This Madness called March

Posted by: van_hoose on: March 19, 2013

• In: College 101 | Holidays | Sports
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It’s the only time of the year in which I care about sports! MARCH MADNESS! Madness is the appropriate term too! Last week there were championship games on all day! My sports fanatic family was pleased. But this week, will be epic. Technically the tournament starts tonight with the 4 play-in games, but I mean really, who watches those? Thursday’s when the action starts! SIXTEEN GAMES IN TWELVE HOURS TWO DAYS IN A ROW!!! How are we supposed to handle this?

Answer: There is no good way to handle it, you just go crazy watching all the games. At least that’s the simple answer.

Unfortunately for me, being with crappy Athens cable tv, I only get 3 of the four channels SO I CAN ONLY WATCH TWENTY-FOUR OF THE THIRTY-TWO GAMES. UGH 😦 Some of the ones I’ll be missing are probably gonna be the best ones too! Pittsburgh (8) vs. Wichita St (9), Missouri (9) vs. Colorado St (8), San Diego St (7) vs Oklahoma (10) and NC State (8) vs. Temple (9).

There are a few more, but the best games in the first rounds are the ones with the two evenly matched teams. Such as 8-seed vs 9-seed (which if you noticed, I’ll be missing 3 of them) and 7-seed vs. 10-seed. Every once in a while a 6-11/5-12/4-13/3-14 game will be pretty good, but I get all of those so I’m not worried.

So let me show you my bracket for the 2013 March Madness and then I’ll explain some of my choices that my brother though were stupid and “flat out wrong.”

If you can’t read it, I’m sorry, try command and + (if you’re on a mac) and you can zoom in.

SIDEBAR: If you’re not on a mac, then you’ve got a crappy computer and should make up an elaborate excuse for getting one. Here’s an example: My obedient dog accidentally licked some of my spilt coffee off the floor and got super hyper. I was sitting on the floor with my laptop and my dog couldn’t hold his #1 in and let it out on my keyboard, destroying it. (That’s just one of many elaborate reasons to get a man)

But anyway here’s why I picked what I picked.

• I usually don’t pick upsets, but when I do it’s an SEC team (beside Florida, Tennessee, or Alabama) or a team that I love a lot. See: Ole Miss (12) over Wisconsin (5).
• A lot of people thing Davidson (14) might beat Marquette (3) in the first round since they’re on a 17-game winning streak, but I don’t think so. Marquette usually goes past the first round (I know it’s technically the second round, but I haven’t gotten used to that terminology yet, so deal with me here).
• Why Belmont (11) over Arizona (6)? Because I needed a random upset. There’s always one you don’t expect. So basically I’m expecting the unexpected.
• Why Duke (2) over Louisville (1) in the Elite Eight? Because I love Duke basketball and have always been a great fan. Louisville might be #1, but Duke has always been #1 in my heart. If Duke wasn’t playing Gonzaga in the final four (in my bracket, which will be reality-of course), they’d be in the championship playing Gonzaga and then I’d be super conflicted over who to pick to win (hint: I probably would pick Duke over Gonzaga if they were in the championship, but that’s impossible this year…insert sad face).
• You picked Indiana (1) to lose in the Sweet Sixteen, putting Miami (2) in the Final Four after beating Syracuse (4). Miami’s been on this weird hot streak this year which cannot ever be explained logically to me. They won the ACC championship, unfortunately and had a great record. I’m not a big Indiana fan, but I felt like if it came down to Indiana vs. Miami it wouldn’t be pretty and Indiana might get into the Final Four. So I put Syracuse winning against Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen simply to eliminate the threat of Indiana. Miami will most definitely beat Syracuse and get into the Final Four even though I don’t like them (remember, BIG Duke fan).
• Why say that Gonzaga’s going all the way. Because I believe that it’s their year! They were ranked #1 for the last 2 weeks of the regular season (I think, don’t hold me to that), won their championship with ease (also because it’s a tiny one, but still), and they’re just awesome. They’re the team that comes from this nobody conference, somehow makes it up to #1 and has all the sportscasters on ESPN questioning whether or not they should be a #1 seed since they come from a nobody conference (which I’m glad the bracket makers didn’t do, that would be ridiculous). Gonzaga deserves this in my mind. They peaked at the end and I think they’ll make it all the way. I think their hardest game would be against Ohio State if I’m wrong about them losing to New Mexico (which I have a feeling I will be).

So that’s all I’ve got. I don’t have any classes on Thursday so I’ll be watching March Madness all day. I’ll probably be tweeting all day about it so if you’re on Twitter follow me! @van_hoose

I also want to see y’all’s brackets! Who do you think is gonna win the whole thing?

May your March be full of madness!

Tags: basketball, bracketology, Duke, Gonzaga, March Madness, NCAA, SEC, sports