Joining the March Madness phenomenon
It’s the culmination of everything that college basketball teams work for and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s National Tournament.
It’s March Madness.
There’s a reason it’s called March Madness. Sixty eight teams make it to the “postseason”—more than any other sport. It’s chaos, Cinderella stories, massive upsets and dramatic wins.
Teams are announced and placed in their seeds on Selection Sunday. This year, Saint Louis University, fourth seed in the Midwest Region, watched their announcement in a Best Buy store.
After Selection Sunday comes what March Madness is about for fans: the bracket.
While the teams are competing for the title of National Champion, co-workers, friends and families compete to have the best, most accurate bracket and bragging rights.
This is my first year doing a “fantasy” bracket. In the past, I have visited ESPN.com and checked the scores, filling out only the winners of the games.
This year, I decided to join in the phenomenon and compete against my friends. At first, I thought I would only fill out one, but I fell into the pressure of having 10 options through my account on ESPN. According to Jeffrey Burgan, a math professor at DePaul University, there are over 9.2 quintillion (9,223,372,036,854,775,808) ways to fill out a bracket.
My chances of filling out a perfect bracket on my first try were clearly slim to none. But, it motivated to fill out a second bracket with Michigan State University, a No. 3 seed in the Midwest region, winning.
Then my mom asked if I would fill out a bracket for her company’s competition. She told me if she won, I’d get the winnings minus the $25 she paid to enter. I would have done it without being bribed, but a broke college student and a chance to earn money go hand in hand.
Filling out my bracket was a daunting task. Sixty eight teams, one winner. It was a combination of the information that I knew about some of the teams and the “I just need to pick a team” mentality. I follow college basketball very minimally, and my choices reflected that. Although, I was one of 5.6 percent of participants in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge to choose Harvard University (No. 14 seed) to upset New Mexico University (No. 3 seed).
When I filled out my mom’s bracket, I thought about all the fun ways a bracket can be completed: flip a coin, choose by the team’s colors, the best mascot or by the attractiveness of the point guard. I ended up doing none of these because I really wanted her to win.
On ESPN, fans in the Tournament Challenge can compare their bracket to famous brackets that have been posted. Want to know where you rank against President Obama? Before games on March 28, I am ranked 223,914. Obama is ranked 2,254,697. A total of 8.15 million brackets were created compared to last year’s 6.45 million.
“The Pulse” even decided to fill out a bracket together as a staff. Not every member of our staff is a sports fan. We picked some teams because we recognized the names.
We tanked on the first weekend when the teams we had in the finals, Gonzaga University and Butler University, lost in the Round of 32. We’re ranked 4,748,322 before the March 28 games.
Brackets are exciting. They provide something to this postseason that other sports don’t have, two weeks of intense predictions that lead to ultimate bragging rights (and in a few situations, monetary compensation).
If you filled out a bracket and it bombed, don’t fret.The games are still going to be amazing. Florida Gulf Coast University, the No. 15 seed, taking on the University of Florida, the No. 3 seed, is a game you shouldn’t miss.
[WRITER’S NOTE: ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MARCH 2013 EDITION OF “THE PULSE”]