Madness that is March

I’ve gotta say, this is my favorite time of the year in terms of sports. It’s time for the college basketball tournament.

All the work during the season leads to first the conference championships going on this week. This is where you prove your team’s dominance in your conference. For many teams, this is their last chance to show that they’ve got game and they belong in the big dance.

The conference championships will all culminate to the big selection show on Sunday where they’ll pick the 64 teams to play in the NCAA tournament for the national championship.

Unlike college football, there’s not as much controversy or drama here. I think the people who pick can do a pretty good job picking the top 64 teams (rather than picking the top 2 teams as they need to in football). There’s no room to bitch once you’re in. Win and keep moving. Lose and go home.

Besides the actual tournament, there’s the tournament bracket pick’em. This is the way for all of us to partcipate in this event. Most of you probably know about this as I’m sure I’ve emailed most of you to join my bracket. Basically, you pick who’s going to win.

What makes the tournament so much fun is all the upsets. Just because a team is seeded higher does not mean that they will do well in this one game against someone seeded lower. This is also what makes the pick’em so much fun and interesting. I can almost guarantee you that if you don’t pick upsets, you’re not going to win. I've had people get their cats to pick and do relatively well or pick by favorite color.

I think unlike professional basketball, which a lot of players are more concerned with doing well for their next big signing bonus rather than the team, I truly believe players play in the tournament for their school and the team. I think most of these guys understand that they’re not going to the NBA. This is their one shot at sports glory, and because of that, they give it their all.

Yes, I understand that this is a huge spotlight for the players, and many who do well during the tournament will go to the NBA. But I think that during the tournament, that’s in the back of their minds. They play in the tournament to represent and win for their school.

Pick out a nice bar stool. Invite some friends. It’s tournament time.