The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments provide the most exciting level of collegiate competition and drama.
March Madness is action packed. It’s filled with heartbreak and jubilation. The final 60 seconds of a game can be five minutes of holding your breath. Every year there are Cinderella teams that “upset” the national powerhouses.
College basketball fans turn up in droves when March Madness begins. This year more than 5.9 million brackets were filled out on espn.com for the men’s tournament alone. Many people use the tournaments as a means to gamble against their friends, family or coworkers. For others, they simply play for bragging rights.
There are college basketball fans everywhere and Ferris is certainly no exception. There is a bracket hanging in the Rankin Student Center that has the updated winners from each of the first three rounds of action.
There is something mystique about the lore of college basketball that brings fans and nonfans together. You certainly don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy March Madness. Many people don’t watch at all during the regular season, but come tourney time, they are tuned in to every game.
Doesn’t it seem like more often than not it’s those who don’t follow the sport closely who end up winning the office pool? There is no logical explanation for how the lady in the corner cubicle who never talks to anyone wins because she picked teams based on mascots.
The beauty of the March Madness is that teams like Morehead State, Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond defeat well-known programs such as Louisville, Georgetown and Vanderbilt. There is never a way to know which team will make a “surprising” run to the Elite Eight like Davidson did during the 2008 tournament.
No matter what team you picked to win a particular game, it always seems like people are naturally drawn to the lesser-known underdogs. Sure they may cost you a few dollars in the end, but for many teams it will be their only chance to play against the top teams in the nation.
While the semester rolls along and exams, projects, and presentations loom in the near future, students don’t miss the opportunity to take a study break and check their brackets. n