March Madness

Soon it will begin – 64 men’s college basketball teams competing for the NCAA Division I Tournament Championship.  For many of us, our work and family schedules do not allow us to see many college basketball games during the season. But when the NCAA issues the March Madness “brackets”, we ready our favorite chair for the 2 ½ week event and make our selections in the company pool.

The first NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament was played in 1939, among a field of 8 teams, with Oregon emerging as the 1st tournament’s champion. The field grew to 16 teams in 1951, doubled to 32 teams in 1975 and expanded to the current field of 64 teams in 1985. And though Brent Musberger used the phrase “March Madness” during his coverage of the 1982 NCAA tournament, he initially heard the phrase when he was reporting on Illinois basketball!

Henry V. Porter was the assistant executive secretary for the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). What began as a small invitational affair in 1908, the IHSA  became a statewide institution by the late 1930’s with over 900 schools competing. Mr. Porter was so impressed by the tournament that he wrote an essay in March, 1939 entitled “March Madness”, a phrase adopted by the IHSA.

As the U.S. was plunged into World War II, “March Madness” provided a unifying force within The Land of Lincoln. During the IHSA tournament’s Golden Era of the 1940s and 1950s, the IHSA would bring the “Sweet Sixteen” teams to the University of Illinois. Presently, an “Elite Eight”  in four divisions, compete for the title at the State Farm Center located on the University of Illinois Champaign Campus. On March 9^th of this year,  Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School beat Normal Community 60-48, winning the Class 4A Illinois state title for boys’ basketball. So, what does “March Madness” pertain to?

During the 1990s, the NCAA sought to trademark the term “March Madness, but it had already been used for years by the IHSA. The IHSA sued the NCAA but lost with the court ruling that “March Madness” had become a “dual-use” term, referring to both the IHSA and NCAA basketball tournaments. After joining forces for a brief period to license the phrase and enforce the registered trademark, the NCAA ultimately bought IHSA’s ownership share in the trademark.

Enjoy the games … we hope your team wins!