After months of waiting and anticipation, the best time of the year is finally here: March Madness.
The NCAA Tournament is truly a one-of-a-kind special tournament. After roughly thirty regular season games the championship resides on three crazy weekends of one-and-done basketball. Every year there are the Bracket Buster teams who appear out of nowhere and perform a miraculous one-hit wonder, much like Los Del Rio and the Macarena.
Almost overnight casual viewers suddenly become bracket experts and people predict the craziest upsets, while pretending to know what would happen all along. The tournament has an incredible following, with almost Olympic-like following and devotion, only annually instead of once every four years.
The company Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, Inc. predicts this year’s NCAA Tournament is going to cause at least $134 million in lost wages for companies as people in the workplace watch the tournament. ESPN’s Bracket Challenge yearly has upwards of 6 million brackets.
All the hoopla over hoops, though, is well deserved as the NCAA Tournament is able to, for a couple weeks, bring out the best in people.
Consider the following:
As a general rule of thumb, at least outside a favorite team, the underdog is always supported. No other time of year would people be willing to cheer for unheard of colleges, like Southern or Florida Gulf Coast, but suddenly during March Madness half of America (give or take) is suddenly behind these teams. It’s always exhilarating when the spunky little team from nowhere is able to show the elite that with determination and a little luck anything is possible.
March is also the only time of year people willingly root for teams with nicknames like Jackrabbits, Gaels, Billikens, Hilltoppers, Zips, Blackbirds and Explorers (all in this year’s tournament).
The concept of teamwork trumping talent is found in the entire bracket. Many of the upsets are possible because smaller schools whose players have been together and built a sense of unity and belonging can more easily come together than the teams with half the players having an eye on the NBA. The teamwork and unselfishness of five people is obviously going to be more powerful than one or two stars.
Mid-majors get the chance to prove they belong. The “upper-crust” basketball schools might think they are a notch above, but more and more mid-majors are prevailing. If a team is in the tournament, no matter what they can’t be disregarded as every team enters with the chance to leave with their One Shining Moment.
Every team is given a fresh start. Much like New Year’s for the general populace, every record is wiped clean to 0-0 with 6 games becoming all that matters. What happened in the past doesn’t matter anymore since that was used to get in the tournament, and quite frankly tournament teams are in for a reason. Teams can put bad losses behind them and focus on doing the best in the present.
However, on top of the fresh start, teams still only get one loss before they are finished. The single elimination nature of the tournament makes it imperative for the best foot to be put forward, and to be able to handle pressure and make the best out of every situation.
The NCAA Tournament is full of incredible metaphors to everyday life and a great example of the abilities of the human spirit. There’s no equal pageantry to the excitement of each game offering the opportunity for the glory of victory or agony of defeat.
But above all this, the most important thing to remember for this March: Roll Jays.