Some Facts and History about March madness

March Madness" was born in Illinois. It is a annual tournament of high school boys basketball teams, sponsored by the Illinois High School Association. It started from a small invitational affair in 1908 to a statewide institution with over 900 schools competing by the late 1930's. Teams that stayed undefeated in the tournament got the title known as the "Sweet Sixteen" and routinely drew sellout crowds to the University of Illinois' Huff Gymnasium.

Henry V. Porter, assistant executive secretary of the Illinois High School Association, was so impressed by the phenomenon that he wrote an essay to commend the tournament and entitled it "March Madness." It first appeared in the Illinois High School Associations magazine in 1939. As a result of this 1939 article, the phrase March Madness soon became the official name of that high schools basketball championship series. The name March Madness stuck with all newspapers. Who used it throughout their pages during the tournament's "Golden Era" of the 1940's and 1950's, "March Madness" became the popular name of the event. During this golden era, some of Illinois' most legendary teams, including the undefeated 1944 Taylorville squad and Mt. Vernon's unstoppable back-to-back champions of 1949 and 1950. But the one champion remembered more than any other is Little Hebron, a school of only 99 students, which won the tournament in 1952. In 1963, the tournament moved to the huge new Assembly Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois.

March Madness Today

Today's March Madness is different from the original version. Nowadays an "Elite Eight" of teams advances to the state finals, but there are four tournaments — a Class A (small school) and Class AA (large school) version for both boys and girls, played in Peoria and Normal. "The Happening," a thrilling contest featuring the state's best three-point shooters and dunkers, is now a part of these tournaments as well. And starting in 1996, the "March Madness Experience," an exhibition hall full of fun, games, and good times, has allowed fans of Illinois high school basketball to join in the action.

The popularity of these events now allows the IHSA to provide more than just good entertainment for its fans. A significant portion of the fees generated from the licensing of the unified marks "March Madness" and "America's Original March Madness" are used to fund college scholarships for Illinois high school boys and girls.

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