March Madness: What is the NCAA Tournament song?

March Madness has so many great things but one of them is the NCAA Tournament song. What is the song, who wrote it, and more?

What’s not to love about March Madness? The atmospheres, the cinderellas, the unexpected heroes, the emotion of every game, bucket and second, the…music?

Whether you realize it or not, the NCAA Tournament song is in your head whenever March rolls around for college basketball fans. It’s an iconic melody that is played relentlessly (which is for the better, to be sure) and is an iconic fixture of tourney time. You could start a TikTok trend playing the song and seeing which college hoops fans come running at the sound.

But where did the NCAA Tournament song come from? Who wrote it and when did it start? We’ve got the answers for you.

March Madness: What is the NCAA Tournament song?

There are two answers to this because, well, there are two different things fans could be referring to with NCAA Tournament song.

The first of those is CBS March Madness theme that we hear so often throughout the tournament on every channel. This song does not have a name, but it debuted after a contest was held by CBS back in 1992 for fans to compose the March Madness theme. Bob Christianson won the contest with the first version of the theme was used the following tournament. It has been updated several times in the 30 years since, but the essence of Christianson’s original work remains intact and the result is one of the most wildly recognizable songs in sports.

However, the other NCAA Tournament song that often gets mentioned is, of course, “One Shining Moment”. Some might consider this the theme of March Madness to some degree as it is played at the end of the National Championship Game as the soundtrack for a montage of the tournament that just concluded.

“One Shining Moment” was written by singer-songwriter David Barrett in 1986. It was actually initially supposed to be used at the conclusion of the Super Bowl but broadcast complications forced CBS to push it to the NCAA Tournament. It has been featured since.

There have been many iterations and performers of the song, starting with Barrett himself for seven years before Teddy Pendergrass performed it for five years. There have also been versions from Jennifer Hudson and Ne-Yo. The most recognizable version of “One Shining Moment” and the one that is still used for the montage to this day was performed by the late Luther Vandross.

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