It's one of the biggest basketball tournaments in the world and year on year, a Kiwi presence continues to grow in March Madness.
The single-elimination tournament pits the best US colleges and their rising stars against each other in ruthless display of tertiary tribalism. There's marching bands, cheerleaders, sold out arenas and literally millions watching to see who will be crowned the best men's and women's teams in America.
And in amongst the college chaos this year eight Kiwis earned tickets to the Big Dance - six in the women's Division I bracket and two in the men's - while Leah and Jenna Rose Mafua were one win shy of joining them with the University of Central Arkansas.
Tall Ferns star Charlisse Leger-Walker could've also helped Washington State make another appearance had she not suffered a serious leg injury earlier this year.
University of Colorado Boulder forward Charlotte Whittaker told 1News New Zealand's growing numbers in the US College system, and in particular the women's game there, are something to celebrate.
"When I was younger, there wasn't a lot of girls coming to the trials and America wasn't really a straight path or a chosen path a lot of girls went to and it wasn't talked about as a big opportunity," the St Andrews College alumni said.
"It wasn't until my last couple of years in high school did I really think that this was a possibility and something that I could really do and push for my career.
"To see the representation of New Zealanders now over here in March Madness is something that's really special and I hope it continues to grow and I hope that young girls back home see this as a huge opportunity and something that is completely reachable."
Helping prove that is the University of Portland Pilots who currently have three New Zealanders on their roster.
Emme Shearer, Florence Dallow and Melika Samia are part of a growing international flavour for the Portland women's team – with a particular influence from Oceania.
"When I was getting recruited, there was three Australians on the team at the time so I want to say they were my pipeline in the sense that the coaches had had some success from them and then they looked a little further down," Shearer said.
"We have six of us this year who are from New Zealand and Australia and last year we had 10 so 'down under' has been very big for Portland for sure."
That investment has started paying off for Portland too.
The Pilots have now made back-to-back appearances in March Madness the past two years having not been involved in the tournament before then since 1997.
On top of that, Shearer has developed into the side's leading scorer this season as well as the West Coast Conference's leader in steals, earning her a spot in the conference's All-First Team selection. She also scored the winning three-pointer against Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference grand final to earn the Pilots a title and their trip to March Madness.
Shearer said the environment she's in is what is driving her to succeed - on and off the court.
"Playing among peers and at that next, higher level is super motivating to want to take your game to the next level," she said.
Portland's run ended in the first round with a loss to Kansas State but the Kiwi contingent was avenged in the next round by Whittaker and the Buffaloes.
Whittaker made the deepest run in the women's competition of New Zealanders this year, going down in the Sweet 16 this morning 89-68 to No.1 Seed Iowa State who features superstar Caitlin Clark.
Clark, the all-time leading scorer in women's NCAA history, lived up to her reputation with 29 points, 15 assists and six rebounds in the win, doing so in front of a sold out New York arena with millions more watching from home.
Whittaker said Clark's popularity was unlike anything she's experienced.
"The media coverage, the viewers watching, the fans that come out, it's amazing to watch," she said.
"With everything going on and the growth of women's sports, especially the media coverage and everything that Caitlin Clark is getting, for us it's an amazing opportunity to help grow women's hoops."
It's also been an opportunity to gain a university degree - something Shearer hasn't taken for granted.
"I definitely want to keep playing basketball... Tall Ferns is a goal and to represent your country at the highest level is a huge goal," she said.
"But I have to get my masters first, that's my first, big focus for next year."
A tertiary education certainly isn't anything to be mad about.
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