They Call It March Madness

One of the greatest spectacles in college athletics begins this week.

The NCAA basketball tournament begins in full force with opening round games Thursday and Friday. (Technically, a few play-in games were held earlier this week.)

While college athletics continues to try and sort out the best way to have a football playoff (at least at the Division I-A level), the powers-that-be have had it right for a long time when it comes to basketball. The field of 64 (now 68) teams allows for the power schools as well as the smaller ones to compete in one tournament and to put on one of the greatest events in athletics, be it collegiate or professional.

For those who enjoy pulling for the underdog, this event is custom made for you. The smaller schools get the opportunity to go head-to-head with the big boys and often times the smaller schools emerge victorious. It’s what makes this format so fun to watch.

There will be an upset or two in the first round (it always happens) and there will likely be one Cinderella team emerge which makes it to the Sweet 16 or even the Elite Eight. From time to time we even get the chance to follow one of the upstarts all the way to the Final Four or even the championship game.

It gives the country a chance to see the champion of the Ivy League competing against teams from the so-called power conferences. It gives us a chance to learn about smaller colleges in different states. For example, college basketball fans now know about Florida Gulf Coast University who happens to be in the tournament once again this year.

To me the first two rounds of the tournament are the most fascinating to watch. It’s when we see the upsets and see what national exposure means to colleges that many times we’ve never heard of.

Upsets are more likely these days simply because the basketball talent is spread out more evenly. Sure, schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Louisville and Duke are always going to have better recruits and better athletes and better players.

However, that doesn’t mean schools in smaller conferences won’t have quality players as well. It’s different than football because in basketball if you have two or three solid players you can put a scare into almost anyone.

Unfortunately for basketball fans in our state, no school from Georgia made the tournament. Not the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech or Georgia State or Mercer or Georgia Southern. It’s somewhat rare but it happens. Georgia Tech seems like a program on the rise, however, so don’t be surprised if the Yellow Jackets are in the Big Dance next season.

Regardless of who is in and who is out, the tournament this year will produce even more great moments. Upsets will happen and most people will have their brackets busted before the first weekend of games is over.

So here’s to all the underdogs in this tournament. We’ve yet to see a No. 16 seed upset a No. 1 seed but there’s always that chance. Maybe this will end up being the year. They call it March Madness for a reason and there will likely be plenty of madness on the court once again during the course of the next few weeks.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.