Every March, office pools explode, brackets bust, and underdogs become legends. The phrase “March Madness” now feels inseparable from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament—but its roots stretch back further than most fans realize. Long before billion-dollar TV deals and wall-to-wall coverage, March Madness belonged to high school basketball.

In 1939, Illinois high school official Henry V. Porter used the term in an essay to describe the emotional frenzy surrounding the annual state basketball tournament. Porter, who worked with the Illinois High School Association, wrote about the electricity in small-town gyms, the packed crowds, and the statewide obsession that peaked every March. To him, “March Madness” captured the chaos, passion, and community pride of tournament time.

At the time, the college game was still growing. That same year—1939—the first NCAA men’s basketball tournament was held, won by the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team. But the phrase hadn’t yet attached itself to the college bracket. Fast forward to the 1980s. College basketball had become a television spectacle. As the tournament expanded and Cinderella stories multiplied, broadcasters searched for language big enough to match the moment.

Enter Brent Musburger.

While calling NCAA tournament games for CBS in the early 1980s, Musburger began using the term “March Madness” on national broadcasts. His booming delivery and prime-time platform cemented the phrase in the American sports vocabulary. What had once described Illinois high school gyms now echoed across the country.

The NCAA eventually trademarked “March Madness,” formally tying it to the Division I basketball tournament held every year. The phrase fits perfectly considering the structure of the NCAA tournament demands drama. Unlike professional playoffs that stretch over series, the college game offers no safety net. Survive and advance—or vanish. Add in buzzer-beaters, 15-seeds toppling 2-seeds, and brackets shredded before the Sweet 16 and it’s hard to deny this emotional whiplash packed into three weeks.

Today, “March Madness” represents more than just college basketball games being played. It means office bracket pools, billion-dollar TV contracts, Cinderella stories, alumni pride, and three weeks when productivity mysteriously declines nationwide What began as poetic wording in a 1939 essay evolved into one of the most powerful brands in American sports.

And that’s fitting. Because every year, when the ball tips in mid-March and dreams hang on every possession, madness doesn’t feel like exaggeration. It feels accurate.