March has arrived! The 2024 NCAA Tournament tips off TODAY
Welcome. To. March. It has finally arrived! The NCAA Tournament tips off today!
There is such an anticipation and excitement around the 64 teams set to tip off this evening, with the must-win mindset and the intensity that comes with March Madness itself. There aren’t many things in sports that bring out the best in a group of individuals quite like a game in which the alternative to winning is having the season come to an abrupt conclusion. That’s why we love the tournament and all that it is about. It gives us unique matchups, and opportunities to see the champion from the Northwest Conference in Tacoma, Washington face off against the champion from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It provides a chance for redemption and rematches, in some cases, as well as an opportunity to extend a special—and even historic—season by just one more day. That’s all that anyone entering the tournament today wants. One more day to step onto the floor together as a unit, as a team, as a group of student-athletes and coaches representing their institution on a national stage.
I was initially going to do a story on “1 player to watch on every NCAA Tournament team”, highlighting some of the players likely to have a breakout performance in their first-round matchups. But time didn’t allow, unfortunately. I’ll make a mental note for next year (or even further on into the tournament next week).
But even while I’ve been limited in my writing here the last couple of days, plenty of coverage has gone out as the NCAA Tournament gets set to tip-off, and I wanted to spotlight some of those excellent interviews and articles as we look towards 4:00 p.m. ET today and the first games of the afternoon.
Hoopsville: Leap to March
Dave McHugh, on the eve of the first round, hosted an excellent edition of Hoopsville last night, with a number of women’s teams represented. Concordia (MN) head coach Kim Wagers joined the show as her team was en route to Wartburg yesterday, talking about the matchup ahead against Illinois Wesleyan, and the memorable season that has led to Concordia’s first tournament appearance since 2014. DePauw junior guard Ava Hassel spoke on DePauw’s opportunity to host and the first round matchup against Berea. And Framingham State’s Walter Paschal, Flannery O’Connor, and Gwen Carpenter talked about FSU’s season thus far and the matchup against Scranton ahead in a very fun conversation.
Check out Hoopsville here.
Other excellent D3 WBB media coverage heading into NCAAs
Scranton Times: Battle-tested Lady Royals looking for different results in NCAA Tourney
Holland Sentinel: How Sydney Vis will key Hope’s NCAA Tournament run
WDAY TV News: “He would be so proud'; Concordia guard Emily Beseman taking memories of her late father into NCAA tournament”
Lewiston Sun Journal: Bates College excited to host first two rounds of NCAA tournament
Bracket Challenge
Believe it or not, we now have two NCAA Tournament bracket challenges going on, and you can enter both for free!
launched one earlier this week, and you can find all the details here. In this bracket challenge, you pick the first two rounds of the tournament, and prizes are on the line too! D3challenge.com also has a bracket challenge running, which you can find here. Be sure to fill out your picks on both before games start today!I will be in Abilene, Texas for the UMHB/Hardin-Simmons/Trinity/Occidental pod and I’m excited to see how the first round games unfold there in West Texas tonight! I look forward to tuning into as many games as possible across the country tonight, and I’m so interested to see how all of these matchups play out. Have a great day, and if your team is getting set to play today, I certainly wish you the best of luck! Enjoy all that the NCAA Tournament has to offer and I’ll check back in soon.