In East Lansing, Michigan, college sports are a big part of the community, especially during March when NCAA brackets are a popular topic of discussion.
Jessica Caruss, a lifelong resident and Michigan State fan, is familiar with this yearly tradition, but she avoids filling out a March Madness bracket. She doesn’t participate in predicting the winner or placing bets on the tournament. “I don’t do brackets or anything,” Caruss explained. “I don’t gamble; I don’t see the appeal of it. For me, it’s not a rush. It’s stressful.”
Caruss isn’t alone in opting out of the bracket excitement. A recent survey shows that roughly 70% of U.S. adults do not fill out a bracket for either the men’s or women’s NCAA basketball tournaments.
This group of bracket avoiders is largely made up of women, with about 60% of them being female.
“I’m probably not going to watch. I haven’t really been into it for a long time,” Caruss shared. “I’ve never understood the appeal of March Madness.”
Some people who avoid filling out brackets still plan to watch the tournament games but don’t want to make predictions. Chris Lara, from Belvidere, Illinois, supports UCLA due to his California background. Both the UCLA men’s and women’s teams are in the NCAA tournament, and he plans to cheer for them. However, he doesn’t feel confident in his ability to pick winners for every match-up.
“I don’t have the knowledge to pick the right teams or know which ones are the best,” Lara explained. “I’d just choose based on my heart, and it wouldn’t turn out well.”
For others, March Madness barely registers. Justin Campbell, a 29-year-old from Brookhaven, Mississippi, has never been deeply interested in sports. He isn’t keeping track of the NCAA tournament, nor does he make brackets. He might watch a game if it’s on at a restaurant, but basketball takes a backseat to football in his part of southern Mississippi.
Justin Campbell believes that if he lived in a town where March Madness was a bigger topic of conversation, his attitude might be different. “But where I am, football is more of the big thing,” he said.
Among those U.S. adults who fill out a basketball bracket at least “some years,” about two-thirds say they participate because others around them are doing it, whether as a major or minor factor.
In the suburbs of Seattle, Laura Edain has no interest in March Madness and doesn’t plan to watch any games. She previously worked in an office where March Madness discussions and bracket predictions were more common, especially with Gonzaga University’s tournament runs. However, she never found the bracket predictions appealing.
“I don’t think I would have participated, even then,” Edain said. “And now, I’m just not in any circle where people talk about it at all.”
