the most wonderful time of the year

so the other week on the jim rome radio show, he said that he thinks the ncaa men's basketball tournament is the greatest sporting event in sports. better than the nba playoffs, world series, superbowl. everything. and i have to agree. its even better than the world cup or champions league (two soccer events that i really enjoy). im more passionate about soccer than i am college basketball, but the world cup is once every four years and champions league is dragged out over the course of 8 months. plus, real madrid, my team, has lost in the early stages of the knockout rounds for the past four years. including this year. they blew it and lost to as roma. so stupid. they couldnt even win at home. how do you not protect home field? i think they have some midfield weakness. frankly, im not sold on sneijder. sorry. i digress.


so i really only started following college basketball 6 or so years ago. i had a roommate from kansas and he was and is a die-hard fan. byu had an alright team when i was there, but ive never seen them make it out of the first round of the tournament, so they arent really a team that gets you pumped up about following them all season long and into the tournament. even if they do make it into the tournament, they dont really have a legitimate shot of winning many, if any games. but you dont need to be a college hoops fan or have a favorite team to enjoy this tournament. its that good.

the final four tournament, or the big dance, or march madness, is a 64 team, single elimination tournament. there are 4 regions, each comprising of 16 teams. teams are ranked 1-16 by a committee and placed in one of the regions. its a big deal to win your region, if you do, you are one of the 'final four.' those teams square off with the winners of the two games each playing each other for the national title. the whole thing begins and is over in 3 weeks. the first weekend, this weekend is the best weekend. on thursday and friday you have the first round which is 32 games. 16 games on each day. then on saturday and sunday you have the second round: 16 games, 8 on each day. its....madness if you will. so in 4 days you go from 64 teams down to 16 (the sweet 16). then, the following weekend, there are two more rounds and so the teams drop from 16 to 8 (the elite 8), and then down to 4 (the final four). those are the 4 winners of the regions. then, then next weekend you have a national champion.

so why is it so good? because its so unpredictable. theoretically, each of the number 1 seeds should win their region and go to the final four. but that has never happened. which is funny because all of the espn analysts know that, yet they always pick the number 1 team when giving their 'expert advice.' they know it never happens that way, but they always pick it that way. so boring. but here is why i think they do. because they watch college basketball all year long and they know that the number 1 seed is really the best of those 16 teams, so they SHOULD win that region. but they never do. well, many times they do, but all 4 never do. which is why the tournament is so great.

something else to note though while filling out your bracket. while all 4 number 1 seeds dont make it to the final four, its usually a high seeded team. like a number 2 or 3. so if you are going to pick the underdog, dont make them too much of an underdog. until about 2 years ago when george mason, a 10th seed, made the improbable run to the final four, no team seeded below 4 or maybe 5 had gone to the final four. some will make it to the elite 8 or sweet 16, but its extremely rare that an underdog will go to the final four.


but the underdog will win. yes they will. which makes that first weekend just awesome. every year, some random no name team, will knock off a school that has better and bigger players and 9 times out of 10 would cream that underdog. but for whatever reason, this is the 1 time out of 10 that they win, and its during the most important time of the year. the underdog's luck usually runs out in the next round or one after that. another team comes along that should beat them and actually does. but that is why its so fun. you know that is going to happen and you want to pick that underdog.

another thing to note about your bracket (as though anyone is actually reading this and taking this advice). while there will be upsets, there arent that many. if you pick tons of upsets, only a couple will happen and the rest of your bracket will be shot. its tempting to pick the upset, but if there are 32 first round games and only 3 upsets, its hard to pick those (side note: im considering an upset a team seeded 11 or higher beating a team 6 or lower. a 9 beating an 8 or even a 7 beating a 10 isnt an upset in my opinion. it is, but not that big enough where you deserve 'mad props' for picking it because it wasnt too hard a pick. you didnt make that much of a gamble in picking it). so while its boring to always pick the highest seeded team, in reality, if you do that, youll probably finish near the top of the points table. that isnt the most fun way to fill out your bracket, but usually, the better team wins. but its guaranteed that it wont always happen that way, but dont get too crazy with the cheese whiz (or picking the underdogs). also, no 1 seed has ever lost to a 16 seed in the first round. ever. so dont pick it. a 2 has beat a 15 in the first round maybe twice or 3 times. it happens. just rarely.

alright, enough of my non-expert advice. i dont know anything about filling out a bracket and ill prove it in a minute. but i did want to say that i really think that to make the march madness experience a really good time, you need to enter your bracket into a pool with other people. you can do it online so it will track the winner etc. but i honestly think you also need to include a nice friendly wager. doesnt have to be money. but i really think it makes a difference. with my roommates in college and even now, we put a steak dinner on the line. after the tournament we all go to dinner and winner gets a free steak dinner. even if you are just competing against one other person, you really care about who wins and you will check and follow your teams when you know something you want is riding on the line. money is boring, its easy if its a large group, but if you can come up with something, you can even get the females interested and following the games. suddenly louisville v. boise state isnt just another game, but its a big deal because its one of the few games where your picks are different so its now a decisive game. so i dont encourage gambling. but but i do encourage having fun with the bracket. its better. trust me.

here is one last reason why the tournament is so great. anyone can win. its so unpredictable that its impossible to really have an edge on someone. or maybe you can have an edge. i have followed college basketball all season. ive watched many games and i have been aware all year of the teams that are ranked highest in the nation etc. nellie, my girlfriend, just this year learned about this tournament. which blows my mind since she has had two other long term boyfriends. if i was ever intimidated by them before (which i wasnt), i no longer am now knowing that they are sports dorks. so she knows nothing about the tournament. below are all of the first round games and her picks and why she thinks they will win. my thoughts and picks are in parenthesis after her picks. we filled out an entire bracket, but im just giving you the first round. ill let you know when all of this is over who won between us. i follow. she doesnt. she will probably win.


east region:

1. unc v. 16(winner of the play in game, yet to be determined): unc. i have friends that live there. (unc, they are a number 1 seed and really good this year. its a lock for them to win this game).

8 indiana v. 9 arkansas: arkansas. no real reason. (i like indiana. i know that they lost their coach due to ncaa violations, but i dont think the team has fallen apart as much as people thought they would. they have two guys that will go pro and i think they will at least win this first round).

5 notre dame v. 12 george mason: notre dame. irish. catholic and they are usually pretty good at sports. arent they? (im going with notre dame as well. note there is a notorious 12 upsetting a 5 seed every single year. always happens. i dont think this will be it though.)

4 washington state v. 12 winthrop: i like winthrop's name better. but going with washington state. (i am too. although, they are streaky and i dont think they will make it past the second or third round).

6 oklahoma v. 11 st. joes: st. joes. no real reason. 'i have no idea what im talking about.' (im going with st. joes as well. i dont like picking the same upset, but im not impressed with oklahoma. i think they could lose to anyone).

louisville v. boise state: im going with boise state because they have the same record and are the underdogs. (lousiville all the way. they have the same record because boise state has been playing wyoming tech and montana southern jr. college all year. i guess they also beat byu, but no one remembers that. louisville is in one of the hardest conferences in the nations. they should win. of course they also lost to byu so go figure).

butler v. south alabama: im going with butler because they have a better record and south alabama doesnt sound that fun or exciting. (true, no one wants to live there. im picking south alabama. butler is good though. not sure why i am).

tennessee v. american: tennessee. they look like the better team. (same)


midwest region:

kansas v. portland state: kansas. they have a better record and are number 1. and its kansas. its in the middle of nowhere, it would be great if they won. (right. rock chalk jayhawk. same as unc reason. plus, im picking them to win it all).

unlv v. kent st.: kent st. 'you know why.' (i do. because you want to pay homage to those students killed there during the vietnam protests. i dont like unlv because they beat the pants off byu every time they play. i also think kent st. is better).

clemson v. villanova: this one was hard because i like how both sound. but i like saying clemson better. (this one is hard because villanova can beat anyone, but they are also terrible. clemson i think is just on a hot streak, but they werent that good all season. but ill take the streak. clemson).

vanderbilt v. siena: vandy. i dont know where siena is. vanderbilt sounds like rich kids and old money. a lot of white basketballers. (who and what is siena? vandy).

usc v. kansas st: they are evenly matched. so lets do kansas st. for fun. (by evenly matched, that means the same record. this one is hard because k state has beasley. an all american. if he goes pro after the season, he will probably go in the top 3. if he plays well, he could dominate usc, and many other teams. he's really good. ill gamble on him for one round. but dont count out usc. they are putting things together at the right time. oj mayo is legit and so are some other players. they are really good. not sure why im picking k state now)

wisconsin v. cal state fullerton: wisconsin. i dont ever hear about cal state fullerton's basketball team. i know they have a good baseball team. (good point. wisconsin)

gonzaga v. davidson: gonzaga. ive been there. (im going with davidson. gonzaga is weak in my opinion. they have lost to a bunch of sorry teams this year. davidson can beat them).

georgetown v. umbc: georgetown, they have a better record. (same)



south region:

memphis v. tx arlington: memphis. way better. (same as number 1's above)

miss st. v. oregon: miss st. i think oregon got lucky. they dont have a good record. (im going with oregon. not sure why. 8 vs. 9 are hard matchups).

mich. state v. temple: mich. state. no reason. but i know what their school colors are. 'arent they navy blue and mustard yellow, like a goldenrod?' (michigan state are the spartans. their colors are green and white. nellie now isnt sure what school she is even thinking of. she just remembered or realized that those are the colors of the university of michigan. close and an honest mistake. unless you live in michigan. im going with temple. this is my 12 upsetting a 5 prediction. a HUGE gamble. mich state is coached by tom izzo. a long time coach with a lot of experience. im not sold on the big 10 conference this year and i think any of them could be beat and none will go far. so why not?)

pitt v. oral roberts. going with oral roberts because they have similar records and because they are so different. 'i mean, what is that? is that a guy?' (yes. but pitt will win because they come from a harder conference)

marquette v. kentucky. marquette. i like how it sounds better than kentucky. like marquee. (going with kentucky. they arent nearly as strong as other years. but i think they have a win in them)

stanford v. cornell: stanford. dad's alma mater and its a ca school. (its also a much better team. went to the pac 10 conference finals. lost to ucla. a solid team).

miami v. st. mary's: i like st. mary's. sounds like a small, catholic school. (probably is. going with miami here).

texas v. austin peay: austin peay just doesnt sound like a winner. texas sounds strong and powerful. texas pride. 'doesnt it sound like texas people would be stronger? peay? pee-wee.' (nice one. texas should mop them up though. texas is good).


west region:

ucla v. miss. valley st: ucla cause miss valley has a bad record. and they sound like a jr. college. like utah valley state college. (alright. go wolverines. they are actually a 4 year school now, but who's noticing? ucla all the way. ucla is real good).

byu v. texas a&m: byu. do you even have to ask? (same. i have yet to see byu make it out of the first round, and texas a&m is really good and coming from the big 12, a strong conference. but you couldnt pay me to pick against byu in the first round. go cougs).

drake v. western kentucky: i like drake. i like that name. (dont know anything about either of these schools. ill go with the higher seed, drake. this could be the 5/12 upset though).

connecticut v. san diego: connecticut. they will win that one. (same)

purdue v. baylor: purdue. those are both smart schools arent they? (yes. not sure how that translates over into basketballs skills. going with baylor. again, im not sold on the big 10. ill probably get screwed though for picking against all of them).

xavier v. georgia: xavier. i like that name too. drake and xavier. i could name my kids that. (better than naming a boy skye. going with xavier as well).

west virginia v. arizona: w. vir. they have a better record. (ok, this is a game that everyone is talking about because arizona is usually seeded higher than a 10, so everyone is saying that they should beat w. vir and then even beat duke in the second round because, well, its arizona. true. and my bro-in-law went to med school there so i want to pick them, but they just arent that good this year. they have good players, but they look lost and poor out there. its strange. lots of talent, no idea what they are doing. its like they lost their coach or something. oh wait, they did lose their hall of fame coach. i also saw west vir play last week. they have a white boy that can ball it up. he drives and bombs 3s all day long. if he is on, west v. is going to cream arizona and give duke a run)

duke v. belmont: i like how duke sounds. and, my friend in jerusalem, her friend played for duke. (people hate duke, i think they are legit this year. others dont. they beat unc at unc. i think they can play with anyone).

final four: unc, wisconsin, memphis and xavier. (unc, kansas, pitt, ucla)

unc v. memphis in the final with memphis winning. (kansas v. ucla with kansas winning)

so, there you have it. march madness in only 10,000 words. now its time to go get humiliated by a girl. but at least ill have fun doing it.