By Vinny Z.
Staff Writer

America’s best 68 teams compete to win the March Madness basketball tournament.

It’s divided into seven stages, and teams get cut after they lose.

After the cuts, there is a Sweet 16 leg, followed by Elite Eight, and then the Final Four. Then there is a championship game.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) makes almost $1 billion a year.

Most of the money comes from TV stations that want the rights to play the games on their stations. The NCAA also makes money by selling official merchandise.

The NCAA says it sends nearly all the money it collects back to schools and athletics conferences.

Information for this article came from journalist Jay Zagorsky, Newsela.com, and the NCAA.