Professional basketball is loved and viewed avidly year-round, but March saw the spotlight shift to college athletes. This year’s March Madness Basketball Tournament saw the dramatic rise and fall of the best womens and mens college basketball teams in the country as they competed for the NCAA title.

Division 1 Schools were divided into four conferences: East, West, Midwest, and South. Teams competed to rise to the top of the bracket in their division before advancing to the Final Four. In the Men’s’ division, Carolina was put against Gonzaga, and Oregon faced North Carolina. Gonzaga and North Carolina emerged victorious and faced off in the Finals. Here, North Carolina narrowly edged out Gonzago, 71 to 65, to claim the NCAA title.

The Women’s’ bracket saw UConn against Mississippi State and South Carolina pitted against Stanford. Mississippi State faced South Carolina in the finals, and emerged victorious with a total score of 67 to 55 by the end of the fourth quarter.

Along with the great efforts on behalf of the players and the skills showcased throughout the games, the tournament saw some surprising upsets as well. In the Men’s’ East division, 11th-seed underdog USC closely beat out 6th-seed SMU by a single point. In Men’s West, 11th-seed Xavier ousted 6th-seed Maryland in the first round. On the Women’s side, the biggest upset occurred as Mississippi State knocked University of Connecticut out of the final four, winning 66-64 in overtime. UConn were expected to win the entire tournament, having held a 111-game winning streak and won two national titles. These surprising games highlighted lesser-known talent on smaller and lower-ranked teams across the nation.

This year, March Madness was a fast-paced and packed showcase of rising talent, great plays,and excellence in teamwork and coaching among college athletes. No matter the final result, the tournament was great display of these future professionals on a national scale.