To some students, March Madness means cramming for midterms and finalizing Spring Break plans. But for sports fans, March Madness means college basketball championships.

The men’s and women’s Division I college basketball championship tournaments will be starting next week. The 64 women’s teams will begin their championship run on March 19.

Many students compete with friends and family by filling out brackets and guessing what teams will go all the way to win the championship.

“I fill out brackets because it’s a fun thing to do,” said Anthony Morford, a sophomore athletic training major. “I get to compete with friends and family, but mainly with my dad.”

Students can print out brackets or fill them out online to compete against a larger number of people.

Some join a pool in which everyone who filled out a bracket puts a wager on the teams they think will make it to the Final Four.

“I usually … join in a pool with my friends, and the person with the most teams right into the second round gets a piece of the wager,” sophomore geography major Josh Wolf said.

Students will be back from Spring Break for the start of the second round, which has some ready to skip their classes just to catch their favorite team.

“I skipped last year, and if it’s a University of Illinois game, it’s way more important than any class – unless I have a test,” said Eric McCalla, a sophomore business management major.

The Final Four has become a big part of the sports landscape, sparking interest in sports fans everywhere.

“I would say college basketball is so big because of the rivalries – and they put their heart into the game, unlike NBA players who are getting paid to play,” Wolf said.