Vintage Chicago Tribune: March Madness was born in Illinois. Here’s history of Chicago teams in the tournament.

March madness was born in Illinois, Chicago.

Henry V. Porter, an Illinois High School Association official who was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is credited with originally using the phrase to describe the state’s high school basketball tournament in 1939.

The Tribune adopted it in 1940, but Porter’s motto remained largely a regional phenomenon for four decades until CBS broadcaster Brent Musburger, a former Chicago newspaper reporter, began using it during the NCAA tournament in 1982.

The term caught on — maybe a little too quickly. The IHSA sued to stop NCAA corporate sponsor GTE from distributing a video game bearing the March Madness title.

“Call me a naive country-boy educator, but I thought if I owned the trademark to something, I owned the right to it,” then-IHSA executive director Dave Fry told the Tribune in May 1996. “But that apparently is not quite so, which is pretty frustrating.”

Later that year, the IHSA and NCAA hammered out a joint venture called the March Madness Athletic Association.

This partnership remained until 2012, when the NCAA obtained full ownership of the phrase. NCAA also holds the licensing for “March Madness Experience,” “March to the Madness” and “March Mayhem,” among its many trademarks.

So, if your family decides to make T-shirts to celebrate your favorite team this tournament season, then maybe use Advance Absurdity, Forward Foolishness, Movement Mania or Stride Stupidity to avoid a potential lawsuit.

Want to cheer for a local team? Northwestern (21-11) received the No. 7 seed in the West Region and will face 10th-seeded Boise State in the first round tonight in Sacramento, Calif. (6:35 p.m., truTV) — six years to the day after winning their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

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Thanks for reading! Go! U Northwestern!

— Kori Rumore, visual reporter

Chicago history | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition

March 23, 1963: Loyola wins NCAA championship over Cincinnati

Loyola did it with 1 second left in an overtime. And they did it against a team seeking an unprecedented third consecutive title in a row. Read more here.

• 1963 Loyola Ramblers remembered for NCAA championship and inspiring social change

• Chris Lamb: Jerry Harkness’ legendary run with Loyola began with a pep talk from Jackie Robinson

• Meet Sister Jean: Loyola basketball’s 103-year-old chaplain

• At 103, Sister Jean has a memoir: Shocking details? None. Gripes? Just one.

• Column: Porter Moser built Loyola into a revered midmajor. He made the right choice in accepting the Oklahoma coaching job and chasing a new challenge.

March 17, 1979: DePaul beats No. 1 seed UCLA

At halftime, DePaul led by 17. They held on for a 95-91 victory and advanced to the Final Four. Read more here.

• Read the original Tribune story: Final Four! DePaul first bludgeons, then beats back, UCLA

• It was Magic vs. Bird in the Final Four in 1979, but do you remember Mark Aguirre and DePaul?

• Rick Morrissey: Toast of the town, ‘79

• Mike Downey: Ray Meyer was the face of Chicago basketball. He was old school in every best sense of the phrase.

• Buried in Chicago: The cemeteries where famous actors, athletes, politicians, pundits and more rest in peace

March 8, 1997: University of Chicago advances to D-III Sweet Sixteen

The Maroons, for ages barren of any winning basketball squads, were in the thick of the Division III championship hunt. But March Madness hit different in Hyde Park.

The Final Four? More like the finals four: “I have four exams in one day,” said sleep-deprived student Manuj Shah, hopped up on tea. Read more here.

• March 14, 1997: Free throws close curtain on Maroons’ season of a lifetime

• Jan. 18, 1896: The University of Iowa invites the University of Chicago to play in what would become the first college basketball game. Chicago won the five-on-five contest 15-12.

• So much for Chicago’s Big Ten team: In 1946, the University of Chicago told the conference it wanted out

• Julianne Sitch: 1st female coach to lead a men’s team to national title after University of Chicago wins D-III soccer championship

• Fred Mitchell: The NFL draft’s first-ever pick was from the University of Chicago — and he never played in the NFL

March 8, 1998: UIC goes dancing, baby

It was a no-look pass into the NCAA Tournament for the 22-5 Flames — the team’s first NCAA Tournament in school history. Read more here.

• It’s not a good idea to show up for the Big Dance with two left feet. Now Illinois-Chicago knows that.

• March 15, 2002: Flames battle gamely but burn out

• March 19, 2004: Kansas ends UIC’s winningest season with a 78-53 beating in the first round of the NCAA tournament

• Jimmy Collins, the longtime Illinois assistant who later coached Illinois-Chicago to 3 NCAA Tournaments in 14 seasons, dies at 74

• UIC joins the Missouri Valley Conference after 28 years in the Horizon League

March 16, 2017: Northwestern — in its first ever tournament appearance — savors win against Vanderbilt

Playing in the Salt Lake City arena where Michael Jordan iced his final NBA championship, Northwestern guard Bryant McIntosh scored a game-high 25 points, nailing 10 of 16 from the field and two game-winning free throws. Read more here.

• March 27, 1939: Northwestern hosts first NCAA tournament final in 1939

• Ad throws ‘crying Northwestern Kid’ back into the national spotlight — and he’s OK with that: ‘It’s who I am’

• Column: Chris Collins’ journey from Bulls ball boy to Northwestern coach brings him to the United Center

• ‘The best is yet to come’: Northwestern students celebrate team’s No. 7 seed and 2nd NCAA Tournament appearance

• Paul Sullivan: NCAA Tournament brings a fresh start for No. 7 seed Northwestern and No. 9 seed Illinois

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