March Madness and What it Can Teach us About Business

“As you know, madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push.” — Joker

The month of March brings a curious ailment across the country. And every year I get this affliction… millions of people got it too. It has no known cure as of yet. The disease… March Madness.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)’s Division One Men’s Basketball Tournament is the official name of March Madness. And it was in 1982 that sportscaster and CBS announcer, Brent Musburger, coined the phrase “March Madness” and it stuck since then. It’s one of the biggest events in American sports. Sixty-eight college teams get invited to the big dance but by early April there’s one left standing.

This year may be different because of the pandemic, the NCAA will host the entire tournament in one geographic region for the first time along with other changes made to keep the teams and officials safe. But March Madness after a long lay-off is expected to remain a big deal.

So, what is the big deal?

March Madness is one of the biggest, most exciting, and fun events in all of sports. The first tournament took place in 1939 — when only eight teams competed. Today, the women and men NCAA teams — each have 68 teams competing in 67 matches over four rounds in three weeks in…