An increasing crowd gathers around the HUB-Robeson Center's big-screen TV Sunday afternoon as the attention of bookworms and passersby focus on the screen.

But it wasn't a breaking news story attracting the attention. In fact, it didn't directly involve anyone there.

It was a men's college basketball game -- N.C. State vs. Vanderbilt.

But as the time ran out and the game ended, the campus seemed more like Raleigh, N.C., than State College.

And it did affect people. A lot of them.

Welcome to March Madness.

The NCAA men's basketball tournament, which traditionally draws enough interest on its own, garners extra attention during tournament time from non-sports fans. But it's not because of the excitement or the extraordinary play -- it's because of the pools.

"I hardly watch college basketball at all through the year," said Neil Henry (junior-landscape contracting), who is in a pool with his roommates. "But when [the tournament] comes, I'm glued to the TV."

Although prizes are sometimes involved -- whether cash or a case of beer -- for some the ultimate reward is not money, but bragging rights.

When watching games with his roommates, Henry said, the effects of friendly competition are felt.

"We definitely root against each other," he said.

For two of Henry's roommates, this is their first bracket experience. Until a week ago, they never liked basketball at all and had never entered a pool.

"But now they love it," he said.

Phil Schmidt (senior-wildlife and fisheries science) said he sees the same excitement.

Though he didn't enter a pool this year, he has in the past even though he's not a basketball fan. And when his teams lose, he's as disappointed as the next person.

"It's kind of a game within a game," he said. "I don't know too much about it, but if I did bad I got kind of upset."

Despite the upsets, Robert Rouleau (junior-geography) still has a chance. Picking the University of Connecticut to win the tournament, he has the lead in one his two pools.

Picking teams based on what he's seen and the various conference tournaments, Rouleau said he finds the same excitement as everyone else, even though he may follow the game more closely than others.

"It's like during tournament time people come out of the woodwork to root," he said.

And for one of Rouleau's friends, who only has one team left with a chance to even make the Final Four, the meaning of March is clear.

"He's pretty mad," Rouleau said.