The Madness Begins!!!!!!!

NCAAM

It's here! It's time to celebrate the wondrous season that is March Madness! Get ready! Get pumped! “The Big Dance” is on the horizon. Forget prom, it’s time for college basketball’s postseason. In the next few weeks, young men will captivate us with their mental and physical fortitude by playing a kid's game on a national stage. Teamwork will shine and stars will be born. As for the fans… well, we will go wild. I can’t wait.

For those of us who are basketball fans, we get to watch an exciting finish, after exciting finish, after exciting finish. Nothing in basketball beats a close finish. It’s where players scratch and claw their way into saving their season, and for some, their basketball careers. With the time winding down every additional possession weighs heavily. You’d expect some cracking under pressure, but the opposite takes over: gutsy, unbelievable basketball. It’s what matriculates when teams lay it all on the line. As a result, the amount of neck-and-neck games THE tournament produces is astounding.

This year expect no different. Citing the Men's Warehouse, "I guarantee it!" Anyone who's watched the dance knows that frenetic finishes take over. It's freakish to see that every time a big three is needed, the prayer is answered. It is the anti-Murphy's Law--what can go right will go right. Why? It's March Madness! The best explanation I can muster is that March Madness's reason for existence is to promote pure excitement. This edge-of-your-seat-drama is not only a requirement; it’s an addiction. Why else would people call in a sick-day to watch a bunch of kids play a sport? Why else would I wire a radio through my jacket so I could follow the games in class? Maybe, I’m crazy, but I’m not alone. Luckily for us, down-to-the-wire exciting finishes is what we all will be feasting over beginning this Thursday.

This past week, the conference tournaments blessed us with a sneak preview of the madness. Anyone catch the Ivy League playoff (a buzzer-beater) or Pac-10 championship game (overtime buzzer-beater)? They were nuts! Blood pressure is on the rise and tourney games have barely begun. Sorry NBA, but NCAA is where amazing happens.

As we follow the path into the Madness, don’t forget to stop in Upset City. Yes, the madness has this as well. No sports competition has as many upsets as the madness of March (for you sports newbies: upset = the underdog winning). Consequently, the next few weeks will bring more mood swings than a pregnant woman. Prides will get crushed and self-proclaimed geniuses will surface all because of a little thing called THE BRACKET.

For everyone who cares to participate, ladies, oldies, you name it, the bracket ignites a fun competition along with a plethora of emotions--stress, ecstasy, sadness, etc. The bracket consumes us. You can't deny it. There are two reasons for this: uniqueness and difficulty. When you complete your bracket you will be the only one that you know with that exact bracket. You may happen to share a championship team, or your Final Four will overlap with another's, but no two brackets will match up completely. You will have your very own baby of a bracket, and you'll fall in love. Because of this uniqueness, you will not be judged on how perfect you are (don't worry no one is), but rather how you match up against your family, friends, and/or workplace. Brackets are the definition of a friendly competition that crosses multiple boundaries. Everyone has a chance to win. Doesn't matter if you're a boy, girl, man, woman, or dog. If you have a bracket, you have a shot for glory.

As for difficulty, there is no perfect way to choose your bracket. The Madness is simply too unpredictable. No one is an expert, but everyone is an expert. How you choose your destiny is up to you and only you. You can "play it safe" and go with all the high seeds, or you can roll the dice by going by your favorite numbers, by favorite colleges, by mascot, by names, or even choose by who you think is the best looking (It's true, I've seen a "beauty bracket" before). Despite how hard you study or how much you think you know, you undoubtedly will be wrong somewhere. The impossible difficulty of predicting a correct bracket makes it challengingly fun. You can be completely wrong and no one will care. However, if you're right (relatively)--bragging rights for the next year along with whatever rewards come in your prize pool.

Normally I would release some sort of predictions for the playoffs. Oh no, not here. In March Madness it's sacrilege to release your picks before the tourney starts. (You must protect yourself so that no one swoops YOUR picks. The madness necessitates every man, woman, and child for his or herself.) There are also too many match-ups to discuss and too much room for me to make a fool of myself. Instead, I'll save my pompous predictions for just my friends. You’re welcome guys. Time to bring on the MADNESS!!!!

P.S. GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!