Even back in 1948, Rupp used the term March Madness! Well, kinda...

[Estil]

So I've been reading some books about UK history over at archive.org, including Russell Rice's bio of Rupp as well as Rupp's Championship Basketball written by the Baron himself. It was written in 1948 right after his Fab Five won our first NCAA title as well as Olympic Gold! Anyway in Chapter 22, first sentence (pg 190; yep chapter and verse!) he says, and I quote "Every year as the mad month of March approaches...."

So, does this count as the term "March Madness" being used that this early?

PS: We really need some kind of forum either here or elsewhere to discuss UK history.

 

[Rondoed]

As Mad As A March Hare - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase

What's the meaning and origin of the phrase 'As mad as a March hare'?

www.phrases.org.uk

 

[Kycatspaws]

The term 'March Madness' was first used in reference to basketball by an Illinois high school official, Henry V. Porter, in 1939. March Madness wouldn't become associated with the NCAA tournament until Brent Musberger used it during coverage of the 1982 tournament.

The Surprisingly Poetic Origins of the Phrase ‘March Madness’

The origins of the term go back to a poem written by a former high school basketball coach

time.com

 

[JPScott]

The term 'March Madness' was first used in reference to basketball by an Illinois high school official, Henry V. Porter, in 1939. March Madness wouldn't become associated with the NCAA tournament until Brent Musberger used it during coverage of the 1982 tournament.

The Surprisingly Poetic Origins of the Phrase ‘March Madness’

The origins of the term go back to a poem written by a former high school basketball coach

time.com

FWIW, I did a quick search of ("March Madness" + "basketball") on Newspapers.com and found a slightly earlier reference. FYI, the nice thing about doing a search on Newspapers.com is it will show you a chart of the number of hits over a period of time.

In this case there was a slight uptake around 1982 (when CBS first gained rights to the NCAA tournmanet and as you mentioned Brent Musberger apparently started saying it) and then around 1986 it really started taking off. By around 1998 it had established current levels of usage.

Looking earlier, there was a slight uptick in the late 40's and the term was used spordically in the 1950's.

Going back to the beginning, I did see an article which talks about the use of "March Madness" but not in relation to basketball. It's from a 2-MAR-1925 article in the Roanoke (VA) Times entitled "March Blusters In Like a Lion" Below is an excerpt:

March, aside from the distinction it claims as the namesake of the Mars, regarded as the mightiest of the Roman gods, is unique in other respects. Formerly it was regarded as the first month of the year. It is also associated with madness for some unknown reason but the term "March madness" at one time was much in use and the superstition prevails that madness is most apt to take effect on a likely subject during that month. March has been employed to describe many things including a popular kind of beer, familiarly known as bock beer.​

​

The first instance I could find of use of the term in relation to basketball was from 11-MAR-1931 in the Rushville (IN) Republican which used the term "March Madness" as a headline for a short article discussing high school basketball in Indiana noting the elimination of Anderson, Tech, Columbus and Shelbyville in regional tournaments.

The next hit was an AP story, also about Indiana High School basketball, and published in multiple Indiana papers on 5-JAN-1937 (Richmond Item , Lafayette Journal and Courier and Evansville Courier and Press), talking about the Indiana High School tournament the following spring where it notes:

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 4 - (AP) - Holiday tournaments over Indiana's high school basketball teams this week settle into the home-stretch before the annual "March madness" - the State Tournament.​

​

......​

So these uses predate the 1939 usage.

​

 

[littlecreek]

I always heard “Sweet 16” being referred to the Kentucky state basketball tournament before I heard it used in the NCAA Tournament.

 

[jeffky]

Read Claude Sullivan voice of the wildcats great read and history of Kentucky through the 40s 50s and 60s up to rupps runts Claude died of cancer in 67 he was calling games for Kentucky way before caywood also football too the book covers both football and basketball

 

[TucsonCat]

Im sure elite eight existed well before. Buti don't remember anyone using it much until early 90s. Like it went sweet 16, regional finals, Final Four. I think it was a conscious marketing type term. Every now and then, someone tries something for Round of 32, but it's always tortured and fails

 

[BStockfan01]

FWIW, I did a quick search of ("March Madness" + "basketball") on Newspapers.com and found a slightly earlier reference. FYI, the nice thing about doing a search on Newspapers.com is it will show you a chart of the number of hits over a period of time.

In this case there was a slight uptake around 1982 (when CBS first gained rights to the NCAA tournmanet and as you mentioned Brent Musberger apparently started saying it) and then around 1986 it really started taking off. By around 1998 it had established current levels of usage.

Looking earlier, there was a slight uptick in the late 40's and the term was used spordically in the 1950's.

Going back to the beginning, I did see an article which talks about the use of "March Madness" but not in relation to basketball. It's from a 2-MAR-1925 article in the Roanoke (VA) Times entitled "March Blusters In Like a Lion" Below is an excerpt:

March, aside from the distinction it claims as the namesake of the Mars, regarded as the mightiest of the Roman gods, is unique in other respects. Formerly it was regarded as the first month of the year. It is also associated with madness for some unknown reason but the term "March madness" at one time was much in use and the superstition prevails that madness is most apt to take effect on a likely subject during that month. March has been employed to describe many things including a popular kind of beer, familiarly known as bock beer.​

​

The first instance I could find of use of the term in relation to basketball was from 11-MAR-1931 in the Rushville (IN) Republican which used the term "March Madness" as a headline for a short article discussing high school basketball in Indiana noting the elimination of Anderson, Tech, Columbus and Shelbyville in regional tournaments.

The next hit was an AP story, also about Indiana High School basketball, and published in multiple Indiana papers on 5-JAN-1937 (Richmond Item , Lafayette Journal and Courier and Evansville Courier and Press), talking about the Indiana High School tournament the following spring where it notes:

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 4 - (AP) - Holiday tournaments over Indiana's high school basketball teams this week settle into the home-stretch before the annual "March madness" - the State Tournament.​

​

......​

So these uses predate the 1939 usage.

​

Youre an amazing historian of the game and specifically our cats. I tip my hat and give you a mighty thank you for everything you do to chronicle our history.