It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! March Madness: The Best Thing In American Sports
by Chris Arlene, Sports Editor on March 11, 2010 in Sports
Two weeks from now, most of us will be spending our spring break traveling the world, relaxing at home, or cramming to finish a PAE. Whether we are living it up or kicking ourselves for six months of procrastination, we can stay connected through a special event: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. Commonly referred to as March Madness, it’s the best thing in American sports.
That’s right: the best, greatest, most exciting, and generally unforgettable event in American sports. As a kid who grew-up dreaming of playing college basketball, but had to settle for a lackluster high school career and sporadic mediocrity during pickup games at the MAC, I’m biased.
For you policy wonks, here’s an excessively long executive summary that explains the nuts and bolts of March Madness:
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is a three-week, 65-team tournament. 31 teams earn automatic bids by winning their conference championships. A 10-member Selection Committee invites 34 at-large teams based on their record, rankings, strength of schedule, signature wins and losses, etc. The Selection Committee ranks the teams 1-65, with the #1 overall seed deemed the best and #65 the worst. The teams are then divided into four regions – West, Midwest, South, and East – with 16 teams, seeded 1-16.
The top 4 teams are given #1 seeds, the next four #2 seeds, so on and so forth (#64 and #65 have a play-in game to determine the final #16 seed). The bracket sets-up so that first-round matchups pit #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15, etc. Theoretically, the higher your seed, the easier your road to the championship. Using a single-elimination format, the field of 64 is whittled down to 16 after the first weekend, and then down to four after the second, and eventually a champion on the first Tuesday in April.
March Madness has some specific terminology you need to know. The tournament is also known as the Big Dance. Teams that make it out of the second round head into the Sweet 16. The winners of those games play in the Elite Eight. Winning teams then move to the Final Four, the most prestigious event in college sports. The bracket (keep reading!) is the decision tree platform used to determine the flow of games and is revealed on Selection Sunday. Now that you how what March Madness is, here’s why it’s so important…
First, there’s an endless amount of drama. On Selection Sunday, teams that had solid but unspectacular seasons wait tentatively on the “bubble,” hoping it doesn’t burst. The televised joy of the invited or disappointment of the rejected epitomizes what purity is left in college sports. As the tournament moves on, it feels like every other game comes down to the last shot regardless of the matchup. That’s the beauty of the “one and done” format: at the college level, an inferior team can play harder or smarter than a more talented opponent.
Second, the whole country participates. In offices, schools, and just about any place where people gather, some worthy soul organizes a pool, aka an illegal gambling activity based on picking the winners of each game. Claiming a year’s worth of bragging rights is no joke. Though a guess at best, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates that the economy loses $1.7 billion in productivity as the nation’s workforce researches their picks or watches games online. No matter the stakes, there’s just something so American about filling out your bracket. It’s so patriotic, in fact, that President Obama even televised his picks on ESPN last year.
Third, (cliché count) anything can happen (1). Hope springs eternal every year as a new “Cinderella” claims as many upsets as possible before the clock strikes midnight (3). Though major upsets tend to happen during the first weekend of play, every tournament has a David that overcomes long odds to slay Goliath (4). In 1985, 8th seed Villanova became the lowest seed to win the championship since the field was expanded to 64 teams when it beat Georgetown. More recently, 2006 saw 11th seed George Mason beat Michigan State, North Carolina, and Connecticut to reach the Final Four. And in 2008, 10th seeded Davidson beat Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin before losing to eventual champion Kansas in the Elite Eight.
The field will be announced on March 14, so I can only provide a few insights that may help you beat that loud, obnoxious friend of yours who thinks he knows everything about sports (should I be doing this?). Pick Syracuse, Kansas, or Michigan State (sleeper) to win it all. Stay away from Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas State. A #16 seed has never beat a #1. At least two #12 seeds will win in the first round. Expect two or three teams from mid-major conferences (think HKS in the Harvard grad school hierarchy) will make the Sweet 16. At least two #1 seeds will reach the Final Four, but not all four. If you finish your bracket and realize you’ve picked the higher seeds in every matchup, start over! While I don’t endorse gambling, a donation in the form of a 3:30 pm coffee would be appreciated if this advice helps. If you don’t win, a “donated” coffee from Executive Education will do.
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