I’m not a huge college basketball fan and I don’t pretend to be. I will watch the occasional game that is on TV during the regular season if I have nothing else to do. When March comes around is when I really start to pick up my game. There is just this excitement and craziness in the air when the tournament is started. Not knowing whether these bracket busters are for real and wondering if you choose all the right teams to win is a thrill for the average fan. The thought of a no name team from a no name town could wind up beating the defending champion seems outrageous, and that is what we love about college basketball. In no other sport in America is this really possible.
Fresh off the Super Bowl, sports fans are looking for something to sink their teeth into before the long summer ahead of pure nothingness. Let’s be realistic here. NO ONE cares about the MLB until October. NBA basketball is cool, but who wants to watch seven games except for the die hard fan when you can just watch the highlights and part of the finals to get the gist of it. Soccer is not even acknowledged in this country. This year we are at least lucky enough to have the Summer Olympics. And what is better than college basketball at its finest to leave us satisfied until next year?
Obviously the big basketball schools like Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Kentucky pretty much have solidified themselves to be contenders. They will be the favorites to win it all like they always have been. But who has been the surprise this year? Missouri, Baylor, and Michigan, who are not big basketball schools, have proved to be contenders, or that they belong at least in the tournament. A team that has surprised everyone is Murray State. They have only lost one game this entire season! Only two other teams have done that and they are ranked #1 and #2. Let’s take a look at the last two championships for example. Butler went back to back years having seemingly average teams.
If you haven’t noticed by now, we as Americans love the hype, the feel good story, underdogs, and watching Goliath fall. Just look at Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, and the New York Giants. I even know people who don’t care at all who win just as long as the Yankees don’t win or the Lakers don’t win. In the end, all a fan can ask for is that there is enough magic and excitement to make all this hype about March Madness worth it.
