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The 68-team bracket has been filled in as the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments are set to begin this week.
While sports fans are excited about this year’s games, there are those who reminisce about their time on the March Madness circuit. Emotions, flashbacks and more come flooding back once a year, especially for those who were able to run every child’s dream in March.
New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is one of those players.
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Jalen Brunson is not just an All-Star with the New York Knicks, but a two-time March Madness winner with Villanova. (Getty)
“Yeah. I mean, it was one of the most intense times of my life,” he told Pakinomist Digital when asked about his thoughts on this time of year while discussing his partnership with BODYARMOR. “When you get to the playoffs in anything — high school, college and now at the professional level — everything gets turned up a little bit. Even though everybody says, ‘Just keep it another game. Try to keep that mindset,’ there’s just something different about it.
“Those times back in college and those championships, those were some of my favorite times.”
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It’s hard for Brunson not to think back to the times he played for the Villanova Wildcats, where he didn’t just win an NCAA title — he had two in his three college seasons before leaving for the 2018 NBA Draft.
So for the players who are about to embark on what they hope is a long run in the tournament, Brunson is the perfect person to ask the hallowed question: What does it take to be great in March?
Jalen Brunson of the Villanova Wildcats cuts down the net after defeating the Michigan Wolverines during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
“I think most importantly, even if it’s not, you have to prepare and treat it like another game,” Brunson said after quick consideration. “If anything, treat it like your last, because it could be. I think most importantly, don’t deviate from your routine. Yes, it might not be just another fight, but your preparation and everything that goes into it is very similar.
“You do everything that’s not in your regular routine, unconsciously things can be different. Just try to keep it the same as possible and do your best to prepare.”
Of course, Brunson’s advice is easier said than done. The stakes are higher, the possessions are more tense, and the atmosphere can be overwhelming. But Brunson and his Wildcats teammates, who include fellow Knicks Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, ignored all the noise and did their best to treat everything as just another game at the end of the day.
As the tournament begins with the First Four on Tuesday night to lower the pool to 64 teams, Brunson knows locker room talk will begin to heat up about the tournament. He has every right to brag about ‘Nova given his history, but he doesn’t.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson takes the ball upcourt during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)
That doesn’t mean he and his fellow Wildcats aren’t listening, though.
“No, we don’t talk about Nova that much, but when someone says, ‘Oh, my team in college was this,’ we just look over and smile,” Brunson said, smiling. “They say, ‘Okay, you guys are out of this conversation’. We always get hit on, but needless to say, we have the upper hand on everyone else.”
