The brackets are officially out for the 2017 NCAA college basketball tournament. The defending national champions of the 2016 NCAA tournament are the Villanova Wildcats who are hoping for another national championship. The talent and competitive drive this year is intense, so here comes the madness of college basketball.

    Some stats for the upcoming tournament. The Highest-scoring team: UCLA (90.4 points per game). The Lowest-scoring team: Virginia (66.6 points per game).The Fastest team: UCLA (72.8 possessions per game). The Slowest team: Virginia (58.5 possessions per game). The Best free-throw shooting team: Notre Dame (79.9 percent). The Worst free-throw shooting team: Seton Hall (64.3). The Best 3-point shooting team: Marquette (43.0). The Worst 3-point shooting team: Texas Southern (29.6).

    ESPN started a tradition with the president filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket each year. After eight years of televising Barack Obama’s bracket, ESPN reached out to Donald Trump’s staff to see if Trump would want to do the same and he declined.

    “An ESPN spokesman provided this statement to the Washington Post: ‘We expressed our interest to the White House in continuing the presidential bracket. They have respectfully declined.’”

    Keely Hassert avid college basketball fan states “I think Trump should make a bracket but I understand why he would not want to because he has more important things to focus on.”