The Big Dance: The Story of the NCAA Basketball Tournament

Covered by four networks, allowing every game to be televised, ＂March Madness＂ has become an American phenomenon. This is the story of the tournament, from its beginnings seventy-three years ago as an eight-team bracket to today’s sixty-eight-team format--from Cinderella teams, to perennial powerhouses, to buzzer-beaters, upsets, and dynasties.

Barry Wilner has been a sports writer for the Associated Press since 1975. He has covered virtually every major sporting event, including twelve Olympics, nine World Cups, twenty-six Super Bowls, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup finals, and has written thirty-nine books. He lives in Garnerville, N.Y. Ken Rappoport is the author of more than fifty sports books for adults and young readers, including The Little League That Could for Taylor Trade Publishing. Working for the Associated Press in New York for thirty years, he has written about every major sport. His assignments included the World Series, the NBA Finals, and, as the AP’s national hockey writer, the Stanley Cup Finals and the Olympics.