for teams that fail to earn bids to the NCAA. However, the NIT began as the premier tournament until it was eventually beaten out (and ultimately acquired) by its competitor.

David Stern reimagined the NBA Draft to make it more competitive

When David Stern took over as commissioner in 1984, he watched multiple teams lose on purpose to get the top pick in a stellar draft class. The next season, Stern changed the process to a lottery, where every nonplayoff team has an equal chance at the first pick.

Breaking down the WNBA's expansion plans

The 2026 season features two new teams, the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, with plans for franchises in San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia by 2030. This ESPN explainer unpacks what that means for fans.

Frustrations with the BCS system led to the creation of the College Football Playoff

Controversial rankings, disputed championship matchups, and calls for a fairer path to the title pushed college football to replace the BCS with a four-team playoff in 2014.

The forgotten Larry Bird punch that almost changed everything

Larry Bird biographer Keith O'Brien argues March Madness as we know it today began in 1979, with an electric, raucous game that's largely been forgotten. Thankfully, he's dredged up the details (and the footage) to help us relive it.

How math whizzes exploit sportsbooks

Chris Dirkus is a professional sports bettor who approaches the hobby as a math problem, not from a fan's perspective. He focuses on mispriced odds in popular games where many fans are betting for high liquidity. He's one of a rare segment of sports bettors exploiting slow models and human mistakes.

A 2025 NBA scandal exposes athlete participation in sports betting

In October 2025, a current coach, a current player, and a former player and assistant coach were arrested as part of an FBI investigation into a large-scale gambling ring. The current player, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, is accused of using non-public information to bettors.

Nate Silver argues the Electoral College can reduce the impact of excess votes

In this article, Silver weighs the Electoral College's flaws—especially popular-vote inversions—against its advantages, arguing it can limit the effect of surplus votes in heavily one-sided states and encourage broader competition.

Pickleball's popularity has created a power struggle

The sport's sudden rise has led to a tumultuous landscape with battles over governance, court space, and player rights. This Sports Illustrated deep dive examines the competing billionaires vying for control, the conflicts over court usage and noise disputes, and how a second proposed Hall of Fame is dividing the sport.

The university system has an enrollment problem

Enrollment has dropped over the past few years—especially for men. In this Freakonomics podcast episode, educators and economists explain why they think college enrollment has been on the decline. They also offer solutions and make predictions for the future of college.

Some opponents of Title IX wanted exemptions for revenue-producing sports

One of the main arguments against Title IX was that it would unfairly punish revenue-generating sports like football and men’s basketball. Senator John Tower (R-TX) proposed exempting those sports from Title IX’s reach. His amendment failed, but the push for a similar modification to the law continued through the decades.

Court-packing is the attempt to change the number of Supreme Court justices to shift the balance

Because the Constitution leaves the court's size to Congress, presidents have periodically sought to expand or reshape it. This explainer examines past efforts—including Franklin D. Roosevelt's failed 1937 plan—and why court-packing remains so controversial.

Inside MLB's robo-umping experiment

Human umpires call roughly 94% of pitches right overall, but performance reduces on borderline pitches in high-leverage moments, the calls that shape game outcomes most. A professor and historian analyze early experiments with the full "robot ump" system that helped shape MLB's decision to implement a compromise "challenge" system.

The SEC is a powerhouse conference with 16 teams and a rich Southern football tradition

Formed in 1933 after splitting from the Southern Conference, the Southeastern Conference began with 13 schools. It has since grown to 16 members, defining college football with numerous national championships and rabid regional rivalries.

Generally, NBA basketball teams whose players touch each other more win more games

This 2010 research finding underscores the importance of touch in promoting trust, bonding, and cooperation, thereby apparently improving team success. Touch also promotes cooperation in other settings: In a separate "prisoner's dilemma" study, when the experimenter gently touched some participants with a quick pat on the back, the touched individuals were more likely to cooperate and share with their partner.

College football weekends deliver major economic boosts to local communities

Home games draw tens of thousands of fans who spend on hotels, restaurants, and entertainment—injecting millions into local economies and making football Saturdays vital for many college towns’ businesses and seasonal revenue.

Hear how the Super Bowl went from a risky experiment to America's unofficial holiday

In this podcast episode, former Emmy award-winning ESPN producer Dennis Deninger traces the Super Bowl's unlikely rise from the AFL-NFL merger era to a national spectacle, explaining how it reshaped advertising, gambling, television, and American culture.

The universe expands by stretching space itself, not into anything beyond it

Thanks to Einstein’s relativity and Hubble’s observations, scientists understand that space stretches, like rising bread dough between raisins, with no "outside" to expand into. Some theories suggest our universe might be just one "bubble" in a vast multiverse, possibly floating on a higher-dimensional surface called a brane.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Poison ivy will likely become both larger and more resilient due to climate change.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The 2026 Ebola outbreak is hampered by a lack of vaccine against the species of the virus, heightening the need for rapid tests to aid in disease control.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

Explore our favorite visualization of the immense scale of space, from an astronaut to the size of the observable universe

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.