The 1939 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The Oregon Webfoots went 29-5 on the season and beat Ohio State 46-33 to win the national title.

Although the term "March Madness" was first used in reference to basketball by Illinois high school official Henry V. Porter in 1939, it didn't become associated with the NCAA until Brent Musberger used it during coverage of the 1982 tournament.

"One Shining Moment" is traditionally played at the end of the championship game as the winning team's players cut down the nets, to a montage of highlights from the tournament.

Christian Laettner is best known for his shot against Kentucky in the Elite Eight that led Duke to a title in 1992, but he also helped the Blue Devils win it all in 1991, winning MOP honors for his 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the Final Four that year. He finished his Duke career with four NCAA tournament records, including the most games by a player (23), most points scored (407), most free throws attempted (167) and most free throws made (142).

The odds of having a perfect bracket for the NCAA Tournament are approximately 1 in 9.2 quintillion. To put that into context, you're more likely to win the lottery, get struck by lightning, and have a boa constrictor emerge through the pipes in your toilet all on the same day.

On March 16, 2018, during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, the No. 16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers didn't just beat the No. 1 seed University of Virginia Cavaliers; they turned a 21-21 halftime tie into a blowout thanks to a 3-point exhibition, winning by 20 points, 74-54, in one of the most shocking games in March Madness history.

North Carolina won two consecutive triple overtime games to win the 1957 national championship. The North Carolina - Michigan State semi-final game and North Carolina - Kansas final game both made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at 11 and 6 respectively.

When the Indiana Hoosiers won an NCAA title in 1940, their coach, Emmett "Branch" McCracken wasn't that far out of college himself at age 31. McCracken would lead his team to another title in 1953.

Only three men can claim champion status as both player and coach: Joe B. Hall registered both achievements with Kentucky, the tempestuous Bob Knight with Ohio State and Indiana respectively, and the venerable Dean Smith, first on the court with Kansas and subsequently on the sideline with North Carolina.

NBA legend Michael Jordan said multiple times during his career that before he would take game-winning shots with the Bulls, he would sometimes think back to his shot in the 1982 national championship game that propelled North Carolina past Georgetown.