NY Times · Apr 4, 2023
10 Takeaways From the N.C.A.A. Tournaments
Underdogs from New Jersey made an impression, trash talkers held court, and pep bands showed how much they care.
Credit...Jon Cherry for The New York TimesAn average of 9.9 million people, according to ESPN, watched a women’s college basketball national title game on Sunday that didn’t feature the odds-on pretournament favorite, South Carolina, which had fallen to Iowa in the Final Four. No team seeded No. 1 on the men’s side even made the round of 8, the first time that had happened in the tournament’s current format.
It was an upset-laden, bracket-busting three weeks of games, filled with entertaining moments big and small. Here is what we learned from the March-into-April Madness.