<P> The NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament , also informally known and branded as NCAA March Madness , is a single - elimination tournament played each spring in the United States , currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) , to determine the national championship . The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches , and was the idea of The Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen . Played mostly during March , it has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States . </P>
<P> The NCAA Division I Men 's Basketball Tournament , also informally known and branded as NCAA March Madness , is a single - elimination tournament played each spring in the United States , currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) , to determine the national championship . The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches , and was the idea of The Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen . Played mostly during March , it has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States . </P>
what year was the first march madness game
what year was the first march madness game
1939
1939