Fans excited for Yale to play in first round of NCAA Tournament

Is this finally the year you are going to have a perfect bracket?

Round 1 of the men’s NCAA tournament is officially underway.

One of the teams playing Thursday is the Yale Bulldogs, making it for a second season in a row.

We spoke with fans of the Bulldogs about what makes March Madness their favorite time of the year.

“There’s Christmas, and then there’s Christmas, and it’s today," Trey Cole, of New Haven, said.

Cole said he loves the madness.

“Miracles happen. It’s the tournament. Anything can happen,” Cole said. “Yale is going all the way, go Bulldogs!” '

This year, four Connecticut teams are dancing their way to the D1 NCAA tournament.

This includes the UConn women, UConn men, the Fairfield women and the Yale men's team.

Julia Niemic, a first year at Yale University, said it’s great to see the men’s hard work paying off.

“I don’t think a lot of people think of us as a sports school, so I think this is giving a lot of recognition," Niemic said.

Last year, they were the underdogs against a heavy favorite in Auburn, but still pulled off the upset.

Tonight, they find themselves in a similar situation, with the same seeding, except this time, they are playing Texas A&M in Colorado.

Blake Trimble, the dean of Morris College at Yale University, said he loves to see the school spirit.

“I know some students went to Colorado to watch the game. And I know I am trying to get my work done so I can go watch it,” Trimble said. "And go Bulldogs!”

Lily Aucoin, a sophomore at Yale, said she thinks they can recreate some of their magic.

“Last year, them beating Auburn gives me hope they are going to beat A&M," Aucoin said.

So why is the start of the tournament so exciting, not just for Yale, but for all college basketball fans?

Donald McAulay, an assistant professor of sport entertainment management at Quinnipiac University, told us why the tournament is so thrilling for spectators.

“These are the times that we get to learn new stories about teams that normally are not in our normal feeds,” Mcaulay said.

Mcualay said everyone loves an underdog story.

“These are the times that they really happen. And then those first early brackets are 16s or 15s or 13s, making those Cinderella stories," he said.

Yale is one of those 13 seeds looking to break some brackets Thursday at 7:25 p.m. at the Ball Center Arena.