March Madness began in Staten Island in 1977 when Terence Haggerty, owner of Jody’s Club Forest started handing out blank brackets to customers. Students carry on this tradition by creating brackets online and on paper for mens and womens teams alike.

Senior Morgan Speciale fills out multiple brackets and competes against her family to win a gift card.

To help fill out their brackets some students  search online or on TV for help and advice to create the best bracket. Sophomore Cassidy Stuke does this to maximize her chances of winning.

“I usually watch SportsCenter or social media leading up to selection Sunday to see what underdogs might have a good chance of going far or seeing which high seed teams have faults,” Stuke said.

With so many teams to choose from students have many different reasons as to why they support the team they do.

For Stuke she generally watches the teams she finds interesting

“For men I like to support K-State if they make it into the bracket but good teams that always make it far that I like are Marquette, North Carolina and Gonzaga,” Stuke said. “For women I like to watch UConn, K-State and Iowa play.”

Like Speciale, many gather with friends or family to watch the games. Stuke does this with her family to keep up with her bracket.

“We all watch most of the evening games during March to keep up with our brackets,” Stuke said.