The March to Madness

It’s my second favorite time of the year.

Next to football season, nothing gets me more excited than the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I think it is one of the most perfectly designed playoff systems in all of sports. In just three weekends they take 64 teams through a single-game-elimination tournament before the final two play for the championship, this year on Monday, April 7. You can’t beat it for nail-biting drama and excitement.

Now mind you, this year I’ll be a little less excited than in past years. My alma mater, Syracuse, didn’t make the tournament. We’re in the NIT for the second year in a row and while it is nothing to sneeze at seeing any post season play, the NIT is really the consolation tournament. Maybe next year.

I am also doing something this year I’ve never done before. I’m in an office pool. I’ve never been a gambler, in fact, putting money on games has always diminished their enjoyment for me. I’m so preoccupied with winning money that I can’t fully appreciate the games themselves. But it’s apparently an annual event on my job and it only cost $5 to get in, so I figured I’d play along.

But already I have found myself picking teams I think will win over teams I really want to win. For example, in the West Regional, #15 seed Belmont very nearly beat #2 Duke, who won 71-70. I hate Duke and would have preferred to see them lose, but logic told me to pick them to advance, to enhance my chances of winning the pool. So I couldn’t root for Belmont although I wanted to.

Now the Big East conference got 8 teams into the tournament, more than any other, because its the best conference in college basketball despite what that ACC shill Billy Packer may think. Since my Orange can’t carry the banner, I’m rooting for the other teams to do well and have picked Georgetown to win it all, against UCLA. That’s what my head tells me, although my heart would love to see a Cinderella team go deep into the post season.