By Elliott Brack,
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
March 24, 2026 | Many of us have watched some (or lots) of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament over the weekend. Here are some facts about the tournament.
The Men’s NCAA Tournament, which began in 1939 with only eight teams, has grown into a 68-team event, with No. 1 seeds dominating, winning 26 of 40 tournaments since expanding to 64 teams in 1985. The first tournament saw Oregon defeating Ohio State 46-33.
- “March Madness”: The term was first applied to basketball by Illinois high school official, Henry V. Porter, in 1939.
- Top Seed Dominance: At least one No. 1 seed has reached the Final Four in 37 of the last 40 tournaments.
- Lowest Seed Champ: Villanova, in 1985, was the lowest-seeded team to win, entering as a No. 8 seed.
- The 16th Seed: No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed in the history of the tournament, but some have come close, as with this year, when Duke beat Siena 71-65.
- Early Years: Original tournaments were played using peach baskets instead of string nets.
Perfection: Only once have all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four (2008), though it was nearly matched again recently. Those Final Four teams were Kansas Jayhawks, Memphis Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, and UCLA Bruins. Kansas won the tournament that year in overtime with Memphis.
Our recent trip to the Knoxville area was up Interstate 75. We decided to take the scenic route back down U.S. Highway 441, through Gatlinburg, where we honeymooned 68 years ago.
While the drive was surely scenic, we made one big mistake: getting off I-40 at Pigeon Forge, Tenn. It took an hour to drive about 10 miles through Pigeon Forge, which has mushroomed with mile after miles of tourist attractions, and of course the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And, it was the opening weekend of Dollywood.
Then Gatlinburg also was mighty crowded. But returning over the mountains, it was beautifully scenic.
Suggestion: unless you are a tourist, avoid Pigeon Forge. Reminds me of Yogi Berra in a fashion: “It’s too crowded. Nobody goes there anymore.”
It was never intended as a scientific experiment. Before leaving for the Knoxville trip, we filled our water bottle with ice from our refrigerator. This water bottle still had cold water in it at the end of the day. It beautifully served its function.
Heading back, we got ice from the motel ice-making machine and filled the water bottle.
But halfway during the day, all the ice in the water bottle had melted and the water was not cold. We started thinking about it.
Then we realized: ice from our refrigerator was solid ice, and melted very slowly. However, ice from the motel was a different matter altogether. It was small square chunks of ice on the edges, but had a hollow center, not like chunks of frozen solid ice from the home refrigerator. Therefore, the motel ice had less solidity to melt, and just didn’t keep the water bottle cool for as long as the solid ice from the refrigerator.
Yep, two different types of ice, one much more sturdy than the other.
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