MAR
19
Get out your lucky pens, your spinners, your dice, or whatever you use to pick your sleepers. It is Tourney Time! Time do a minimal amount of research into what #12 seed has a cinderella’s chance to be the next Loyola-Chicago. For the next few weeks we get to hear about schools you've never heard of getting the chance to play on the big stage against big boys (Lipscomb, Iona), with the constant question of which #1 seed is going to fall first. For the sake of Virginia’s sanity hopefully it never sees the Retriever’s of UMBC again.
The greatness of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament is the mixture of schools that are playing just for appearance and recognition with the classic basketball powerhouses looking to hang another banner. Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, and Kentucky are all there with their symbolic coaches and rowdy fan bases. For some schools just making it to the dance changes their programs forever and for others nothing short of cutting down the nets is acceptable. You see the Stephen Curry’s (Davidson ’09) making names for themselves when they get their chance on the big stage or blue chippers like Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse ’03) fulfilling their glory.
Set Looking ahead to this year’s Tournament, will we finally see the Bulldogs of Gonzaga finish the job? Does Zion Williamson come back for Duke to lead them back to a title before he leaves for the NBA? What powerhouse is going to fall asleep on the first days and what mid major is going to change their school's fortunes forever? The magic of the tournament is that nobody knows! You can do research all year long but it gives you no advantage over someone who picks by team colors. Don’t tell anyone but my sister has won more than one pool by picking just by mascots… No matter how you choose, make sure you get your brackets in because the more the merrier!
