The madness is coming
As the NCAA Basketball tournament approaches, fans prepare for the Big Dance
By Jeffrey Dean
Sports Xtra Editor
The bright lights, the fireworks, the fire blazing bright throughout the night, it's that time of year again. Kids running around having fun, realizing dreams that have come true. Pepper spray bottles and the stench of alcohol creating an aura around the streets. Fourth of July? No, rather the pandemonium and epidemic that has no cure: March Madness.
This was the scene of the euphoria of University of Maryland students after their men's basketball team won the 2002 NCAA basketball championship. A euphoria that had built up since the existence of the basketball program, since the creation of the tournament in 1939, and had been built up through the first five games of the NCAA tournament. The excitement hit the D.C. metropolitan area with a vengeance that had not been seen since the area's previous success by Georgetown. March Madness is not a psychological state that only affects our area, despite a perfect example of the magic of March being last year's surprise George Mason, and how the success in that tournament was able to unite and popularize a commuter school, but rather it is a national celebration.
Officially, the madness, for anyone whose hand has ever graced the leather exterior of a basketball, will begin March 13th this year. Teams will have been battling with one another all season in order to fill one of the 65 spots in the tournament. As the season slowly winds to an end, some teams will become locks to be selected in the tournament and others will most definitely be out of contention, but few teams will remain on the bubble. Inspired by the dreams of going to the tournament and winning it all, these teams are the first to exhibit any sort of behavior related to March Madness, as every game becomes important in their quest to be selected for the tournament.
In the end, the committee that selects the tournament is only able to truly select half of the field, as half of the teams that gain entry to the tournament will have done so by either winning their conference tournament or regular season title. These teams are still subject to the seeding of the committee. The other half, the at-large bids, will have to wait until Selection Sunday, March 11, and will have to navigate through CBS's broadcast of the selection to see if they were selected. As teams grow madder waiting for the end of the show and the seeding, which only adds to this March Madness, the bubble teams wait powerlessly.
After the committee has announced the tournament field, which is always subject to critics, one of the greater traditions of March Madness begins. Empty brackets (the tournament field is laid onto a bracket showing the steps that each team will have to take to get to the championship game which lies in the center of the bracket) will be printed out and become a fan's ticket to a cash prize. Betting pools resurface and regroup from last year, filled with grumpy losers and one often obnoxious returning champion.
"I would say Mr. Commons and Mr. Valentino seem to know their basketball," said AHS English teacher Bill Maglisceau, a prime example of the tradition of AHS's own betting pools.
Each partaker fills out his or her own bracket in the manner that they believe the tournament will play out. Point systems vary, usually awarding more points for picking upsets and the winner's of games deeper in the tournament.
These annual events are so common that many would be surprised to learn that betting, even in a NCAA tournament pool, is illegal in Virginia. Nobody, however, would be surprised if cops themselves succumbed to March Madness and have precinct centered betting pools.
The tournament then begins its domination of TV ratings, and college and NBA arenas throughout the country the Thursday after Selection Sunday. The tournament is unique because of how it is spread throughout the nation, so that not just one major city can participate and fill the stands, as in many other championship environments.
Continuing with the distinctiveness of the tournament, the first round of games is often the most bizarre. The field is organized so that the teams who faired the best during the regular season play those who are the worst in the field, which is fair. Within each four sections of the field, there is a 1 seed and a 16 seed (the lowest), and in the history of the tournament a 1 seed has never lost to a 16 seed.
The opportunity for a low seeded team, most often a small school, to play a 1 seed, most often a large popular school, is a very original aspect of the tournament. The championship in college football is decided by a game against the number 1 team and the number 2 team in the country, so there is no real chance for a phenomenal upset. While the 16 seed has never prevailed against a 1 seed, many small schools have beaten a large and superior school, which is the quintessence of March Madness. When a small school, like George Mason, gets on a roll beating big team after big team, it captures the attention of the nation. These Cinderella stories, such as Villanova's infamous championship victory against juggernaut Georgetown in 1985, give the tournament added appeal.
The tournament advances, dominating TV screens Thursday through Sunday, and then water coolers Monday through Wednesday. The numerous down to the last shot finishes leave people cemented on the edge of their seats and helps the field progress through the rounds that have been laced with alliteration over the years (sweet sixteen, elite eight, and final four-see bottom of the rail).
The madness diminishes into two schools that duke it out for the title. The key to March Madness is that 18 days before the championship game, everyone is on an even playing field. Your team may lose in the first round, but you can always hitch a ride on another team that will beat a team it's not supposed to. These moments will give you enough of a taste of the excitement, you will be head over heels in the pandemonium of March Madness, or maybe you will find yourself on-top of a car, building a bonfire on your college campus just as they were in Maryland five years ago, in the biggest March Madness induced moment of your life.
By Alan Weintraut |
March 12, 2007; 12:54 PM ET
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