Brendan Meyers, Staff Writer

The 2024 NCAA college basketball tournament, also known as March Madness, has come to a close after three weeks of exciting basketball in both the men’s and women’s brackets. University of Connecticut (UCONN) won the men’s tournament and South Carolina won the women’s tournament. 

UCONN won 75-60 against Purdue on Monday night in dominant fashion. Senior guard Tristen Newton won Final Four Most Outstanding Player. He scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had seven assists in the championship game. UCONN continued their dominant run becoming the first team to repeat as national champions since the University of Florida in 2006-2007. The Huskies crushed every opponent in this year’s tournament winning every game by double-digit points.

South Carolina defeated Iowa 87-75 on Sunday night to complete their perfect season going 38-0. Senior center Kamilla Cardoso won Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She had 15 points and 17 rebounds against the Hawkeyes. The Gamecocks have been a juggernaut in women’s basketball the last three seasons putting up a combined record of 109-3.

The men’s tournament had great upsets and underdog stories throughout. Oakland College (not in California) upset Kentucky in the first round and Jack Gohlke became a star shooting only three-pointers going 10/20 from the arc. Yale stunned Auburn 78-76 in the first round behind the hot shooting hand of John Poulakidas who had 28 points.

NC State only made the NCAA tournament because they won five games in five days to win the ACC conference tournament. They went on to make a magical run becoming only the sixth No. 11 seed of all time to make the Final Four. Big man DJ Burns became one of the most beloved tournament underdogs averaging 16.2 points per game. 

The women’s tournament was very popular this year mostly because of big-name stars like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, and UCONN’s Paige Bueckers. These women have revolutionized the women’s game, breaking many viewership records in the last couple of years. 

Iowa and Caitlin Clark have been the biggest drivers behind the records as they played in the four highest-viewed women’s games of all time. Last year’s championship game against LSU had 9.9 million. Iowa’s Elite Eight rematch against LSU had 12.3 million. The Final Four win over UCONN had 14.2 million. The game on Sunday night drew 18.9 million viewers and for the first time ever, more than the men’s national championship.

This college basketball season was not only fun to watch, but also historic. The national championships may not have been as close and intense as people wanted, but that does not ruin one of the greatest events in sports: March Madness.