It’s the time of year again for the NCAA March Madness tournament and this year has some tight bets and strong opinions and Carson students have a lot of opinions on who takes number one in this year’s tournament.

“I can’t wait for this year’s games it’s gonna be good,” said Kai Lewis, eighth-grader on the Explorers team.

On the other hand, some people just don’t care. 

“Screw basketball,” said Nathan Kilfu, an eighth-grader on the Explorers team.

Some Carson students love rooting for the teams that have historically cleaned up at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament like the University of Alabama or Purdue university.

“Bama’s going to win,” said Brandon Kim, an eighth-grader on the Explorers team. “They are the number one seed even if they aren’t.”

Loyalty to team and to city is a pretty popular theme at Carson middle school especially given that 43% of basketball fans are loyal to the team regardless of players according to BetUS, an organization centered around sports betting.

“I know the odds aren’t the best but I want to see Miami take it all,” said Philip Callvo, eighth-grader on the explorers’ team .I just love Miami.”

This year has been a very different year for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament with teams qualifying who aren’t the usual contenders for the tournaments which makes for a different tournament dynamic and different chances for the more traditionally strong teams.

“Where are all these weird teams coming from,” said Calvo, “I mean I like the new opportunity, but who has ever heard of Fairleigh-Dickinson University.” 

However, like all competitions, there have been some eliminations and some upsets including the elimination of, 

• Texas A&M
• Maryland
• College of Charleston 
• University of Virginia
• NC State
• Baylor 
• USCB
• Utah State
• Missouri 
• Arizona
• Kentucky 
• Auburn 
• Drake 
• Indiana 
• Kent State 
• Iowa State 
• Pitt 
• Penn State
• Colgate 
• Howard
• Kansas
• Illinois
• Saint Mary’s
• Iona 
• Arizona 
• TCU 
• Grand Canyon
• Boise ST
• Northwestern 
• UNC Asheville 

“I wanted to see WVU win so bad,” Lewis said. “I was so mad they got knocked out early.”

Many NCAA analysts say that Houston has the best chance of winning followed by Alabama, but some Carson students do not care. 

“Nobody likes Houston,” said Lewis.

“Alabama needs to get on a bus back to Tuscaloosa,” said Callvo.