Cheering! Screaming! Party! Carnival! And... passion and youth!
Because, crazy May is here.
This is not only the final game of the spring season, but also a carnival party where top players from all universities in North America gather together.
Here, all the attention is focused; here, the youthful boys and girls all gather together; here, the peak battle of swordsmanship in Huashan is about to take place; here, young and energetic geniuses compete to shine;
Here, the duel between powerful forces has created countless classics.
It is the end of another season, witnessing the rise of newcomers and bidding farewell to the senior veterans. The passion and cruelty of competitive sports will be staged here, with laughter and tears flying together, and touching and sad at the same time.
Who can resist May Madness?
However, because May Madness is too "crazy", it is difficult to gather all the teams in one city with only the NCAA's funds and manpower - the participating lineup is too huge, and the number of personnel is already comparable to the scale of the World Championships.
It’s comparable, so May Madness also needs to be divided into two stages.
In the first stage, 64 colleges and universities across the United States are shortlisted for the National Championship based on their spring season rankings. All first- and second-round games are held at the schools' respective home courts - lower-ranked teams go to the home games of higher-ranked teams.
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After two rounds of competition, the top 16 teams will be determined, and then they will go to the city where the U.S. Championship is held every year to meet.
In the second stage, the top 16 teams gathered together to compete in the third round, the fourth round, the semi-finals, and the championship game to determine the final national champion.
After the team competition ended, after two days of rest and adjustment, the singles competition and the doubles competition were launched at the same time. The singles competition also had 64 draws, with a total of six rounds of knockout rounds to determine the men's singles and women's singles champions respectively; the doubles competition had three draws.
Twelve lots.
At this point, the May Madness schedule has come to an end. For three weeks from beginning to end, four different types of sixty-four lottery-level competitions for men and women need to be held at the same time. The schedule is dense and tight, and the people are crowded and lively. It has reached its full limit.
It was only through this level competition that it was given the modifier "crazy".
This year, Crazy May is still full of strong players. Experts from all walks of life gather together to fight at the top of the Forbidden City. Who will win, and there is a lot of suspense.
In the team competition, UCLA ranked top seed with an almost perfect performance and is undoubtedly the top favorite to win the championship.
Behind them, the University of Southern California, the University of Oklahoma, and Ohio State University are ranked second, third, and fifth seeds respectively; the University of Virginia, which has firmly maintained the number one position in the United States for most of the season, will be ranked first in the second half of the schedule.
There were fluctuations in the section, and eventually fell to the fourth seed position, but it still cannot be underestimated.
When the final ranking of the season, that is, the seeding ranking of the National Championship, was announced, the major news media couldn't wait to praise the Bruins——
In the regular season this season, the Bruins defeated the second, third, and fourth seeded teams respectively, but they did not play against Ohio State University; the only loss came from the Los Angeles derby.
It was a fierce battle between the top two seeds, and the result was astonishingly valuable.
The title of "Top Seed", I am convinced!
However, the regular season is one thing, and the United States Championship is another matter. They are completely different.
Moreover, among the top teams, the suspense of victory or defeat is often within a hair's breadth, depending on on-the-spot performance - no one will forget that during the regular season, the Bruins were in desperate situations several times, and the outcome was just a matter of seconds.
On the front line, no one can guarantee that the situation will be the same this time.
So, which team will the U.S. championship belong to?
On May 10, 2014, the first round of May Madness slowly kicked off.
In the first round of the team competition, UCLA sat at home and faced the challenge of California State Polytechnic University.
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
The main campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, located in the Westwood District of Los Angeles, is full of excitement. It seems that the air is filled with the breath of adrenaline. The sunshine and breeze of early summer also reveal a touch of vigorous vitality, entwining the skin bit by bit.
The blood slowly boils.
Gu Xiao's steps hesitated slightly.
To be honest, he really didn't know anything about May Madness - was it Mardi Gras? Was there any indirect connection to St. Patrick's Day? Should they cross-dress? Or should they carry alcohol on the streets?
To be more precise, his knowledge of tennis is also very limited.
During the four years of college, he devoted all his time to studying and worked hard for scholarships. He really didn't have the time or energy to focus on other things, but...
He paused for a moment on his way to the library, followed the direction of the turbulent flow of the crowd, and then changed his direction of travel by accident.
Maybe, it's okay to relax a little now and then, it's okay to participate in some extracurricular activities occasionally, and it's okay to enjoy youth like other college students once in a while. Maybe.
Then, Gu Xiao saw a huge sea of people.
Everyone everyone.
The dense dark blue water was as deep and vast as emeralds. It surrounded the tennis court on three levels inside and three outside. It was impossible to see the situation in the court. Just when Gu Xiao was about to turn around, a burst of laughter broke out from the crowd.
Hot and crazy cheers.
"oh!"
"Up! Brown bear! Up!"
Turning your head, you can see the arms extending high towards the sky like a dense forest. The vigorous vitality supports the vast blue sky, and the silent sea bursts out with the energy of mountain roaring and tsunami. In an instant, the sight will be filled with
The golden sunlight detonated directly.
A splendid one.
"Gawain! Ahhh!"
"Oh oh, Gawain Gawain!"
That's... Gu Xiao was stunned.
"Go! Gawain, go!"
"Oh oh oh, Gawain, come on!"
Sparse cheers came one after another, each shouting the same name. Even if it was not clear, Gu Xiao could still accurately capture those syllables, and then the air exploded. Even if he couldn't see the stadium at all, he could still feel it.
To the spreading heat and turbulence.
Before he realized it, Gu Xiao had already walked over.
Weaving among the crowds, moving forward among the crowds of people face to face, Gu Xiao finally found a spot in the corner of the field, and then saw Gao Wen running on the court.
He is taller and stronger than expected. When the height and weight figures evolve into a group of real characters, you can feel the impact.
Run wildly! Swing! Explode!
Sweat was flying in the air, and his focused eyes were fixed on the tennis ball. When he hit the tennis ball with his right hand, he could even see the clear lines of his arm muscles, and then the tennis ball flew past like a bullet.
Landing! Score!
"ah!"
Gu Xiao didn't even realize it, but he was already cheering along with the audience, and joy and happiness burst out in an instant.
The indescribable passion made Gu Xiao lose his mind and roar wildly, a smile bloomed at the corners of his mouth, and every cell was screaming.